Bible Strands
Genesis 29:31
When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records God’s intervention regarding Leah and Rachel immediately after Jacob completes his second seven years of service to Laban.
The words — שְׂנוּאָה (se.nu'ah) translates literally as [was] hated or unloved, while רַחְמָהּ (rachmah) means her womb.
The thread — Divine control over fertility recurs in Genesis 20:18 where God closes wombs, 1 Samuel 2:21 where God attends to Hannah, and Psalm 127:3 which identifies children as the Lord’s reward.
Why it lands — The verse states that God opened Leah’s womb while leaving Rachel barren, establishing that lineage proceeds by divine action rather than human affection and requiring the reader to track how God redirects family lines according to His purpose.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 2:21 So the LORD attended to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.
- Psalms 127:3 Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.
- Genesis 20:18 for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.
- Genesis 30:1 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. “Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.
- Deuteronomy 21:15 If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other unloved, and both bear him sons, but the unloved wife has the firstborn son,
- 1 Samuel 1:5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved her even though the LORD had closed her womb.
- Matthew 10:37 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
- Genesis 29:30 Jacob slept with Rachel as well, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. So he worked for Laban another seven years.
- Exodus 3:7 The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.
- Judges 13:2 Now there was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children.