Genesis 30:9
in Genesis 30When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When Leah saw that she had left off bearing, she took Zilpah her handmaid, and gave her to Jacob to wife.
KJV
When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
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This verse in Genesis 30
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife
on Genesis 30:9-11
Leah answers a maidservant with a maidservant of her own, Zilpah. Four women are now bearing sons into the same house. Her name for this son is Gad, a word carrying fortune or a troop arriving, and Jerome and Clarke both take up that double sense.
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.
When Leah saw that she had left bearing,.... For a little while, for she afterwards bore again, and observing also what her sister had done: she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife: in this she was less excusable than Rachel, since she had four children of her own, and therefore might have been content without desiring others by her maid; nor had she long left off bearing, and therefore had no reason to give up hope of having any more.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Zilpah--Following the example of Sarah with regard to Hagar, an example which is not seldom imitated still, she adopted the children of her maid. Leah took the same course.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֵּ֣רֶא | vatere' | and she saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| לֵאָ֔ה | leah | Leah | H3812 → | 34 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עָמְדָ֖ה | ʾamedah | she had stopped | H5975 → | 521 times |
| מִלֶּ֑דֶת | miledet | from bearing children | H3205 → | 496 times |
| וַתִּקַּח֙ | vatikach | and she took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| זִלְפָּ֣ה | zilpah | Zilpah | H2153 → | 7 times |
| שִׁפְחָתָ֔הּ | shifchatah | maidservant her | H8198 → | 63 times |
| וַתִּתֵּ֥ן | vatiten | and she gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֹתָ֛הּ | ʾotah | <obj.> her | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לְיַעֲקֹ֖ב | leyaako | to Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| לְאִשָּֽׁה׃ | leishah | to a wife | H802 → | 781 times |
וַתֵּ֣רֶאand she saw
vatere'H7200 →1300 times
לֵאָ֔הLeah
leahH3812 →34 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
עָמְדָ֖הshe had stopped
ʾamedahH5975 →521 times
מִלֶּ֑דֶתfrom bearing children
miledetH3205 →496 times
וַתִּקַּח֙and she took
vatikachH3947 →966 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
זִלְפָּ֣הZilpah
zilpahH2153 →7 times
שִׁפְחָתָ֔הּmaidservant her
shifchatahH8198 →63 times
וַתִּתֵּ֥ןand she gave
vatitenH5414 →2011 times
אֹתָ֛הּ<obj.> her
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
לְיַעֲקֹ֖בto Jacob
leyaakoH3290 →350 times
לְאִשָּֽׁה׃to a wife
leishahH802 →781 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Genesis 29:35And once more she conceived and gave birth to a son and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah. Then Leah stopped having children.
it leads to
- Matthew 1:2
Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
- Genesis 49:8–12
Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
- 1 Chronicles 5:2
And though Judah prevailed over his brothers and a ruler came from him, the birthright belonged to Joseph.
- Deuteronomy 33:7
And concerning Judah he said: “O LORD, hear the cry of Judah and bring him to his people. With his own hands he defends his cause, but may You be a help against his…
- Genesis 35:26
And the sons of Leah’s maidservant Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
- Matthew 1:2
Through
Genesis 16:3So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife.
it leads to
- Genesis 12:4–5
So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
- Genesis 16:5
Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me…
- Genesis 12:4–5
Through
Genesis 30:4So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife, and he slept with her,
it leads to
- Genesis 35:22
While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons:
- Genesis 35:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.