Genesis 30:9
Leah wanted to have more kids, but no babies grew inside her. So she thought, “I will get Jacob to marry my working woman Zilpah, so that she will have babies. Zilpah belongs to me, so if she has babies, those babies will belong to me too. They will be just like my own kids.” So Leah gave Zilpah to Jacob, and she became Jacob’s wife.
Plain English Version
In The King James Version
When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
In Context
Cross References
Genesis 29:35Later on, Leah had another baby boy. And Leah said, “Now I will say thank you to God, and I will tell everybody that God is really great.” And Leah named that baby Judah. That name means thank you. After that, Leah stopped having babies for a while.
Genesis 30:17God was good to Leah. He knew that Leah wanted to have more kids. So after Jacob slept with Leah, God made a baby start growing inside her. Later on, Leah had that baby, and it was a boy. He was another son for Jacob, and he was son number 5 for Leah.
Matthew Henry on Genesis 30:2-14
Increase of Jacob's Family. ( b. c. 1745.) 1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. 2 And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? 3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. 4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her. 5 And… Read the whole commentary →