Genesis 30:12
in Genesis 30When Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Zilpah Leah’s handmaid bare Jacob a second son.
KJV
And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a second son.
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This verse in Genesis 30
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Zilpah bore Jacob a second son
on Genesis 30:12-13
Asher comes from Leah's word for happy, and she says the women will call her happy. Jerome notes that Scripture gives the meaning of a name in the same breath as the name, which every birth in this chapter follows. Jacob's blessing at 49:20 keeps that sense of plenty.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Commentary on Chapter 30 1. Rachel envied her sister - Envy is grieving at the good of another, than which no sin is more injurious both to God, our neighbour, and ourselves.
And Zilpah, Leah's maid, bare Jacob a second son. As well as Bilhah, and no more.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Bagad (fortune is come) is really two words. It is a combination of two words ba (spelled bet, alef ) and gad (Weiser).
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Be-oshri means, on account of my happiness. 16 The bet of be-oshri is the bet ha-sibbah (Weiser).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֵּ֗לֶד | vateled | and she bore | H3205 → | 496 times |
| זִלְפָּה֙ | zilpah | Zilpah | H2153 → | 7 times |
| שִׁפְחַ֣ת | shifchat | [the] maidservant of | H8198 → | 63 times |
| לֵאָ֔ה | leah | Leah | H3812 → | 34 times |
| בֵּ֥ן | ben | a son | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| שֵׁנִ֖י | sheni | second | H8145 → | 156 times |
| לְיַעֲקֹֽב׃ | leyaako | to Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
וַתֵּ֗לֶדand she bore
vateledH3205 →496 times
זִלְפָּה֙Zilpah
zilpahH2153 →7 times
שִׁפְחַ֣ת[the] maidservant of
shifchatH8198 →63 times
לֵאָ֔הLeah
leahH3812 →34 times
בֵּ֥ןa son
benH1121 →4930 times
שֵׁנִ֖יsecond
sheniH8145 →156 times
לְיַעֲקֹֽב׃to Jacob
leyaakoH3290 →350 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.