God listened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son.
Parallel translations
- KJV And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.
- BSB And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob.
- NKJV And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.
- NASB God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.
- NLT And God answered Leah’s prayers. She became pregnant again and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob.
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
God hears Leah and she conceives a fifth son. The text credits the conception to God, not the mandrakes.
Overview
The narrator deliberately attributes Leah's pregnancy to God listening to her, undercutting any notion that the mandrakes produced the result. This affirms the consistent biblical truth that the Lord alone gives life and opens the womb. Leah's fifth son continues the building of the tribes through which God's redemptive plan advances.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 1 Sam 1:20When the time had come, Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of Yahweh.”
- Gen 30:22God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb.
- 1 Sam 1:26–27She said, “Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to Yahweh.
- Luke 1:13But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
- Exod 3:7Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.
- Gen 30:6Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son.” Therefore called she his name Dan.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 30:17 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.