Genesis 30:9 kjv

When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.

Genesis 30:9 nkjv

When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife.

Genesis 30:9 niv

When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

Genesis 30:9 esv

When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

Genesis 30:9 nlt

Meanwhile, Leah realized that she wasn't getting pregnant anymore, so she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

Genesis 30 verses

Genesis 30 9 Meaning

Genesis 30:9 describes Leah's response to her perceived cessation of childbearing. Observing that her own womb had seemingly become inactive after delivering four sons, and mirroring her sister Rachel's earlier action, Leah gives her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a secondary wife. This was a socially accepted custom intended to ensure continued procreation for the household and legally attribute any children born from Zilpah to Leah herself.

Genesis 30 9 Context

Genesis 30:9 is situated within the intensely competitive and dramatic saga of Jacob's four wives—Leah, Rachel, and their respective handmaids, Bilhah and Zilpah—vying for his affection and, more critically, for the prestige and security of bearing children to him. The preceding verses (Gen 29-30) establish Rachel's barrenness and Leah's initial fertility, followed by Rachel's desperation leading her to give Bilhah to Jacob as a surrogate. The current verse sees Leah's fertility momentarily cease after giving birth to four sons. In this patriarchal culture, a woman's status was largely determined by her ability to produce male heirs. The desire for children was paramount, directly linked to fulfilling the Abrahamic covenant of multiplication, yet approached here through human-devised customs that intensified the domestic strife. Leah's act is a clear response to Rachel's strategy, a move within a "birth race" to ensure her continued contribution to Jacob's progeny and thereby solidify her standing in the household.

Genesis 30 9 Word analysis

• When Leah saw: (Hebrew: va-tere’ah Leah). The verb ra'ah (ראה) means not just to visually perceive but to understand, acknowledge, or realize. It signifies Leah's observation and understanding of her condition – her awareness that her childbearing had ceased.
• that she had stopped bearing: (Hebrew: ki amedah mi-ledet). Amedah (עמדה), from the root amad (עמד), means "to stand still, to cease, to halt." It precisely indicates a cessation of her childbirth, rather than an inherent inability to bear children. Le-det (לדת) means "to bear, give birth." The phrasing conveys her observation of this pause in her fertility.
• she took Zilpah her servant: (Hebrew: vatikach et Zilpah shifchatah). Laqach (לקח) means "to take" or "to acquire." Shifchah (שפחה) refers to a "maidservant" or "bondwoman." In this context, it often refers to a household servant, distinct from a purchased slave. The use of a handmaid as a surrogate was a common practice in the ancient Near East, designed to circumvent barrenness in the primary wife and legally attribute offspring to her.
• and gave her to Jacob as a wife: (Hebrew: vat-titen otah le-Yaakov le-ishshah). Na-tan (נתן) means "to give." Ishshah (אשה) here refers to a "wife" or "woman," often specifically in the context of legal marriage. This phrase indicates the formal and socially accepted transfer of Zilpah to Jacob for conjugal purposes, with the clear understanding that any children born would legally belong to Leah as her own. This practice, known from sources like the Nuzi tablets, provided a means for the primary wife to obtain children by proxy.

Words-group analysis

• "When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing": This phrase highlights Leah's immediate and pragmatic reaction to her altered biological state. In a culture where a woman's value and family lineage were inextricably tied to fertility, her observation of a reproductive pause created significant anxiety and drove her to take action, not unlike Rachel's prior desperation. It sets the stage for yet another human attempt to "manage" the covenant promise of offspring.
• "she took Zilpah her servant and gave her to Jacob as a wife": This sequence reveals Leah's agency in applying a customary practice to her perceived problem. It mirrors Rachel's earlier action (Gen 30:3) precisely, demonstrating the fierce competition and pragmatic desperation within Jacob's household. The children born of Zilpah would legally be counted as Leah's, thus increasing her total progeny and cementing her status against Rachel in the domestic struggle for descendants. This decision, while culturally acceptable, further complicates the family dynamics, creating more mothers and, implicitly, more sources of conflict among them and their future children.

Genesis 30 9 Bonus section

• The naming of Zilpah's children (Gad and Asher) will further reflect Leah's sense of "good fortune" and the "troop" or "fortune" coming to her, emphasizing her continued drive for offspring and affirmation, even through her maid.
• The repetitive pattern of barrenness-and-surrogate mother is a key literary motif in Genesis (Sarai/Hagar, Rachel/Bilhah, Leah/Zilpah). This repetition emphasizes God's sovereignty over the womb and illustrates how human efforts to "help" God's plan often result in strife, yet God still fulfills His ultimate purposes.
• The actions in this verse and others like it, while part of the divinely inspired narrative, are not prescriptive for behavior. They record the reality of fallen humanity, highlighting how even in the lives of the patriarchs, human choices often lead to intricate social and emotional complexities.
• The desire for children was not merely for personal pride but connected to the patriarchal covenant where offspring represented the future, blessing, and the continuation of God's promise. This cultural imperative explains the intense efforts, even those that created domestic friction, to produce children.

Genesis 30 9 Commentary

Genesis 30:9 presents Leah's proactive step in the competitive family environment of Jacob's household, mirroring Rachel's earlier action. After birthing four sons, her fertility temporarily ceased, provoking a fear of losing status and being outdone by her sister. Leah's decision to give her maid Zilpah to Jacob as a proxy wife reflects both the cultural norms of surrogate motherhood (common in the ancient Near East) and the human desire to control destiny, especially in the crucial area of progeny for which God's promises had been given. This act, born from anxiety and rivalry rather than explicit divine command, further underscores the complexities of polygamy and the lengths to which these women went to secure their lineage within a society that prized large families. Though driven by human ambition and perceived biological setbacks, God would still work through these imperfect arrangements to fulfill His covenant promise of making Jacob's descendants into a great nation, demonstrating His sovereignty over even the most entangled human affairs.