The Meaning of Genesis 30:9 Explained

Genesis 30:9

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

YLT: And Leah seeth that she hath ceased from bearing, and she taketh Zilpah her maid-servant, and giveth her to Jacob for a wife;

Darby: And when Leah saw that she had ceased to bear, she took Zilpah her maidservant and gave her to Jacob as wife.

ASV: When Leah saw that she had left off bearing, she took Zilpah her handmaid, and gave her to Jacob to wife.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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

What does Genesis 30:9 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 30:9 mean?

And when saw Leah that she had stopped bearing and she took - Zilpah her maidservant and gave her to Jacob as wife
וַתֵּ֣רֶא לֵאָ֔ה כִּ֥י עָמְדָ֖ה מִלֶּ֑דֶת וַתִּקַּח֙ אֶת־ זִלְפָּ֣ה שִׁפְחָתָ֔הּ וַתִּתֵּ֥ן אֹתָ֛הּ לְיַעֲקֹ֖ב לְאִשָּֽׁה

וַתֵּ֣רֶא  And  when  saw 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
לֵאָ֔ה  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.
כִּ֥י  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
עָמְדָ֖ה  she  had  stopped 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: עָמַד  
Sense: to stand, remain, endure, take one’s stand.
מִלֶּ֑דֶת  bearing 
Parse: Preposition-m, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: יָלַד 
Sense: to bear, bring forth, beget, gender, travail.
וַתִּקַּח֙  and  she  took 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: יָקַח 
Sense: to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
זִלְפָּ֣ה  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.
שִׁפְחָתָ֔הּ  her  maidservant 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: שִׁפְחָה  
Sense: maid, maid-servant, slavegirl.
וַתִּתֵּ֥ן  and  gave 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
אֹתָ֛הּ  her 
Parse: Direct object marker, third person feminine singular
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
לְיַעֲקֹ֖ב  to  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.
לְאִשָּֽׁה  as  wife 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אִשָּׁה  
Sense: woman, wife, female.

What are the major concepts related to Genesis 30:9?

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