Bible Strands
Genesis 30:17
And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative records God’s direct intervention in Leah’s fertility immediately after she negotiates Jacob’s presence through mandrakes. This event precedes Leah’s declaration that God has rewarded her and her naming of their fifth son.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיִּשְׁמַע (va/yishma') literally means "and he listened," while תַּ֫הַר (ta.har) translates as "she conceived." These terms anchor the verse’s claim that divine attention initiates biological change.
The thread — The pattern of God listening to human need recurs in Genesis 30:6 when Rachel names Dan, in Genesis 30:22 when God listens to Rachel, and in Exodus 3:7 when God hears Israel’s cry. Each instance links divine response to human distress or petition.
Why it lands — The text asserts that fertility outcomes follow divine attention rather than human strategy alone. A reader must acknowledge that human negotiations in Genesis 30 operate within a framework of sovereign intervention.
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 God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.
Cross-references
- Genesis 30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.
- Genesis 30:22 Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb,
- 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.
- 1 Samuel 1:20 So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”
- 1 Samuel 1:26 “Please, my lord,” said Hannah, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.
- Luke 1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.