Skip to content
mannafest.faith

Genesis 29:31

in Genesis 29

When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And Jehovah saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.

KJV

And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.

This verse in Genesis 29

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Leah . . . hated--that is, not loved so much as she ought to have been. Her becoming a mother ensured her rising in the estimation both of her husband and of society.

This site's exposition

the LORD saw that Leah was unloved

Unloved here carries the sense of loved less, which verse 30 has just said. The LORD sees it and opens Leah's womb, while Rachel stays barren, as Sarah and Rebekah were barren before her. Rachel's womb opens at 30:22.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

John Chrysostom

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 56.14 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

See God's creative wisdom. Whereas one woman by her beauty attracted her husband's favor, the other seemed to be rejected because she lacked it. But it was the latter God awoke to childbirth while leaving the other's womb inactive. He thus dealt with each in his characteristic love so that one might have some comfort from what was born of her and the other might not triumph over her sister on the score of charm and beauty.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Thus it was between Elkana's two wives ( 1 Sam. i. 5 ); for the Lord is wise and righteous. When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, that is, loved less than Rachel, in which sense it is required that we hate father and mother, in comparison with Christ ( Luke xiv.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The affairs of princes and mighty nations that were then in being are not recorded in the book of God, but are left to be buried in oblivion; while these small domestic concerns of holy Jacob are particularly recorded with their minute circumstances, that they may be in everlasting remembrance. For "the memory of the just is blessed." Jacob's Arrival at Padan-aram.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The Lord saw that Leah was hated - From this and the preceding verse we get the genuine meaning of the word שנא sane, to hate, in certain disputed places in the Scriptures.

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיַּ֤רְאand he saw

    vaiyar'H72001300 times

  • יְהוָה֙Yahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • כִּֽי־that

    ki-H35884482 times

  • שְׂנוּאָ֣ה[was] hated

    senuahH8130146 times

  • לֵאָ֔הLeah

    leahH381234 times

  • וַיִּפְתַּ֖חand he opened

    vaiyiftachH6605144 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • רַחְמָ֑הּwomb her

    rachmahH735826 times

  • וְרָחֵ֖לand Rachel

    verachelH735447 times

  • עֲקָרָֽה׃[was] barren

    ʾakarahH613512 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Psalms 127:3

    Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 128:3–4

      Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.

    • Deuteronomy 28:4

      The fruit of your womb will be blessed, as well as the produce of your land and the offspring of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

    • 1 Samuel 1:27

      I prayed for this boy, and since the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him,

    • Genesis 48:4

      and told me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’

    • Isaiah 8:18

      Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 2:21

    So the LORD attended to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

    it leads to

    • Luke 2:40

      And the Child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.

    • 1 Samuel 3:19

      And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.

    • Genesis 21:1

      Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 56.14; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.