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Genesis 30:14

in Genesis 30

Now during the wheat harvest, Reuben went out and found some mandrakes in the field. When he brought them to his mother, Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes.

KJV

And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes.

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This verse in Genesis 30

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 28.3.1 · Written before 373.

Some say that the mandrake is a plant whose fruit resembles apples, which have a scent and are edible. So by means of these mandrakes, with cheerfulness seasoned with faith, Leah made Jacob take her that night.

This site's exposition

found some mandrakes in the field

on Genesis 30:14-16

Reuben finds mandrakes in the wheat harvest and brings them to his mother. Rachel asks for them, and Leah trades a night with their husband. Leah meets Jacob coming in from the field and tells him she has hired him, and that root names the son conceived that night.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest,.... Leah's eldest son, who is supposed to be at this time about four or five years of age (e), who went out from the tent to the field, to play there perhaps; and this was at the time of wheat harvest, in the month Sivan, as the Targum of Jonathan, which answers to part of our May; a time of the year when the earth is covered with flowers: and found mandrakes in the field; the flowers or fruit of mandrakes, mandrake apples, as the Septuagint.

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Reuben, a little lad of five or six years old, playing in the field, found mandrakes. It is uncertain what they were; the critics are not agreed about them: we are sure they were some rarities, either fruits or flowers that were very pleasant to the smell, So vii, 13.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Reuben - found mandrakes - דודאים dudaim. What these were is utterly unknown, and learned men have wasted much time and pains in endeavoring to guess out a probable meaning. Some translate the word lilies, others jessamine, others citrons, others mushrooms, others figs, and some think the word means flowers, or fine flowers in general.

Modern Voices1 voice

The people of the tribe of Issachar would become servants to many, work for wages, and live a comfortable life. By understanding times, you will prosper!

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

‘DUDA’IM.’ These are ‘sigli’ (violets). In Arabic it is called jasmin. So I found in Rashi’s commentary.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Genesis 30:14:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
IS IT A SMALL MATTER THAT THOU HAST TAKEN AWAY MY HUSBAND? The intent thereof is as follows: “Is it a small matter that you take my husband unto yourself as if you are his wife and I am the handmaid?
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Genesis 30:15:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
Be-oshri means, on account of my happiness. 16 The bet of be-oshri is the bet ha-sibbah (Weiser).
Ibn Ezra: Spain, 1089–1167 · Ibn Ezra on Genesis 30:13:1, via Sefaria, Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004

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

22 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.

  • וַיֵּ֨לֶךְand he went

    vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times

  • רְאוּבֵ֜ןReuben

    reuvenH7205 →72 times

  • בִּימֵ֣יin [the] days of

    bimeiH3117 →2304 times

  • קְצִיר־[the] harvest of

    ketzir-H7105 →54 times

  • חִטִּ֗יםwheat<s>

    chitimH2406 →

  • וַיִּמְצָ֤אand he found

    vaiyimtza'H4672 →455 times

  • דֽוּדָאִים֙mandrakes

    dudaimH1736 →6 times

  • בַּשָּׂדֶ֔הin the field

    basadehH7704 →334 times

  • וַיָּבֵ֣אand he brought

    vaiyave'H935 →2568 times

  • אֹתָ֔ם<obj.> them

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • לֵאָ֖הLeah

    leahH3812 →34 times

  • אִמּ֑וֹmother his

    ʾimoH517 →220 times

  • וַתֹּ֤אמֶרand she said

    vatomerH559 →5305 times

  • רָחֵל֙Rachel

    rachelH7354 →47 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • לֵאָ֔הLeah

    leahH3812 →34 times

  • תְּנִי־give

    teni-H5414 →2011 times

  • נָ֣אplease

    na'H4994 →404 times

  • לִ֔יto <the> me

    li

  • מִדּוּדָאֵ֖יsome of [the] mandrakes of

    midudaeiH1736 →6 times

  • בְּנֵֽךְ׃son your

    benekhH1121 →4930 times

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

Related verses

2 in all, six open

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

    Song of Solomon 7:13

    The mandrakes send forth a fragrance, and at our door is every delicacy, new as well as old, that I have treasured up for you, my beloved.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 13:52

      Then He told them, “For this reason, every scribe who has been discipled in the kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

    • 1 Corinthians 8:8–9

      But food does not bring us closer to God: We are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

    • Philippians 1:11

      filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

  • Through

    Genesis 25:30

    He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.)

    it leads to

    • Genesis 36:1

      This is the account of Esau (that is, Edom).

    • Exodus 15:15

      Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; those who dwell in Canaan will melt away,

    • Numbers 20:14–21

      From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to tell the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel says: You know all the hardship that has befallen us,

    • Genesis 36:9

      This is the account of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the area of Mount Seir.

    • 2 Kings 8:20

      In the days of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against the hand of Judah and appointed their own king.

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 30 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Chuck Pierce, Understanding Issachar: Interpreting the Times and Seasons! (article); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 28.3.1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Genesis 30 →