She named him Joseph, and said, “May the LORD add to me another son.”
Parallel translations
- WEB She named him Joseph, saying, “May Yahweh add another son to me.”
- KJV And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.
- NKJV So she called his name Joseph, and said, “The Lord shall add to me another son.”
- NASB And she named him Joseph, saying, “May the Lord give me another son.”
- NLT And she named him Joseph, for she said, “May the Lord add yet another son to my family.”
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
Rachel names her son Joseph, praying that the Lord would add yet another son. Joseph will become one of the most significant figures in Genesis.
Overview
The name Joseph means 'may he add,' expressing Rachel's continued faith-filled hope for more children. Joseph's life will dominate the closing chapters of Genesis as God uses him to preserve Israel during famine. His career of suffering, exaltation, and the saving of many lives stands as a striking Old Testament foreshadowing of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Gen 35:24The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
- Gen 49:22–26Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.
- Gen 37:2This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
- Rev 7:8from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, and from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
- Deut 33:13–17Concerning Joseph he said: “May his land be blessed by the LORD with the precious dew from heaven above and the deep waters that lie beneath,
- Heb 11:21–22By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
- Gen 39:1–23Meanwhile, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, where an Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
- Gen 42:6Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.
- Gen 35:17–18During her severe labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you are having another son.”
- Gen 37:4When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
- Ezek 37:16“And you, son of man, take a single stick and write on it: ‘Belonging to Judah and to the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick and write on it: ‘Belonging to Joseph—the stick of Ephraim—and to all the house of Israel associated with him.’
- Gen 48:1–22Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
- Acts 7:9–15Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 30:24 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.