Jacob’s Children

29:31-30:24

31 Now Yahweh knew that Jacob did not love Leah, so he made it possible for her to have children, but Rachel was not able to conceive. 32 Then Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, which means “See, a son!” because she exclaimed, “Now that Yahweh has seen that I am suffering and helped me, surely my husband will love me!”

33 Then Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She exclaimed, “Since Yahweh heard that my husband does not love me, he has given me this child also.” So she named him Simeon, which means “he hears.”

34 Then Leah became pregnant yet again and gave birth to another son, and she exclaimed, “Now finally my husband will want to be with me because I have given him three sons!” That is why his name was Levi, which means “be with.”

35 Once again Leah became pregnant and gave birth to another son, and she exclaimed, “Now I will praise Yahweh!” That is why she named him Judah, which means “praise.” Then Leah stopped having children for a while.

30 Meanwhile when Rachel realized that she was not able to bear any children for Jacob, she was jealous of her sister, and she demanded of Jacob, “Help me have children, or else I want to die!” 2 Jacob became very angry with Rachel and responded, “I am not God! He is the one who has prevented you from having children!” 3 Then Rachel told him, “You can have my servant woman Bilhah as a wife. Have marital relations with her so that she will have children for me, so that I too can have a family.” 4 So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah to be another wife for him, and Jacob had marital relations with her.

5 Then Bilhah became pregnant and had a son for Jacob, 6 and Rachel exclaimed, “God has judged in my favor! Yes indeed, he has answered my prayer and given me a son!” That is why she named the baby Dan, which means “he judged in my favor.”

7 Then Rachel’s servant Bilhah became pregnant again and had a second son for Jacob. 8 Then Rachel exclaimed, “I have had a difficult contest with my sister, and now I have defeated her!” Then she named that son Naphtali, which means “my contest.”

9 Now when Leah realized that she had stopped having children, she brought her servant Zilpah to Jacob and gave her to him to be another wife for him. 10 Then Zilpah had a son for Jacob, 11 and Leah exclaimed, “I am so fortunate!” So she named him Gad, which means “fortunate.”

12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah had a second son for Jacob, 13 and Leah exclaimed, “God has truly blessed me! Now other women will know that God has blessed me.” So she named that son Asher, which means “blessed.”

14 Then one day during the season when people were harvesting wheat, Leah’s son Reuben went out in a field and found some fertility plants, and he gave them to his mother. When Rachel found out about the plants, she begged Leah, “Please give me some of the fertility plants that your son found.” 15 But Leah replied to her, “No! It was bad enough that you stole my husband from me! And now you even want to take my son’s fertility plants!” Rachel replied, “Alright then, Jacob can sleep with you tonight if you will give me your son’s fertility plants.”

16 That evening when Jacob came home from working in the field, Leah went out to greet him and told him, “You must sleep with me tonight, because I have traded my son’s fertility plants for time with you.” So Jacob spent that night with Leah. 17 God answered the prayers of Leah, so that she became pregnant and had a fifth son for Jacob. 18 Then she said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband as a wife.” So she named that son Issachar, which means “reward.”

19 Then Leah became pregnant again and had a sixth son for Jacob. 20 Then she said, “God has given me a valuable gift, so that now my husband will honor me because I have had six sons for him.” So she named their son Zebulun, which means “honor.”

21 Sometime after that, Leah had a daughter and named her Dinah.

22 God had not forgotten Rachel, so he answered her prayers and made it possible for her to have children. 23 Then she became pregnant and had a son, and she exclaimed, “God has made it so that I am no longer ashamed!” 24 She named her son Joseph, which means “may he give another,” because she said, “I pray that Yahweh will give me another son.”