When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children,^x she became jealous of her sister.^y So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

²Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God,^z who has kept you from having children?”^a

³Then she said, “Here is Bilhah,^b my servant.^c Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.”^d

⁴So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife.^e Jacob slept with her,^f ⁵and she became pregnant and bore him a son. ⁶Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me;^g he has listened to my plea and given me a son.”^h Because of this she named him Dan.^aⁱ

⁷Rachel’s servant Bilhah^j conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.”^k So she named him Naphtali.^b^l

⁹When Leah^m saw that she had stopped having children,ⁿ she took her servant Zilpah^o and gave her to Jacob as a wife.^p ¹⁰Leah’s servant Zilpah^q bore Jacob a son. ¹¹Then Leah said, “What good fortune!”^c So she named him Gad.^d^r

¹²Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³Then Leah said, “How happy I am! The women will call me^s happy.”^t So she named him Asher.^e^u

¹⁴During wheat harvest,^v Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants,^w which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵But she said to her, “Wasn’t it enough^x that you took away my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes too?”

“Very well,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”^y

¹⁶So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.”^z So he slept with her that night.

¹⁷God listened to Leah,^a and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.”^b So she named him Issachar.^f^c

¹⁹Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰Then Leah said, “God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor,^d because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.^g^e

²¹Some time later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.^f

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Footnotes

aDan here means he has vindicated.
bNaphtali means my struggle.
cOr “A troop is coming!”
dGad can mean good fortune or a troop.
eAsher means happy.
fIssachar sounds like the Hebrew for reward.
gZebulun probably means honor.

Cross references

xSee Ge 11:30; Isa 49:21; 54:1
ySee Ge 16:4; Lev 18:18
z Ge 50:19; Dt 32:35; 2 Ki 5:7
aSee Ge 16:2
bver 7; See Ge 29:29
cSee Ge 24:61
d Ge 16:2
ever 9, 18
f Ge 16:3–4
g Ps 35:24; 43:1
hver 23; Ge 21:2; Ru 4:13; 1 Sa 1:20
i Ge 46:23; 49:16–17; Nu 26:42–43; Jos 19:40–48; Jdg 1:34; 13:2; 18:2; Jer 4:15; 8:16; Eze 48:1
jSee ver 3
k Ge 32:28; Hos 12:3–4
l Ge 35:25; 46:24; 49:21; Nu 1:42; 26:48; Dt 33:23; Jdg 4:6; 5:18; 1 Ch 7:13
mSee Ge 29:16
n Ge 29:35
o Ge 29:24
pSee ver 4
q Ge 46:18
r Ge 35:26; 46:16; 49:19; Ex 1:4; Nu 1:24; 26:18; Jos 4:12; 1 Ch 5:11; 12:8; Jer 49:1
s Ps 127:3
t Ru 4:14; Ps 127:4–5; Lk 1:48
u Ge 35:26; 46:17; 49:20; Nu 1:40; 26:47; Dt 33:24; Jos 19:24–31; 1 Ch 7:30–31
v Ex 34:22; Jdg 15:1; Ru 2:23; 1 Sa 6:13; 12:17
wver 15, 16; SS 7:13
x Nu 16:9, 13; Isa 7:13; Eze 34:18
y Ge 38:16; Eze 16:33; Hos 9:1
zSee ver 14
aSee Ge 25:21
bSee ver 4
c Ge 46:13; 49:14; Nu 1:8, 28, 29; 26:25; Dt 27:12; 33:18; Jos 17:10; 19:17; 21:6, 28; Jdg 5:15; 10:1; 1 Ch 7:1
dSee Ge 29:34; 1 Pe 3:7
e Ge 35:23; 46:14; 49:13; Nu 1:30; 26:27; 34:25; Dt 33:18; Jdg 5:18
f Ge 34:1; 46:15