God’s Word Translation
Genesis 29:31
31When the Lord saw Leah was unloved, he made it possible for her to have children, but Rachel had none.
Genesis 29:31 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.
- New International Version (NIV)When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless.
- English Standard Version (ESV)When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
- New King James Version (NKJV)When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
Context of Genesis 29:31
29(Laban had given his slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her slave.) 30Jacob slept with Rachel too. He loved Rachel more than Leah. So he worked for Laban another seven years. When the Lord saw Leah was unloved, he made it possible for her to have children, but Rachel had none. 32Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben [Here’s My Son], because she said, “Certainly, the Lord has seen my misery; now my husband will love me!” 33She became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She said, “Certainly, the Lord has heard that I’m unloved, and he also has given me this son.” So she named him Simeon [Hearing].
Read all of Genesis 29Genesis 29:31 word by word
וַיַּ֤רְא יְהוָה֙ כִּֽי־שְׂנוּאָ֣ה לֵאָ֔ה וַיִּפְתַּ֖ח אֶת־רַחְמָ֑הּ וְרָחֵ֖ל עֲקָרָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Genesis 29:31
- Exodus 3:7The Lord said, “I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt, and I have heard them crying out because of the slave drivers. I know how much they’re suffering.
- Genesis 29:30Jacob slept with Rachel too. He loved Rachel more than Leah. So he worked for Laban another seven years.
- Genesis 27:41So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing that his father had given him. Esau said to himself, “The time to mourn for my father is near. Then I’ll kill my brother Jacob.”
- Deuteronomy 21:15A man might have two wives and love one but not the other. Both wives might have children, and the firstborn son might belong to the wife that the man doesn’t love.
- Malachi 1:3but Esau I hated. I turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the jackals in the desert.
- Matthew 6:24“No one can serve two masters. He will hate the first master and love the second, or he will be devoted to the first and despise the second. You cannot serve God and wealth.
- Matthew 10:37“The person who loves his father or mother more than me does not deserve to be my disciple. The person who loves a son or daughter more than me does not deserve to be my disciple.
- Luke 14:26“If people come to me and are not ready to abandon their fathers, mothers, wives, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as their own lives, they cannot be my disciples.
- John 12:25Those who love their lives will destroy them, and those who hate their lives in this world will guard them for everlasting life.
- Genesis 16:1Sarai, Abram’s wife, was not able to have children. She owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar.
- Genesis 20:18(The Lord had made it impossible for any woman in Abimelech’s household to have children because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.)
- Genesis 21:1The Lord came to help Sarah and did for her what he had promised.
- Genesis 25:21Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
- Genesis 30:1Rachel saw that she could not have children for Jacob, and she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
- Judges 13:2There was a man from Zorah named Manoah. Manoah was from the family of Dan. His wife was not able to have children.
- 1 Samuel 1:5He would also give one portion to Hannah because he loved her, even though the Lord had kept her from having children.
Commentaries on Genesis 29:31
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31The Lord saw that Leah was hated - From this and the preceding verse we get the genuine meaning of the word שנא sane, to hate, in certain disputed places in the Scriptures. The word simply signifies a less degree of love; so it is said, Genesis 29:30; : "Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah," i.e., he loved Leah less than Rachel; and this is called hating in Genesis 29:31; : When the Lord saw that Leah was hated - that she had less affection shown to her…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-35Verses 1-35 - Jacob‘s Marriage 6. רחל rāchēl Rachel, “a ewe.” 16. לאה lê'âh Leah, “wearied.” 24. זלפה zı̂lpâh Zilpah, “drop?” 29. בלהה bı̂lhâh Bilhah, “timidity.” 32. ראוּבן re'uvbēn Reuben, “behold a son.” A paronomasia in allusion to the phrase בעניי ראה be‛ānyı̂y rā'âh Derivatives and compounds, being formed by the common speaker, are sometimes founded upon resemblance in sound, and not always on precise forms of the original sentence which…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 31-35Verses 31-35 The names Leah gave her children, expressed her respect and regard, both to God and to her husband. Reuben, or See a son, with this thought, Now will my husband love me; Levi, or joined, expecting, Now will my husband be joined unto me. Mutual affection is both the duty and comfort of the married relation; and yoke-fellows should study to recommend themselves to each other, 1Co 7:33, 34. She thankfully acknowledges the kind providence of God…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 31-35The rivalry between these sisters explains much of the later conflict among their sons, and then among the tribes. This is similar to how Jacob and Laban's rivalry predicted future conflicts between Israel and the Arameans of Damascus (2 Samuel 8:5–6; 10:8–19; 1 Kings 20:1–34; 2 Kings 5:1–8:29; 13:1–25; Isaiah 7:1–9). God fights for the cause of the poor and oppressed. He honored Leah, the despised first wife, by making her the first mother. Judah's royal…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3131. Leah ... hated--that is, not loved so much as she ought to have been. Her becoming a mother ensured her rising in the estimation both of her husband and of society.Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 29:31
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 29
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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