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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Genesis 30:9 - 30:9
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Zilpah's Sons. - But Leah also was not content with the divine blessing bestowed upon her by Jehovah. The means employed by Rachel to retain the favour of her husband made her jealous; and jealousy drove her to the employment of the same means. Jacob begat two sons by Zilpah her maid. The one Leah named Gad, i.e., “good fortune,” saying, בְּגָד, “with good fortune,” according to the Chethib, for which the Masoretic reading is גָּד בָּא, “good fortune has come,” - not, however, from any ancient tradition, for the Sept. reads ἐν τύχῃ, but simply from a subjective and really unnecessary conjecture, since בְּגָד = “to my good fortune,” sc., a son is born, gives a very suitable meaning. The second she named Asher, i.e., the happy one, or bringer of happiness; for she said, בְּאָשְׁרִי, “to my happiness, for daughters call me happy,” i.e., as a mother with children. The perfect אִשְּׁרנִי relates to “what she had now certainly reached” (Del.). Leah did not think of God in connection with these two births. They were nothing more than the successful and welcome result of the means she had employed.