Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Rachel speaks to Jacob after observing her own prolonged barrenness.
The words — וַתְּקַנֵּ֥א (va.te.ka.Ne') denotes jealousy or envy, and יָֽלְדָה (yal.Dah) indicates the act of bearing children.
The thread — The narrative pattern of barrenness and familial envy recurs in Genesis 29:31 and Genesis 37:11, while Job 5:2 records the destructive outcome of that same emotion.
Why it lands — The text records Rachel’s demand for offspring and Jacob’s immediate anger, requiring the reader to confront how human desperation for fulfillment operates independently of divine sovereignty.
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 Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
Cross-references
- Job 5:2 For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
- Genesis 29:31 When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
- Genesis 37:11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.
- Proverbs 14:30 A tranquil heart is life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
- 1 Corinthians 3:3 for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?
- 2 Corinthians 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
- James 3:14 But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
- James 4:5 Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?
- Numbers 11:15 If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.”
- Numbers 11:29 But Moses replied, “Are you jealous on my account? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would place His Spirit on them!”