Bible Strands
Genesis 30:2
Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jacob addresses Rachel after she demands children and acknowledges her barrenness. This exchange occurs at the moment she turns her frustration toward him rather than toward God.
The words — The phrase הֲ/תַ֤חַת אֱלֹהִים֙ אָנֹ֔כִי (ha./Ta.chat 'E.lo.Him 'a.No.khi) literally translates to "in place of God [am] I?" while וַ/יִּֽחַר־ אַ֥ף (va/i.yi.char- 'af) denotes the burning of Jacob's anger.
The thread — The rhetorical challenge "Am I God?" resurfaces in 2 Kings 5:7 when the king of Israel rejects a healer's authority, and the verse's underlying premise that children originate from the LORD appears in Psalms 127:3.
Why it lands — The text explicitly denies Jacob any power to provide offspring, requiring the reader to acknowledge human limitation and direct fertility expectations to God alone.
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 Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
Cross-references
- Genesis 16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
- 2 Kings 5:7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a leper? Surely you can see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!”
- Psalms 127:3 Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.
- Genesis 31:36 Then Jacob became incensed and challenged Laban. “What is my crime?” he said. “For what sin of mine have you so hotly pursued me?
- Genesis 50:19 But Joseph replied, “Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God?
- 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.
- Genesis 20:18 for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.
- Genesis 25:21 Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.
- Genesis 29:31 When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
- Exodus 32:19 As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain.