Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 30:9-13”
Categories: Genesis“When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, 'How fortunate!' So she named him Gad. Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, 'Happy am I! For women will call me happy.' So she named him Asher..”
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“When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing...” (verse 10) “By ceasing to bear, Leah had lost her one hold upon her husband’s affection, and to regain it she follows Rachel’s example. The struggle of these two women for the husband gives us a strange picture of manners and morals...” (Ellicott's Bible for English Readers) It is hard to say how much of Leah's decision was motivated by a desire to please her husband and how much was to out-perform her sister in the ongoing sibling rivalry. But burdening her husband with a fourth wife (or second concubine) was not a source of continued boon and blessing, no matter how many arrows were produced to stuff Jacob's quiver full (Psalm 127:3-5)
Nahum Sarna suggests a compelling explanation of Leah's possible mindset for justifying giving her maid to Jacob to produce more children: “This links with 29:35. Leah's resort to concubinage is unexplained. From verse 18 it is clear that she regarded this as something particularly meritorious. Perhaps she sensed that Jacob wanted more children. Being convinced that Rachel could not provide them, and facing the fact that her husband did not find her desirable, she was prepared to sacrifice her pride, and she gave her maid for the purpose.”
“Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, 'How fortunate!' So she named him Gad.” (verses 10-11) “This appears as the name of the god of fortune and good luck in several Near Eastern cultures... In the mouth of Leah it is simply an abstract noun, 'luck,' just as one would refer to “Lady Luck' in English.” (Nahum Sarna) In stead of “How fortunate!”, the New King James Version renders the phrase, “A troop comes.” “A troop of children, having bore four herself, and now her maid another, and more she expected; or the commander of a troop cometh, one that shall head an army and overcome his enemies; which agrees with the prophecy of Jacob, Genesis 49:19, and she called his name Gad: which signifies a "troop", glorying in the multitude of her children, that she had or hoped to have.” (Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)
“Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, 'Happy am I! For women will call me happy.' So she named him Asher.” (verses 12-13) “Happy am I; or, 'in my happiness'; or, 'for my happiness'; that is, this child is an addition to my happiness, and will serve to increase it: for the daughters will call me blessed; the women of the place where she lived would speak of her as a happy person, that had so many children of her own, and others by her maid; see Psalm 127:5, and she called his name Asher, which signifies 'happy' or 'blessed'.” (Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)
Have a blessed Lord's Day!
-Louie Taylor
