And she named him Joseph, for she said, “May the Lord add yet another son to my family.”
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.
- 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.”
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 49:22–26“Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a spring. His branches run over the wall.
- Gen 37:2This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father.
- Rev 7:8of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
- Deut 33:13–17About Joseph he said, “His land is blessed by Yahweh, for the precious things of the heavens, for the dew, for the deep that couches beneath,
- Heb 11:21–22By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
- Gen 39:1–23Joseph was brought down to Egypt. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites that had brought him down there.
- Gen 42:6Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth.
- Gen 35:17–18When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for now you will have another son.”
- Gen 37:4His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.
- Ezek 37:16You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
- Gen 48:1–22After these things, someone said to Joseph, “Behold, your father is sick.” He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
- Acts 7:9–15“The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. 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.