*H And Rachel seeing herself without children, envied her sister, and said to her husband: Give me children, otherwise I shall die.
Ver. 1. Envied, or desired to have children like her. Thus we may envy the virtues of the saints. C. — Give me, &c. These words seem to indicate a degree of impatience, at which we need not be surprised, when we reflect, that Rachel had been educated among idolaters. M. — Die of grief and shame. "I shall be considered as one dead." Jun. S. Chrysostom thinks she threatened to lay violent hands on herself, and through jealousy, spoke in a foolish manner. This passion is capable of the basest actions, (H.) and is almost unavoidable where polygamy reigns. C.
*H And Jacob being angry with her, answered: Am I as God, who hath deprived thee of the fruit of thy womb?
Ver. 2. Angry at the rash and apparently blasphemous demand of Rachel. M. — As God, pro Deo. Am I to work a miracle in opposition to God, who has made thee barren? To him thou oughtest to address thyself. The Hebrews justly observe, that God has reserved to himself the four keys of nature: 1. Of generation; 2. Of sustenance, Ps. cxliv. 16; 3. Of rain, Deut. xxviii. 12. And, 4. Of the grave or resurrection, Ez. xxxvii. 12. T.
*H But she said: I have here my servant Bala: go in unto her, that she may bear upon my knees, and I may have children by her.
Ver. 3. Servant, like a maid of honour. Josephus says she was not a slave, no more than Zelpha. — My knees, whom I may nurse with pleasure. It was an ancient custom to place the new-born infants upon the knees of some near relation, who gave them a name, and thus in a manner adopted them. C. l. 22. Job iii. 12. Ps. xxi. 11. Homer. C.
*H And she gave him Bala in marriage: who,
Ver. 4. Marriage. The Manichees condemned Jacob for having four wives at once. But S. Aug. replied, it was not then unusual or forbidden. He took the two last only at the pressing instigation of Rachel and Lia, and that only for the sake of children. Lia herself was forced upon him. c. Faust. xxii. 48.
*H And Rachel said: The Lord hath judged for me, and hath heard my voice, giving me a son; and therefore she called his name Dan.
Ver. 6. Dan, means judgment. From the same root as Adonis; Adoni, my lord or judge, &c. Rachel's whole solicitude was for children. H.
*H For whom Rachel said: God hath compared me with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called him Nephthali.
Ver. 8. Compared me, &c. As Lia treacherously got my husband, so I have craftily surmounted the difficulties of barrenness; I have struggled earnestly, and have got the victory. Patal, means to act with cunning. Ps. xvii. 27. C. — Nephtali, "a crafty wrestler." M.
*H She said: Happily. And therefore called his name Gad.
Ver. 11. Happily, fortunately. — Gad, or Bonaventure. H. —"Good-fortune," was acknowledge by the pagans for a divinity; (Is. lxv. 11.) perhaps for the Sun, or Oromagdes, the Gad of Aram. He was opposed to the wicked Arimenes in the Chaldean theology, by Zoroaster, (C.) the inventor of the Two Principles. Whether Lia intended to attribute this child to the influence of the planet Jupiter, the Sun, or some other tool, we cannot determine. H. — Her naming may be simply; Behold I am now a mother of a troop, or little army, Gad; and to which (C. xlix. 19.) Jacob evidently alludes. C.
*H And Lia said: This is for my happiness: for women will call me blessed. Therefore she called him Aser.
Ver. 13. Aser: happy. My servant has now had as many sons as my sister (M.) and I have given them both names, indicating my great felicity and joy. H.
*H And Ruben going out in the time of the wheat harvest into the field, found mandrakes: which he brought to his mother Lia. And Rachel said: Give me part of thy son's mandrakes.
Ver. 14. Ruben, now perhaps about four years old, playing in the fields, in the latter harvest time, (Ex. ix. 32.) found mandrakes of an extraordinary beauty and flavour, (Cant. vii. 13.) whether they were flowers, lilies, jasmine, &c. as some translate; or rather, fruits of the mandrake tree, according to all the ancient versions; or of the citron, lemon, or orange tree, if we believe Calmet. Dudaim designates two breasts, or something lovely and protuberant. The ancients have spoken with admiration, and have attributed wonderful effects to the mandrakes, which, though controverted by moderns, might suffice to make Rachel greatly desire to have them; at least, if she believed they would contribute to remove her sterility, as Pliny xxv. 15. Aristotle (de Gener. ii.) and other naturalists of eminence, have maintained they did. H. — The effect which she desired so much, was not, however, to be attributed to them, since she conceived only three years after, and that by the blessing of God. T.
*H She answered: Dost thou think it a small matter, that thou hast taken my husband from me, unless thou take also my son's mandrakes? Rachel said: He shall sleep with thee this night, for thy son's mandrakes.
Ver. 15. From me. Lia was aware that Jacob's affection lay entirely towards Rachel; particularly now as she had ceased to bear children herself. H. — This might, when it is my turn to have him. To prevent any jealousy, the husband visited his wives one after another, as was the case with Smerdis, the king of Persia. Herod. iii. 79. Exod. xxi. 10. C.
*H And said: God hath given me a reward, because I gave my handmaid to my husband. And she called his name Issachar.
Ver. 18. Issachar, "the reward of the man, or husband." C. — She might allude also to the reward she had obtained for her mandrakes. H.
*H And said: God hath endowed me with a good dowry; this turn also my husband will be with me, because I have borne him six sons: and therefore she called his name Zabulon.
Ver. 20. Zabulon, "dwelling or cohabiting." Zobad (which resembles the sound of Zobal) means to endow, (C.) to which she seems also to refer; as if her marriage was renewed, and God had given her more children for a dowry. M.
*H After whom she bore a daughter, named Dina.
Ver. 21. Dina, "judgment," like Dan. God hath done me justice. The Hebrews assert that Dina was married to holy Job. She was born the same year as Joseph, the 91st of Jacob. Lia brought forth seven children in seven years.
*H And she called his name Joseph: saying: The Lord give me also another son.
Ver. 24. Joseph. In imposing this name, Rachel looks both to the past and to the future; thanking God for taking away (asop) her reproach, and begging that He would add (isop or Joseph) the blessing of another son, as he really did, though it occasioned her death: so little do we know what we ask for! Joseph means one "adding or increasing." C. xlix. 22. H. — He was born when the 14 years of service were over; being a most glorious figure of Jesus Christ, who came to redeem us from slavery. D.
*H Appoint thy wages which I shall give thee.
Ver. 28. Give thee. He wishes to engage him to continue in his service; being convinced, that a faithful and pious servant is a great treasure. Laban promises every thing, and performs little according to agreement. He never thinks of making Jacob any present for his extraordinary diligence.
*H And Laban said: What shall I give thee? But he said: I require nothing; but if thou wilt do what I demand, I will feed and keep thy sheep again.
Ver. 31. Nothing. I am willing to depart with my family towards my father. But if I must stay, these are my terms. H. — I require no certain wages, committing myself entirely to what Providence shall send. Salien.
*H Go round through all thy flocks, and separate all the sheep of divers colours, and speckled; and all that is brown and spotted, and of divers colours, as well among the sheep as among the goats, shall be my wages.
Ver. 32. Speckled; from those which are all of one colour. Those which should be of the former description must belong to Jacob, while all the black and the white should be Laban's. — Brown, or of a dull mixture of white and black. — Spotted, having large patches of either colour. — Divers, little spots variegating the fleece. M. — The original is extremely obscure. Jacob asks only for the worst; the speckled sheep and goats, also the black sheep and the white goats, v. 35. Bochart. C.
*H And my justice shall answer for me tomorrow before thee, when the time of the bargain shall come; and all that is not of divers colours, and spotted, and brown, as well among the sheep as among the goats, shall accuse me of theft.
Ver. 33. Of theft, if they be found in my possession. I am so well convinced that God will reward my justice, that, even contrary to what might naturally be expected, he will enable me to have plenty of spotted sheep and goats, though their mothers be all of one colour. It is not certain, that Jacob agreed to have the flocks parted till the end of the year. M.
*H And he separated the same day the she-goats, and the sheep, and the he-goats, and the rams of divers colours, and spotted; and all the flock of one colour, that is, of white and black fleece, he delivered into the hands of his sons.
Ver. 35. His sons. These continued to observe the conduct of Jacob, while Laban drove off all the flocks of divers colours to so great a distance, (v. 36.) that there was no danger of the sheep under Jacob's care getting to them. Thus Laban first began to violate the agreement; and the angel of the Lord suggested to Jacob, the plan by which he was preserved from serving a cruel and avaricious man without wages. C. xxxi. 12. M.
*H And Jacob separated the flock, and put the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the rams; and all the white and the black were Laban's, and the rest were Jacob's, when the flocks were separated one from the other.
Ver. 40. All the white, &c. Notwithstanding Jacob's stratagem, some had lambs all of a colour. The force of fancy is very surprising on such occasions. Oppian, Aristotle, and others, recommend Jacob's plan as consonant to nature. H.
*H But when the later coming was, and the last conceiving, he did not put them. And those that were lateward, became Laban's; and they of the first time, Jacob's.
Ver. 42. Later-coming, in autumn, when the spring lambs were of an inferior value. These he was willing to abandon for the most part to Laban; and therefore did not use his rods. Pliny viii. 47. and Columella viii. 3. agree, that the lambs which are produced in spring, do not thrive so well as those of autumn, at least in Italy, and in those countries where sheep lamb twice a year. Bis gravidæ pecudes. Virg. C. — Many who have tried the same experiment as Jacob, have not experienced the same success; whence S. Chrysostom, and most of the Greek fathers, suppose that it was miraculous. T.