New English Translation
Genesis 29:31
31When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to become pregnant while Rachel remained childless.
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 gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) 30Jacob had marital relations with Rachel as well. He loved Rachel more than Leah, so he worked for Laban for seven more years. When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to become pregnant while Rachel remained childless. 32So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. Surely my husband will love me now.” 33She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.
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 surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.
- Genesis 29:30Jacob had marital relations with Rachel as well. He loved Rachel more than Leah, so he worked for Laban for seven more years.
- Genesis 27:41So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. Esau said privately, “The time of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill my brother Jacob!”
- Deuteronomy 21:15Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other, and they both bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less loved wife.
- Malachi 1:3and rejected Esau. I turned Esau’s mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild jackals.”
- Matthew 6:24“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
- Matthew 10:37“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
- Luke 14:26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
- John 12:25The one who loves his life destroys it, and the one who hates his life in this world guards it for eternal life.
- Genesis 16:1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, but she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.
- Genesis 20:18For the Lord had caused infertility to strike every woman in the household of Abimelech because he took Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
- Genesis 21:1The Lord visited Sarah just as he had said he would and did for Sarah what he had promised.
- Genesis 25:21Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
- Genesis 30:1When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children or I’ll die!”
- Judges 13:2There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless.
- 1 Samuel 1:5But he would give a double portion to Hannah, because he especially loved her. Now the Lord had not enabled her to have 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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