And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.
Parallel translations
- WEB She named him Joseph, saying, “May Yahweh add another son to me.”
- BSB She named him Joseph, and said, “May the LORD 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; Joseph, and Benjamin:
- Gen 49:22–26Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
- Gen 37:2These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
- Rev 7:8Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
- Deut 33:13–17And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,
- Heb 11:21–22By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
- Gen 39:1–23And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
- Gen 42:6And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
- Gen 35:17–18And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
- Gen 37:4And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
- Ezek 37:16Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
- Gen 48:1–22And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
- Acts 7:9–15And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph 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.