Genesis 30:24

New King James Version

So she called his name Joseph, [fn] and said, "The Lord shall add to me another son."

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
She named him Yosef, saying, "May the LORD add another son to me."

King James Version
And she called his name Joseph; and said, The Lord shall add to me another son.

Lexham English Bible
And she called his name Joseph, saying, "Yahweh has added to me another son."

New Century Version
and she named him Joseph. Rachel said, "I wish the Lord would give me another son."

New English Translation
She named him Joseph, saying, "May the Lord give me yet another son."

Amplified Bible
She named him Joseph (may He add) and said, "May the LORD add to me another son."

New American Standard Bible
And she named him Joseph, saying, "May the LORD give me another son."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And shee called his name Ioseph, saying, The Lord wil giue me yet another sonne.

Legacy Standard Bible
And she named him Joseph, saying, "May Yahweh give me another son."

Contemporary English Version
"I'll name the boy Joseph, and I'll pray that the Lord will give me another son."

Complete Jewish Bible
She called him Yosef [may he add], saying, "May Adonai add to me another son."

Darby Translation
And she called his name Joseph; and said, Jehovah will add to me another son.

Easy-to-Read Version
Rachel named the son Joseph, saying, "May the Lord give me another son."

English Standard Version
And she called his name Joseph, saying, "May the Lord add to me another son!"

George Lamsa Translation
And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.

Good News Translation
May the Lord give me another son"; so she named him Joseph.

Christian Standard Bible®
She named him Joseph and said, “May the Lord add another son to me.”

Literal Translation
And she called his name Joseph, saying, May Jehovah add to me another son.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and she called him Ioseph, and sayde: God geue me yet another sonne.

American Standard Version
and she called his name Joseph, saying, Jehovah add to me another son.

Bible in Basic English
And she gave him the name Joseph, saying, May the Lord give me another son.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And she called his name Ioseph, saying: the Lorde geue me yet another sonne.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And she called his name Joseph, saying: 'The LORD add to me another son.'

King James Version (1611)
And shee called his name Ioseph, and saide, The LORD shall adde to me another sonne.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And she called his name Joseph, saying, Let God add to me another son.

English Revised Version
and she called his name Joseph, saying, The LORD add to me another son.

Berean Standard Bible
She named him Joseph, and said, "May the LORD add to me another son."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and seide, The Lord yyue to me another sone.

Young's Literal Translation
and she calleth his name Joseph, saying, `Jehovah is adding to me another son.'

Update Bible Version
and she named him Joseph, saying, Yahweh add to me another son.

Webster's Bible Translation
And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD will add to me another son.

World English Bible
She named him Joseph, saying, "May Yahweh add another son to me."

New Living Translation
And she named him Joseph, for she said, "May the Lord add yet another son to my family."

New Life Bible
She gave him the name Joseph, saying, "May the Lord give me another son."

New Revised Standard
and she named him Joseph, saying, "May the Lord add to me another son!"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So she called his name Joseph, saying, Yahweh is adding unto me another son.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And she called his name Joseph: saying: The Lord give me also another son.

Revised Standard Version
and she called his name Joseph, saying, "May the LORD add to me another son!"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
She named him Joseph, saying, "May the LORD give me another son."

Contextual Overview

¹⁴ Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes." ¹⁵ But she said to her, "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?" And Rachel said, "Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes." ¹⁶ When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes." And he lay with her that night. ¹⁷ And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Leah said, "God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband." So she called his name Issachar. [fn] ¹⁹ Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ And Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons." So she called his name Zebulun. [fn] ²¹ Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah. ²² Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. ²³ And she conceived and bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my reproach."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

And she: Genesis 35:24, Genesis 37:2, Genesis 37:4, Genesis 39:1-23, Genesis 42:6, Genesis 48:1-22, Genesis 49:22-26, Deuteronomy 33:13-17, Ezekiel 37:16, Acts 7:9-15, Hebrews 11:21, Hebrews 11:22, Revelation 7:8

Joseph: that is, Adding, Genesis 35:17, Genesis 35:18

Reciprocal: Genesis 46:19 - Rachel Numbers 1:32 - General Deuteronomy 27:12 - Simeon 1 Chronicles 2:2 - Joseph John 16:21 - for

Cross-References

Genesis 30:1
Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die!"

Genesis 30:9
When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife.

Genesis 30:13
Then Leah said, "I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed." So she called his name Asher. [fn]

Genesis 30:15
But she said to her, "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?" And Rachel said, "Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes."

Genesis 30:17
And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.

Genesis 30:18
Leah said, "God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband." So she called his name Issachar. [fn]

Genesis 30:21
Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

Genesis 30:22
Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.

Genesis 30:23
And she conceived and bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my reproach."

Genesis 30:26
Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And she called his name Joseph,.... Which signifies "adding", or rather, "to be added"; or, "God shall add", giving this reason for it;

and said, the Lord shall add to me another son: which is expressive of strong faith; that as she had begun to bear children, she should bear another, as she did; though some read the words as a wish or prayer, "may the Lord", or, "and that the Lord would add", c. h but our version seems best: the name Joseph is composed of two words, one which signifies to gather or take away, used in Genesis 30:23, and another which signifies to add; and so has respect to the Lord's taking away her reproach, and adding to her another son: Melo, an Heathen writer, makes mention of Joseph by name, as Polyhistor i relates, and makes him the twelfth and last son of Abraham, whereas he was the eleventh of Jacob. He was born, as the Jews say k, the twenty seventh of Tammuz or June, and lived one hundred and ten years.

h יסף "addat", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. i Apud. Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 19. p. 421. k Shalshal. ibid.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- Jacob’s Family and Wealth

6. דן dān, Dan, “judge, lord.”

8. נפתלי naptālı̂y, Naphtali, “wrestling.”

11. גד gād, Gad, “overcoming, victory.” בגד bāgād, “in victory or” =גד בא bā' gād, “victory cometh.” גוּד gûd, “press down.” גדוּד g^edûd, “troop.”

13. אשׁר 'ǎashēr, Asher, “prosperity, happiness.”

18. ישׂשכר yı̂śāskār, Jissakar, “reward.” The second Hebrew letter (ש s) seems to have been merely a full mode of writing the word, instead of the abbreviated form ישׂכר yı̂śākār.

20. זבלוּן z^ebulûn, Zebulun, “dwelling.” There is here a play upon the two words זבד zābad, “to endow” and זבל zābal, “to dwell,” the latter of which, however, prevails in the name. They occur only here as verbs.

21. דינה dı̂ynâh, Dinah, “judgment.”

24. יסף yôsêph, Joseph, “he shall add.” There is, however, an obvious allusion to the thought. “God hath taken away (אסף 'āsap) my reproach.” Double references, we find, are usual in the giving of names (see Genesis 25:30).

This chapter is the continuation of the former, and completes the history of Jacob in Haran. The event immediately following probably took place after Leah had borne two of her sons, though not admitted into the narrative until she had paused for a short time.

Genesis 30:1-8

Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, bears two sons. Rachel becomes impatient of her barrenness and jealous of her sister, and unjustly reproaches her husband, who indignantly rebukes her. God, not he, has withheld children from her. She does what Sarah had done before her Genesis 16:2-3, gives her handmaid to her husband. No express law yet forbade this course, though nature and Scripture by implication did Genesis 2:23-25. “Dan.” “God hath judged me.” In this passage Jacob and Rachel use the common noun, God, the Everlasting, and therefore Almighty, who rules in the physical relations of things - a name suitable to the occasion. He had judged her, dealt with her according to his sovereign justice in withholding the fruit of the womb, when she was self-complacent and forgetful of her dependence on a higher power; and also in hearing her voice when she approached him in humble supplication. “Naphtali.” “Wrestlings of God,” with God, in prayer, on the part of both sisters, so that they wrestled with one another in the self-same act. Rachel, though looking first to Jacob and then to her maid, had at length learned to look to her God, and then had prevailed.

Genesis 30:9-13

Leah having stayed from bearing, resorts to the same expedient. Her fourth son was seemingly born in the fourth year of Jacob’s marriage. Bearing her first four sons so rapidly, she would the sooner observe the temporary cessation. After the interval of a year she may have given Zilpah to Jacob. “Gad.” “Victory cometh.” She too claims a victory. “Asher.” Daughters will pronounce her happy who is so rich in sons. Leah is seemingly conscious that she is here pursuing a device of her own heart; and hence there is no explicit reference to the divine name or influence in the naming of the two sons of her maid.

Genesis 30:14-21

“Reuben” was at this time four or five years of age, as it is probable that Leah began to bear again before Zilpah had her second son. “Mandrakes” - the fruit of the “mandragora vernaIis,” which is to this day supposed to promote fruitfulness of the womb. Rachel therefore desires to partake of them, and obtains them by a compact with Leah. Leah betakes herself to prayer, and bears a fifth son. She calls him “Issakar,” with a double allusion. She had hired her husband with the mandrakes, and had received this son as her hire for giving her maid to her husband; which she regards as an act of generosity or self-denial. “Zebulun.” Here Leah confesses, “God hath endowed me with a good dowry.” She speaks now like Rachel of the God of nature. The cherished thought that her husband will dwell with her who is the mother of six sons takes form in the name. “Dinah” is the only daughter of Jacob mentioned Genesis 46:7, and that on account of her subsequent connection with the history of Jacob Genesis 34:0. Issakar appears to have been born in the sixth year after Jacob’s marriage, Zebulun in the seventh, and Dinah in the eighth.

Genesis 30:22-24

“God remembered Rachel,” in the best time for her, after he had taught her the lessons of dependence and patience. “Joseph.” There is a remote allusion to her gratitude for the reproach of barrenness taken away. But there is also hope in the name. The selfish feeling also has died away, and the thankful Rachel rises from Elohim, the invisible Eternal, to Yahweh, the manifest Self-existent. The birth of Joseph was after the fourteen years of service were completed. He and Dinah appear to have been born in the same year.

Genesis 30:25-36

Jacob enters into a new contract of service with Laban. “When Rachel had borne Joseph.” Jacob cannot ask his dismissal until the twice seven years of service were completed. Hence, the birth of Joseph, which is the date of his request, took place at the earliest in the fifteenth year of his sojourn with Laban. Jacob now wishes to return home, from which he had been detained so long by serving for Rachel. He no doubt expects of Laban the means at least of accomplishing his journey. Laban is loath to part with him. “I have divined” - I have been an attentive observer. The result of his observation is expressed in the following words. “Appoint.” Laban offers to leave the fixing of the hire to Jacob. “Thy hire upon me,” which I will take upon me as binding. Jacob touches upon the value of his services, perhaps with the tacit feeling that Laban in equity owed him at least the means of returning to his home. “Brake forth” - increased. “At my foot” - under my guidance and tending of thy flocks.

“Do” - provide. “Thou shalt not give me anything.” This shows that Jacob had no stock from Laban to begin with. “I will pass through all thy flock today” with thee. “Remove thou thence every speckled and spotted sheep, and every brown sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats.” These were the rare colors, as in the East the sheep are usually white, and the goats black or dark brown. “And such shall be my hire.” Such as these uncommon party-colored cattle, when they shall appear among the flock already cleared of them; and not those of this description that are now removed. For in this case Laban would have given Jacob something; whereas Jacob was resolved to be entirely dependent on the divine providence for his hire. “And my righteousness will answer for me.” The color will determine at once whose the animal is. Laban willingly consents to so favorable a proposal, removes the party-colored animals from the flock, gives them into the hands of his sons, and puts an interval of three days’ journey between them and the pure stock which remains in Jacob’s hands. Jacob is now to begin with nothing, and have for his hire any party-colored lambs or kids that appear in those flocks, from which every specimen of this rare class has been carefully removed.

Genesis 30:37-43

Jacob devises means to provide himself with a flock in these unfavorable circumstances. His first device is to place party-colored rods before the eyes of the cattle at the rutting season, that they might drop lambs and kids varied with speckles, patches, or streaks of white. He had learned from experience that there is a congruence between the colors of the objects contemplated by the dams at that season and those of their young. At all events they bare many straked, speckled, and spotted lambs and kids. He now separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flock toward the young of the rare colors, doubtless to affect them in the same way as the pilled rods. “Put his own folds by themselves.” These are the party-colored cattle that from time to time appeared in the flock of Laban. In order to secure the stronger cattle, Jacob added the second device of employing the party-colored rods only when the strong cattle conceived. The sheep in the East lamb twice a year, and it is supposed that the lambs dropped in autumn are stronger than those dropped in the spring. On this supposition Jacob used his artifice in the spring, and not in the autumn. It is probable, however, that he made his experiments on the healthy and vigorous cattle, without reference to the season of the year. The result is here stated. “The man brake forth exceedingly” - became rapidly rich in hands and cattle.

It is obvious that the preceding and present chapters form one continuous piece of composition; as otherwise we have no account of the whole family of Jacob from one author. But the names אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym and יהוה y^ehovâh are both employed in the piece, and, hence, their presence and interchange cannot indicate diversity of authorship.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Genesis 30:24. She called his name Joseph — יוסף Yoseph, adding, or he who adds; thereby prophetically declaring that God would add unto her another son, which was accomplished in the birth of Benjamin, Genesis 35:18.