Genesis 30:13

New King James Version

Then Leah said, "I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed." So she called his name Asher. [fn]

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version
And Leah said, "Happy am I! For women have called me happy." So she called his name Asher.

Update Bible Version
And Leah said, I am happy! for the daughters will call me happy: and she named him Asher.

New Century Version
and Leah said, "I am very happy! Now women will call me happy," so she named him Asher.

New English Translation
Leah said, "How happy I am, for women will call me happy!" So she named him Asher.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.

World English Bible
Leah said, "Happy am I, for the daughters will call me happy." She named him Asher.

Amplified Bible
Then Leah said, "I am happy! For women will call me happy." So she named him Asher (happy).

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and Lia seide, This is for my blis, for alle wymmen schulen seie me blessid; therfor sche clepide hym Aser.

Young's Literal Translation
and Leah saith, `Because of my happiness, for daughters have pronounced me happy;' and she calleth his name Asher.

Berean Standard Bible
Leah said, "How happy I am, for the women will call me happy." So she named him Asher.

Contemporary English Version
Leah exclaimed, "I'm happy now, and all the women will say how happy I am." So she named him Asher.

Complete Jewish Bible
and Le'ah said, "How happy I am! Women will say I am happy!" and called him Asher [happy].

American Standard Version
And Leah said, Happy am I! for the daughters will call me happy: and she called his name Asher.

Bible in Basic English
And Leah said, Happy am I! and all women will give witness to my joy: and she gave him the name Asher.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then saide Lea: happy am I, for the daughters wyll call me blessed: and called his name Aser.

Darby Translation
And Leah said, Happy am I; for the daughters will call me blessed! and she called his name Asher.

Easy-to-Read Version
Leah said, "I am very happy! Now women will call me happy." So she named that son Asher.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Leah said: 'Happy am I! for the daughters will call me happy.' And she called his name Asher.

King James Version (1611)
And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.

King James Version
And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.

New Life Bible
Then Leah said, "I am happy! For women will say that I am happy." So she gave him the name Asher.

New Revised Standard
And Leah said, "Happy am I! For the women will call me happy"; so she named him Asher.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and Leah said, For my happiness, surely happy have daughters pronounced me. So she called his name, Asher.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then sayde Leah, Ah, blessed am I, for the daughters will blesse me. and she called his name, Asher.

George Lamsa Translation
And Leah said, The girls will sing my praise, so she called his name Asher.

Good News Translation
and Leah said, "How happy I am! Now women will call me happy"; so she named him Asher.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Lia said: This is for my happiness: for women will call me blessed. Therefore she called him Aser.

Revised Standard Version
And Leah said, "Happy am I! For the women will call me happy"; so she called his name Asher.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Lea said, I am blessed, for the women will pronounce me blessed; and she called his name, Aser.

English Revised Version
And Leah said, Happy am I! for the daughters will call me happy: and she called his name Asher.

Christian Standard Bible®
Leah said, “I am happy that the women call me happy,” so she named him Asher.

Hebrew Names Version
Le'ah said, "Happy am I, for the daughters will call me happy." She named him Asher.

Lexham English Bible
Then Leah said, "How happy am I! For women have called me happy." So she called his name Asher.

Literal Translation
And Leah said, In my happiness; for the daughters shall call me happy. And she called his name Asher.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde Lea: Well is me, for the doughters will call me blessed, and she called him Asser.

New American Standard Bible
Then Leah said, "Happy am I! For women will call me happy." So she named him Asher.

New Living Translation
And Leah named him Asher, for she said, "What joy is mine! Now the other women will celebrate with me."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Leah said, "Happy am I! For women will call me happy." So she named him Asher.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Leah said, "Happy am I! For women will call me happy." So she named him Asher.

Contextual Overview

¹ Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die!" ² And Jacob's anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?" ³ So she said, "Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her." ⁴ Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵ And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, "God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son." Therefore she called his name Dan. [fn] ⁷ And Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, "With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed." So she called his name Naphtali. [fn] ⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife. ¹⁰ And Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

am 2257, bc 1747

Happy am I: Heb. In my happiness, will call. Proverbs 31:28, Song of Solomon 6:9, Luke 1:48

and she: Genesis 35:26, Genesis 46:17, Genesis 49:20, Deuteronomy 33:24, Deuteronomy 33:25

Asher: that is, Happy

Reciprocal: Genesis 34:1 - the daughter Numbers 1:40 - General 2 Samuel 2:9 - Ashurites 1 Chronicles 2:2 - Asher Ezekiel 48:2 - Asher Luke 2:36 - Aser

Cross-References

Genesis 30:24
So she called his name Joseph, [fn] and said, "The Lord shall add to me another son."

Genesis 30:25
And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country.

Genesis 35:26
and the sons of Zilpah, Leah's maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.

Genesis 46:17
The sons of Asher were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, Beriah, and Serah, their sister. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel.

Genesis 49:20
"Bread from Asher shall be rich, And he shall yield royal dainties.

Proverbs 31:28
Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her:

Song of Solomon 6:9
My dove, my perfect one, Is the only one, The only one of her mother, The favorite of the one who bore her. The daughters saw her And called her blessed, The queens and the concubines, And they praised her.

Luke 1:48
For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Leah said,.... Upon the birth of the second son by her maid:

happy am I; or, "in my happiness"; or, "for my happiness" c; that is, this child is an addition to my happiness, and will serve to increase it: for the daughters will call me blessed; the women of the place where she lived would speak of her as a happy person, that had so many children of her own, and others by her maid; see Psalms 127:5:

and she called his name Asher, which signifies "happy" or "blessed". These two sons of Zilpah, according to the Jewish writers d, were born, Gad on the tenth day of Marchesvan or October, and lived one hundred and twenty five years; and Asher on the twenty second day of Shebet or January, and lived one hundred and twenty three years.

c באשרי "in felicitate mea", Montanus; "ob beatitatem meam", Drusius; "hoc pro beatitudine men", V. L. "pro beatitudine mihi est", Schmidt. d Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 4. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- Jacob’s Family and Wealth

6. דן dān, Dan, “judge, lord.”

8. נפתלי naptālı̂y, Naphtali, “wrestling.”

11. גד gād, Gad, “overcoming, victory.” בגד bāgād, “in victory or” =גד בא bā' gād, “victory cometh.” גוּד gûd, “press down.” גדוּד g^edûd, “troop.”

13. אשׁר 'ǎashēr, Asher, “prosperity, happiness.”

18. ישׂשכר yı̂śāskār, Jissakar, “reward.” The second Hebrew letter (ש s) seems to have been merely a full mode of writing the word, instead of the abbreviated form ישׂכר yı̂śākār.

20. זבלוּן z^ebulûn, Zebulun, “dwelling.” There is here a play upon the two words זבד zābad, “to endow” and זבל zābal, “to dwell,” the latter of which, however, prevails in the name. They occur only here as verbs.

21. דינה dı̂ynâh, Dinah, “judgment.”

24. יסף yôsêph, Joseph, “he shall add.” There is, however, an obvious allusion to the thought. “God hath taken away (אסף 'āsap) my reproach.” Double references, we find, are usual in the giving of names (see Genesis 25:30).

This chapter is the continuation of the former, and completes the history of Jacob in Haran. The event immediately following probably took place after Leah had borne two of her sons, though not admitted into the narrative until she had paused for a short time.

Genesis 30:1-8

Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, bears two sons. Rachel becomes impatient of her barrenness and jealous of her sister, and unjustly reproaches her husband, who indignantly rebukes her. God, not he, has withheld children from her. She does what Sarah had done before her Genesis 16:2-3, gives her handmaid to her husband. No express law yet forbade this course, though nature and Scripture by implication did Genesis 2:23-25. “Dan.” “God hath judged me.” In this passage Jacob and Rachel use the common noun, God, the Everlasting, and therefore Almighty, who rules in the physical relations of things - a name suitable to the occasion. He had judged her, dealt with her according to his sovereign justice in withholding the fruit of the womb, when she was self-complacent and forgetful of her dependence on a higher power; and also in hearing her voice when she approached him in humble supplication. “Naphtali.” “Wrestlings of God,” with God, in prayer, on the part of both sisters, so that they wrestled with one another in the self-same act. Rachel, though looking first to Jacob and then to her maid, had at length learned to look to her God, and then had prevailed.

Genesis 30:9-13

Leah having stayed from bearing, resorts to the same expedient. Her fourth son was seemingly born in the fourth year of Jacob’s marriage. Bearing her first four sons so rapidly, she would the sooner observe the temporary cessation. After the interval of a year she may have given Zilpah to Jacob. “Gad.” “Victory cometh.” She too claims a victory. “Asher.” Daughters will pronounce her happy who is so rich in sons. Leah is seemingly conscious that she is here pursuing a device of her own heart; and hence there is no explicit reference to the divine name or influence in the naming of the two sons of her maid.

Genesis 30:14-21

“Reuben” was at this time four or five years of age, as it is probable that Leah began to bear again before Zilpah had her second son. “Mandrakes” - the fruit of the “mandragora vernaIis,” which is to this day supposed to promote fruitfulness of the womb. Rachel therefore desires to partake of them, and obtains them by a compact with Leah. Leah betakes herself to prayer, and bears a fifth son. She calls him “Issakar,” with a double allusion. She had hired her husband with the mandrakes, and had received this son as her hire for giving her maid to her husband; which she regards as an act of generosity or self-denial. “Zebulun.” Here Leah confesses, “God hath endowed me with a good dowry.” She speaks now like Rachel of the God of nature. The cherished thought that her husband will dwell with her who is the mother of six sons takes form in the name. “Dinah” is the only daughter of Jacob mentioned Genesis 46:7, and that on account of her subsequent connection with the history of Jacob Genesis 34:0. Issakar appears to have been born in the sixth year after Jacob’s marriage, Zebulun in the seventh, and Dinah in the eighth.

Genesis 30:22-24

“God remembered Rachel,” in the best time for her, after he had taught her the lessons of dependence and patience. “Joseph.” There is a remote allusion to her gratitude for the reproach of barrenness taken away. But there is also hope in the name. The selfish feeling also has died away, and the thankful Rachel rises from Elohim, the invisible Eternal, to Yahweh, the manifest Self-existent. The birth of Joseph was after the fourteen years of service were completed. He and Dinah appear to have been born in the same year.

Genesis 30:25-36

Jacob enters into a new contract of service with Laban. “When Rachel had borne Joseph.” Jacob cannot ask his dismissal until the twice seven years of service were completed. Hence, the birth of Joseph, which is the date of his request, took place at the earliest in the fifteenth year of his sojourn with Laban. Jacob now wishes to return home, from which he had been detained so long by serving for Rachel. He no doubt expects of Laban the means at least of accomplishing his journey. Laban is loath to part with him. “I have divined” - I have been an attentive observer. The result of his observation is expressed in the following words. “Appoint.” Laban offers to leave the fixing of the hire to Jacob. “Thy hire upon me,” which I will take upon me as binding. Jacob touches upon the value of his services, perhaps with the tacit feeling that Laban in equity owed him at least the means of returning to his home. “Brake forth” - increased. “At my foot” - under my guidance and tending of thy flocks.

“Do” - provide. “Thou shalt not give me anything.” This shows that Jacob had no stock from Laban to begin with. “I will pass through all thy flock today” with thee. “Remove thou thence every speckled and spotted sheep, and every brown sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats.” These were the rare colors, as in the East the sheep are usually white, and the goats black or dark brown. “And such shall be my hire.” Such as these uncommon party-colored cattle, when they shall appear among the flock already cleared of them; and not those of this description that are now removed. For in this case Laban would have given Jacob something; whereas Jacob was resolved to be entirely dependent on the divine providence for his hire. “And my righteousness will answer for me.” The color will determine at once whose the animal is. Laban willingly consents to so favorable a proposal, removes the party-colored animals from the flock, gives them into the hands of his sons, and puts an interval of three days’ journey between them and the pure stock which remains in Jacob’s hands. Jacob is now to begin with nothing, and have for his hire any party-colored lambs or kids that appear in those flocks, from which every specimen of this rare class has been carefully removed.

Genesis 30:37-43

Jacob devises means to provide himself with a flock in these unfavorable circumstances. His first device is to place party-colored rods before the eyes of the cattle at the rutting season, that they might drop lambs and kids varied with speckles, patches, or streaks of white. He had learned from experience that there is a congruence between the colors of the objects contemplated by the dams at that season and those of their young. At all events they bare many straked, speckled, and spotted lambs and kids. He now separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flock toward the young of the rare colors, doubtless to affect them in the same way as the pilled rods. “Put his own folds by themselves.” These are the party-colored cattle that from time to time appeared in the flock of Laban. In order to secure the stronger cattle, Jacob added the second device of employing the party-colored rods only when the strong cattle conceived. The sheep in the East lamb twice a year, and it is supposed that the lambs dropped in autumn are stronger than those dropped in the spring. On this supposition Jacob used his artifice in the spring, and not in the autumn. It is probable, however, that he made his experiments on the healthy and vigorous cattle, without reference to the season of the year. The result is here stated. “The man brake forth exceedingly” - became rapidly rich in hands and cattle.

It is obvious that the preceding and present chapters form one continuous piece of composition; as otherwise we have no account of the whole family of Jacob from one author. But the names אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym and יהוה y^ehovâh are both employed in the piece, and, hence, their presence and interchange cannot indicate diversity of authorship.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Genesis 30:13. And Leah said, Happy am I — באשרי beoshri, in my happiness, therefore she called his name אשר asher, that is, blessedness or happiness.