Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Genesis 30:22 - 30:24

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Genesis 30:22 - 30:24


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The Birth of Joseph

v. 22. And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
It seems, then, that when all her schemes and stratagems failed, she turned to God in fervent and patient prayer, and that the Lord, in answer, removed her barrenness.

v. 23. And she conceived, and bare a son, and said, God hath taken away my reproach;


v. 24. and she called his name Joseph
(He shall add); and said, The Lord shall add to me another son. In taking away from Rachel the reproach of her unfruitfulness, the Lord had added to her the hope that He would add a second son. This wish was later fulfilled, Gen_35:16-18. It is undoubtedly correct to assume, from the subsequent story, that the eleven children of Jacob, from Reuben to Joseph, were born in the seven years after his marriage, not exactly in a chronological succession as narrated, but so that Leah gave birth to her four sons during the first four years. Dan and Naphtali were probably likewise born during this period, the children of Zilpah immediately after, Leah herself again becoming a mother in the sixth and seventh years, and Joseph being born about the end of the seventh year, when Jacob was ninety-one years old. The entire story shows that the fear of the Lord makes for true happiness in the home, for believers rely upon the Lord for all good gifts and gratefully receive them, at His hands.