Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb,
Parallel translations
- WEB God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb.
- KJV And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
- NKJV Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.
- NASB Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.
- NLT Then God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children.
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 remembers Rachel, listens to her, and opens her womb. After long barrenness, the Lord graciously grants her a child.
Overview
To say God 'remembered' Rachel does not mean he had forgotten her, but that he now acts to fulfill his purpose for her, as he did for Sarah and will for Hannah. Her barrenness, ended only by divine intervention, underscores that children are God's gift and that he hears the cries of the afflicted. This pattern of God opening a barren womb anticipates the births of key figures in redemptive history, ultimately the miraculous birth of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Gen 29:31When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
- Ps 113:9He settles the barren woman in her home as a joyful mother to her children. Hallelujah!
- 1 Sam 1:19–20The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow in worship before the LORD, and then returned home to Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her.
- Gen 8:1But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside.
- Ps 127:3Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.
- Gen 25:21Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.
- Gen 21:1–2Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.
- Ps 105:42For He remembered His holy promise to Abraham His servant.
- Gen 30:2Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”
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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 30:22 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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