And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
Parallel translations
- WEB God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb.
- BSB Then God remembered Rachel. He listened 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 29:31And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.
- Ps 113:9He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.
- 1 Sam 1:19–20And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her.
- Gen 8:1And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
- Ps 127:3Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
- Gen 25:21And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
- Gen 21:1–2And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.
- Ps 105:42For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.
- Gen 30:2And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
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 30:22 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
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.