Genesis 30:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

NIV: Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

NASB: And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

CSB: Leah's slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

NLT: Soon Zilpah presented him with a son.

KJV: And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a son.

NKJV: And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

Leah was given Zilpah as a wedding present by her father (Genesis 29:24), on the night he treacherously snuck Leah into the marriage bed, rather than Jacob's intended bride, her younger sister Rachel (Genesis 29:21–26). Unsurprisingly, though Jacob was able to marry Rachel almost immediately afterwards, he has no meaningful love for Leah (Genesis 29:31). Despite that fact, Leah was able to bear sons for Jacob while Rachel remained barren. To resolve this, Rachel used the cultural approach to servants to have children "by proxy," using her servant Bilhah to birth two sons for Jacob (Genesis 30:1–8).

In the meantime, Leah has stopped bearing children, but she wants to continue to give sons to Jacob (Genesis 29:35). Apparently, Leah agrees with Rachel that this is a competition, and she intends to win. So Leah follows her sister's example, and gives Jacob her servant girl Zilpah as a wife, planning to claim any babies born to their union as her own. Zilpah eventually has had a son, Jacob's seventh boy, who will be named Gad, to reflect what Leah sees as good fortune.

Genesis 30:1–24 describes the birth of eight more sons to Jacob, as well as one daughter. While Rachel remains barren, her servant woman bears to Jacob two sons. Then Leah's servant woman does so, as well. Next, Leah herself has three more children. Then, finally, God remembers Rachel. She gives birth to Joseph, giving him a name that is essentially a prayer for another son to follow. As the section ends, Jacob now has 11 sons, at least one daughter, and a plan to return home to his own people.

God alone gives children. He causes babies to be born. He even determines what color baby sheep and goats will be. Genesis 30 describes the urgent desire of Rachel and Leah to have sons for Jacob and how God hears and grants their prayers in His own time. In addition, God blesses Jacob's unusual breeding practices with Laban's flocks to finally allow Jacob to overcome his father-in-law's schemes to keep Jacob under his service.

In the previous chapter, Laban tricked Jacob both into marrying Leah along with Rachel and into working for him as a servant for a total of fourteen years. God blessed unloved Leah by allowing her to bear four sons to Jacob. As this chapter opens, Rachel remains barren while Leah and both of their servant women continue to bear sons. Finally God answers Rachel's prayer, allowing her to bear Joseph. His contract completed, Jacob demands Laban send him away to his own people. Laban refuses, asking Jacob to set new terms for his service. Jacob's deal, along with the Lord's blessing and his unusual breeding practices with the flocks, results in Jacob becoming a wealthy man in his own right. This wealth and power will enable him to finally break free and return home.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.