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Genesis 30:16

in Genesis 30

When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for I have surely hired thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.

KJV

And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.

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This verse in Genesis 30

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

I have hired thee - We may remark among the Jewish women an intense desire of having children; and it seems to have been produced, not from any peculiar affection for children, but through the hope of having a share in the blessing of Abraham, by bringing forth Him in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed.

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 for the plant. Leah meets Jacob coming in from the field and tells him she has hired him. That root names the son conceived that night.

This site's exposition

I have hired you with my son

Leah went out to meet Jacob when he came in from the field that evening, and Ephrem the Syrian read her bold words as cheerfulness seasoned with faith. Adam Clarke traced the wish for sons to the hope of a share in Abraham's blessing. Jacob went with her without a word.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And Jacob came out of the field in the evening,....

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

On the verses either side of this one

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

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

20 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.

  • וַיָּבֹ֨אand he came

    vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times

  • יַעֲקֹ֣בJacob

    yaakoH3290 →350 times

  • מִן־from

    min-H4480 →1188 times

  • הַשָּׂדֶה֮the field

    hasadehH7704 →334 times

  • בָּעֶרֶב֒in the evening

    baerevH6153 →134 times

  • וַתֵּצֵ֨אand she went out

    vatetze'H3318 →1067 times

  • לֵאָ֜הLeah

    leahH3812 →34 times

  • לִקְרָאת֗וֹto meet him

    likratoH7122 →139 times

  • וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙and she said

    vatomerH559 →5305 times

  • אֵלַ֣יinto me

    ʾelaiH413 →5510 times

  • תָּב֔וֹאyou will come

    tavo'H935 →2568 times

  • כִּ֚יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • שָׂכֹ֣רcertainly <to hire>

    sakhorH7936 →

  • שְׂכַרְתִּ֔יךָI have hired you

    sekhartikhaH7936 →

  • בְּדוּדָאֵ֖יfor [the] mandrakes of

    bedudaeiH1736 →6 times

  • בְּנִ֑יson my

    beniH1121 →4930 times

  • וַיִּשְׁכַּ֥בand he lay

    vaiyishkavH7901 →212 times

  • עִמָּ֖הּwith her

    ʾimahH5973 →1050 times

  • בַּלַּ֥יְלָהin the night

    balaylahH3915 →233 times

  • הֽוּא׃that

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

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

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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Genesis 30 →