Zilpah, Leah’s servant, bore Jacob a second son.
Parallel translations
- KJV And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a second son.
- BSB When Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son,
- NKJV And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.
- NASB And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.
- NLT Then Zilpah gave Jacob a second son.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Zilpah bears Jacob a second son, further enlarging Leah's portion of the family. The competition between the sisters continues through their servants.
Overview
This birth, like Gad's, comes through Leah's servant Zilpah acting as surrogate. The repeated note of who bore which son underscores the careful record-keeping of Israel's origins. Behind the human striving, God is faithfully forming the nation he promised to Abraham.
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 30:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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