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Genesis 29:24

in Genesis 29

And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maidservant.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Laban gave Zilpah his handmaid unto his daughter Leah for a handmaid.

KJV

And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid.

This verse in Genesis 29

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid, for an handmaid. It was usual to have many given them at this time, as Rebekah seems to have had, Gen 24:59; but Leah had but one, and this was all the portion Jacob had with her. The Targum of Jonathan is,"and Laban gave her Zilpah his daughter, whom his concubine bore unto him:''hence the Jews say (q), that the daughters of a man by his concubines are called maids. (q) Pirke Eliezer, c. 36.

This site's exposition

when evening came, Laban took his daughter Leah

on Genesis 29:23-24

Genesis gives the hour and nothing more, while Adam Clarke fills in the veil and the dark chamber that held the substitution. The man deceived here had gone in to a blind father wearing his brother's clothes. Laban gives his servant girl Zilpah to Leah in the same breath.

This site's exposition

his servant girl Zilpah

Adam Clarke holds that a maid given at marriage belonged to the bride, and the husband had no right over her. John Gill notes that Rebekah seems to have left home with several maids, while Leah receives one. The Targum, Gill reports, made Zilpah Laban's daughter by a concubine.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

And Laban gave - Zilpah his maid - Slaves given in this way to a daughter on her marriage, were the peculiar property of the daughter; and over them the husband had neither right nor power.

The words behind it

9 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.

  • וַיִּתֵּ֤ןand he had given

    vaiyitenH5414 →2011 times

  • לָבָן֙Laban

    lavanH3837 →55 times

  • לָ֔הּto <the> her

    lah

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • זִלְפָּ֖הZilpah

    zilpahH2153 →7 times

  • שִׁפְחָת֑וֹmaidservant his

    shifchatoH8198 →63 times

  • לְלֵאָ֥הto Leah

    leleahH3812 →34 times

  • בִתּ֖וֹdaughter his

    vitoH1323 →588 times

  • שִׁפְחָֽה׃a maidservant

    shifchahH8198 →63 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

    Genesis 16:1

    Now Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.

    it leads to

    • Galatians 4:24

      These things serve as illustrations, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery: This is Hagar.

    • Genesis 12:16

      He treated Abram well on her account, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

    • Genesis 21:9–10

      But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,

    • Genesis 15:2–3

      But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

    • Luke 1:36

      Look, even Elizabeth your relative has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is in her sixth month.

  • Through

    Genesis 24:59

    So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 35:8

      Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bachuth.

    • Genesis 24:53

      Then he brought out jewels of silver and gold, and articles of clothing, and he gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother.

    • Genesis 24:50

      Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the LORD; we have no choice in the matter.

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

Jacob Tends Laban's Flocks and Meets Rachel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Jacob Tends Laban's Flocks and Meets Rachel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.