The Meaning of Genesis 30:12 Explained

Genesis 30:12

KJV: And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second son.

YLT: And Zilpah, Leah's maid-servant, beareth a second son to Jacob,

Darby: And Zilpah Leah's maidservant bore Jacob a second son.

ASV: And Zilpah Leah's handmaid bare Jacob a second son.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And Zilpah  Leah's  maid  bare  Jacob  a second  son. 

What does Genesis 30:12 Mean?

Context Summary

Genesis 30:1-24 - Sons Born To Jacob
The details of this paragraph are given with great minuteness, because they concern the twelve sons of Jacob, the forefathers of Israel. After all, history is made in the nursery, and we are very much what our mothers have made us in the formative years. An old Spanish proverb says, "An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy." Leah's influence on her boys, as judged by their subsequent life, was anything but healthy; yet with Jacob being the man he was, there was poor chance for them to realize the highest ideals. Rachel's anguish of heart led her to earnest prayer. Compare Genesis 30:1; Genesis 30:22. Wait on God, oh, anguished ones: ye shall surely have reason to praise him. Was it not worth waiting for, to bear a Joseph, whose branches were to run over the wall in blessing? There are more compensations in life than we think for. If Rachel had her husband's love, Leah had a large family of boys. In the saddest lives there are glints of sunshine. [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 30

1  Rachel, in grief for her barrenness, gives Bilhah her maid unto Jacob
5  Bilhah bears Dan and Naphtali
9  Leah gives Zilpah her maid, who bears Gad and Asher
14  Reuben finds mandrakes,
15  with which Leah buys her husband's company of Rachel
17  Leah bears Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah
22  Rachel bears Joseph
25  Jacob desires to depart
27  Laban detains him on a new agreement
37  Jacob's policy, whereby he becomes rich

What do the individual words in Genesis 30:12 mean?

And bore Zilpah maidservant of Leah a son second Jacob
וַתֵּ֗לֶד זִלְפָּה֙ שִׁפְחַ֣ת לֵאָ֔ה בֵּ֥ן שֵׁנִ֖י לְיַעֲקֹֽב

וַתֵּ֗לֶד  And  bore 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: יָלַד 
Sense: to bear, bring forth, beget, gender, travail.
זִלְפָּה֙  Zilpah 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: זִלְפָּה  
Sense: the Syrian given by Laban to Leah as a handmaid, a concubine of Jacob, mother of Asher and Gad.
שִׁפְחַ֣ת  maidservant 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: שִׁפְחָה  
Sense: maid, maid-servant, slavegirl.
לֵאָ֔ה  of  Leah 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: לֵאָה  
Sense: daughter of Laban, first wife of Jacob, and mother of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah.
בֵּ֥ן  a  son 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
שֵׁנִ֖י  second 
Parse: Number, ordinal masculine singular
Root: שֵׁנִי  
Sense: second.
לְיַעֲקֹֽב  Jacob 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יַעֲקֹב  
Sense: son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham, and father of the 2 patriarchs of the tribes of Israel.

What are the major concepts related to Genesis 30:12?

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