the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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New King James Version
Genesis 30:3
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- CondensedParallel Translations
Then she said, "Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her."
And she said, Look, my slave Bilhah, go in to her; that she may bear on my knees, and I also may obtain [children] by her.
Then Rachel said, "Here is my slave girl Bilhah. Have sexual relations with her so she can give birth to a child for me. Then I can have my own family through her."
She replied, "Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with her so that she can bear children for me and I can have a family through her."
And she said, Behold, my maid Bilhah, go in to her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
She said, "Behold, my maid Bilhah. Go in to her, that she may bear on my knees, and I also may obtain children by her."
She said, "Here, take my maid Bilhah and go in to her; and [when the baby comes] she shall deliver it [while sitting] on my knees, so that by her I may also have children [to count as my own]."
And sche seide, Y haue `a seruauntesse Bala, entre thou to hir that she childe on my knees, and that Y haue sones of hir.
And she saith, `Lo, my handmaid Bilhah, go in unto her, and she doth bear on my knees, and I am built up, even I, from her;'
Then she said, "Here is my maidservant Bilhah. Sleep with her, and she will bear children for me, so that through her I too can build a family."
"Here, take my servant Bilhah," Rachel told him. "Have children by her, and I'll let them be born on my knees to show that they are mine."
She said, "Here is my maid Bilhah. Go, sleep with her, and let her give birth to a child that will be laid on my knees, so that through her I too can build a family."
And she said, Behold, my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; that she may bear upon my knees, and I also may obtain children by her.
Then she said, Here is my servant Bilhah, go in to her, so that she may have a child on my knees, and I may have a family by her.
Then she sayde: Here is my mayde Bilha, go in vnto her, & she shall beare vpon my knees, that I also may haue chyldren by her.
And she said, Behold, there is my maid, Bilhah: go in to her, in order that she may bear on my knees, and I may also be built up by her.
Then Rachel said, "You can have my maid Bilhah. Sleep with her, and she will have a child for me. Then I can be a mother through her."
And she said: 'Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; that she may bear upon my knees, and I also may be builded up through her.'
And she said, Behold my mayde Bilhah: goe in vnto her, and she shall beare vpon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
Then she said, "Here is Bilhah, the woman who serves me. Go in to her, and let her give birth for me. Even I may have children through her."
Then she said, "Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees and that I too may have children through her."
And she said, Lo! my handmaid, Bilhah. Go in unto her, - that she may hear upon my knees, so that, I also, may be builded up by her!
And she said, Behold my maide Bilhah, goe in to her, and she shal beare vpon my knees, and I shal haue children also by her.
Then she said to him, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also be comforted by her.
She said, "Here is my slave Bilhah; sleep with her, so that she can have a child for me. In this way I can become a mother through her."
But she said: I have here my servant Bala: go in unto her, that she may bear upon my knees, and I may have children by her.
Then she said, "Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees, and even I may have children through her."
And Rachel said to Jacob, Behold my handmaid Balla, go in to her, and she shall bear upon my knees, and I also shall have children by her.
And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; that she may bear upon my knees, and I also may obtain children by her.
Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she’ll bear children for me so that through her I too can build a family.”
She said, "Behold, my maid Bilhah. Go in to her, that she may bear on my knees, and I also may obtain children by her."
Then she said, "Here is my servant girl Bilhah; go in to her that she may bear children as my surrogate. Then I will even have children by her."
And she said, Behold my servant Bilhah! Go in to her and let her bear on my knees; yea, let me be built up from her, me also.
Neuertheles she sayde: Beholde, there is Bilha my mayden, lye wt her, yt she maye beare vpon my lappe, & that I maye be increased by her.
Rachel said, "Here's my maid Bilhah. Sleep with her. Let her substitute for me so I can have a child through her and build a family." So she gave him her maid Bilhah for a wife and Jacob slept with her. Bilhah became pregnant and gave Jacob a son.
Then she said, "Here is my female slave Bilhah: have relations with her that she may give birth on my knees, so that by her I too may obtain a child."
Then Rachel told him, "Take my maid, Bilhah, and sleep with her. She will bear children for me, and through her I can have a family, too."
She said, "Here is my maid Bilhah, go in to her that she may bear on my knees, that through her I too may have children."
And she said, "Here is my maidservant Bilhah, go in to her that she may bear on my knees, that through her I too may obtain children."
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Behold: Genesis 30:9, Genesis 16:2, Genesis 16:3
she shall: Genesis 50:23, Job 3:12
have children by her: Heb. be built up by her, Genesis 16:2, *marg. Ruth 4:11
Reciprocal: Genesis 29:29 - Bilhah Genesis 46:25 - Bilhah 1 Chronicles 7:13 - the sons of Bilhah Ezekiel 48:1 - Dan
Cross-References
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?"
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."
When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife.
Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph's knees.
And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, "We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.
Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And she said,.... in order to pacify Jacob, and explain her meaning to him; which was, not that she thought it was in his power to make her the mother of children, but that he would think of some way or another of obtaining children for her, that might go for hers; so the Arabic version, "obtain a son for me": but, since no method occurred to him, she proposes one:
behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her, take her and use her as thy wife:
and she shall bear upon my knees; either sit on her knees in the time of labour, and so bring forth as if it was she herself; or rather bear a child, which Rachel would take and nurse, and dandle upon her knees as her own, see Isaiah 66:12;
that I may also have children by her; children as well as her sister, though by her maid, and as Sarah proposed to have by Hagar, whose example, in all probability, she had before her, and uses her very words; Isaiah 66:12- :.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- Jacobâs Family and Wealth
6. ×× daÌn, Dan, âjudge, lord.â
8. × ×¤×ª×× naptaÌlıÌy, Naphtali, âwrestling.â
11. ×× gaÌd, Gad, âovercoming, victory.â ××× baÌgaÌd, âin victory orâ =×× ×× baÌ' gaÌd, âvictory cometh.â ××Ö¼× guÌd, âpress down.â ×××Ö¼× geduÌd, âtroop.â
13. ×ש×ר 'aÌasheÌr, Asher, âprosperity, happiness.â
18. ×ש×ש×ר yıÌsÌaÌskaÌr, Jissakar, âreward.â The second Hebrew letter (ש s) seems to have been merely a full mode of writing the word, instead of the abbreviated form ×ש××ר yıÌsÌaÌkaÌr.
20. ××××Ö¼× zebuluÌn, Zebulun, âdwelling.â There is here a play upon the two words ××× zaÌbad, âto endowâ and ××× zaÌbal, âto dwell,â the latter of which, however, prevails in the name. They occur only here as verbs.
21. ××× × dıÌynaÌh, Dinah, âjudgment.â
24. ×סף yoÌseÌph, Joseph, âhe shall add.â There is, however, an obvious allusion to the thought. âGod hath taken away (×סף 'aÌsap) my reproach.â 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, Rachelâs 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. âDan.â âGod hath judged me.â 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. âNaphtali.â âWrestlings of God,â 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 Jacobâs 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. âGad.â âVictory cometh.â She too claims a victory. âAsher.â 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
âReubenâ 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. âMandrakesâ - the fruit of the âmandragora vernaIis,â 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 âIssakar,â 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. âZebulun.â Here Leah confesses, âGod hath endowed me with a good dowry.â 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. âDinahâ 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 Jacobâs marriage, Zebulun in the seventh, and Dinah in the eighth.
Genesis 30:22-24
âGod remembered Rachel,â in the best time for her, after he had taught her the lessons of dependence and patience. âJoseph.â 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. âWhen Rachel had borne Joseph.â 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. âI have divinedâ - I have been an attentive observer. The result of his observation is expressed in the following words. âAppoint.â Laban offers to leave the fixing of the hire to Jacob. âThy hire upon me,â 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. âBrake forthâ - increased. âAt my footâ - under my guidance and tending of thy flocks.
âDoâ - provide. âThou shalt not give me anything.â This shows that Jacob had no stock from Laban to begin with. âI will pass through all thy flock todayâ with thee. âRemove thou thence every speckled and spotted sheep, and every brown sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats.â These were the rare colors, as in the East the sheep are usually white, and the goats black or dark brown. âAnd such shall be my hire.â 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. âAnd my righteousness will answer for me.â 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 daysâ journey between them and the pure stock which remains in Jacobâs 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. âPut his own folds by themselves.â 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. âThe man brake forth exceedinglyâ - 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 ××××× 'eÌlohıÌym and ×××× yehovaÌh 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 30:3. She shall bear upon my knees — The handmaid was the sole property of the mistress, as has already been remarked in the case of Hagar; and therefore not only all her labour, but even the children borne by her, were the property of the mistress. These female slaves, therefore, bore children vicariously for their mistresses; and this appears to be the import of the term, she shall bear upon my knees.
That I may also have children by her. — ×××× × ××× × veibbaneh mimmennah, and I shall be built up by her. Hence ×× ben, a son or child, from ×× × banah, to build; because, as a house is formed of the stones, &c., that enter into its composition, so is a family by children.
