And Leah again conceived, and bore Jacob a sixth son;
Leah's sixth son arrives in a household where two sisters bargain over one husband. The birth looks like a private family matter. Yet it starts one of the tribes of Israel, and the name Leah gives the boy shows what she was still hoping for.
Leah's own words explain the name she chose. Her sayings on this page come from an older translation than the ESV, where her hope reads as her husband "dwelling" with her.
Now we go on to Zebulun, whose meaning is plain from his name and from the way Leah uses it. She called him Zebulun (dwelling), saying, "This time my husband will dwell with me." The spiritual thought connected with Zebulun is dwelling in the relationship God has given us to Himself. This is the only true thought of consecration.
Leah calls the sixth birth a payment from God. She borrows the word from the marriage customs of her day.
Dowry: the sum paid by a man to the relatives of the woman who becomes his wife. Leah, on having her sixth son, piously said, "God has endowed me with a good dowry."
She credits God, yet what she wants from Him is her husband's attention.
It is clear that Rachel gained nothing from the child Reuben's discovery. But God pitied Leah, who wanted a share in her husband's affection, and she bore him now a fifth son and a sixth, besides a daughter. But how strangely low Leah's state was! She treated Issachar as her wages from God, because she had given her servant to Jacob. And she named Zebulun out of her fond hope that her husband's love would last.
Leah's own childbearing ends at six. Commentators read that number as a quiet verdict on the whole effort.
Then a sixth son is added for Leah herself, named Zebulun, which means "dwelling." These six are all the sons that Leah herself bore. This pictures how people can struggle hard to reach their own ends, but always come short. Seven is the number of completeness, while six is the number of man's working week. So Leah, speaking of what I am, can only produce what falls short of any real satisfaction.
The chapter flatters no one in it. Still, this is where Israel's tribes begin.
Genesis 30:1-21 tells the rather sordid story of Jacob's children. Both Rachel and Leah schemed to gain sons and so secure themselves in his favour. Here we have the origins of the tribes in these sons, whom Leah and Rachel named. The servant women did not name their own sons.
Jacob's own words over this son take the name in a different direction.
The name means a "dwelling with," a close dwelling, as Leah's use of it shows. But Jacob here uses another word, and in this place it clearly has a bad sense. Its first meaning is "to lay oneself down." Zebulun does this at the haven of the sea — the harbour for ships — and his border reaches toward Zidon. The idea of prosperity, or at least of hard work to get it, is plain. Yet for Israel this trade with the idol-worshipping nations was not a good sign, and its results were not good. Her border reaching out toward Zidon foretells a dangerous wiping out of what divided Israel from the nations. Coming where it does, this also clearly hints at how the people, having turned from the Deliverer God sent them, would turn to the world.
Much later, the region called by this son's name showed what that name had come to mean.
Galilee, called "the land of Zebulun and Naphtali" on one side and "Galilee of the Gentiles" on the other, showed plainly how far the people of God had sunk. Zebulun, the dweller in relationship as he should have been, had long since fulfilled Jacob's prophecy. By "dwelling at the haven of the sea" he had become the picture of Israel as a whole, giving up its dwelling alone to mix in unfaithful trade with the nations… But the Saviour of sinners is not stopped by this. There in the darkness was the very place for light to spring up. And now there had come to Zebulun a Dweller, in whom God Himself could dwell with man.
- Dwelling — Zebulun means "dwelling." Leah named him for the hope that her husband would now stay with her. True consecration is dwelling in the relationship God gives us to Himself.
- Dowry — a dowry was the price a man paid for a wife. Leah counted her six sons as God's good payment to her.
- Pity — God pitied Leah, who only wanted a share in her husband's love. Yet her state stayed low: she prized that love more than the God who heard her.
- Six — six, not seven, ends her childbearing. Human striving for our own ends always stops short of completeness.
- The Dweller — Zebulun's tribe gave up its dwelling alone for trade with the nations. Into that darkness came One in whom God Himself dwells with man.
and Leah said, God has endowed me with a good dowry; this time will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons. And she called his name Zebulun.
Leah bears a sixth son, and she takes the birth as God's gift after years of rivalry with her sister. She names him Zebulun out of hope that her husband will now stay with her, and that name follows a whole tribe through Israel's story.
Leah borrows a word from the marriage customs of her world. Older translations render her thanks as "a good dowry," where the ESV has "a good endowment." A dowry was the price paid to secure a wife, and Jacob had paid his in labour.
The sum paid by a man to the relatives of the woman who becomes his wife. Leah, when she had her sixth son, said devoutly, "God has endowed me with a good dowry." The dowry Jacob gave for his wives was seven years' service for each.
The name comes straight out of what she says as she gives it. Here the ESV reads "now my husband will honor me," while older translations read "this time my husband will dwell with me" — and Zebulun means dwelling. One writer takes that word further.
Now we go on to Zebulon, whose meaning is plain from his name and from the way Leah uses it. She called him Zebulon (dwelling), saying, "This time my husband will dwell with me." The spiritual thought tied to Zebulon is dwelling in the relationship God has given us to Himself. That is the only true idea of consecration.
Commentators differ on how well Leah is doing here. One writer reads her words as a low point. Her hope rests on Jacob's love, not on God.
Nothing covers over their sad unbelief and petty jealousy. Nothing excuses their superstitious trust in the power of love-apples, just like other Syrian women who lived for the empty things of the nations around them. Rachel clearly gained nothing from the child Reuben's find. But God pitied Leah, who longed for a share in her husband's affection, and she bore him a fifth son and a sixth, besides a daughter. Yet how strangely low Leah's condition is! She treats Issachar as her wages from God because she gave her servant to Jacob. And she names Zebulun out of her fond hope that her husband's love would now last.
Zebulun is the last son Leah bears herself. One writer finds meaning in the number.
These six are all the sons Leah herself bore. This pictures how people can struggle hard to reach their own ends and always come short. Seven is the number of completeness, while six is the number of man's working week. So Leah, speaking of what I am, can only produce what falls short of any real satisfaction.
This verse is not only about one household. Each name here becomes a tribe, and the two rival wives chose those names.
Genesis 30:1-21 tells the rather sordid story of Jacob's children. It tells of the schemes of both Rachel and Leah, as they tried to gain sons and so secure a place in his favour. Here we have the origins of the tribes in these sons, and Leah and Rachel named them.
Leah wanted her husband to settle with her. Centuries later the land named after her son had lost that settled life.
Zebulon should have been the dweller in relationship with God. Instead he had long since fulfilled Jacob's prophecy, and "dwelling at the haven of the sea" had become the picture of Israel as a whole. Israel gave up its solitary dwelling to mix in unfaithful trade with the nations. Now it was only "the way of the sea," as if swallowed up in its waters. Naphtali, the wrestler, sat wrestling no longer, in a darkness that was truly the "shadow of death." But the Saviour of sinners is not stopped by this. There in the darkness was the very place for light to rise. And now there had come to Zebulon a Dweller, in whom God Himself could dwell with man.
- Dowry — Leah uses the language of a bride-price: God has paid her, and six sons are the payment.
- Dwelling — Zebulun means dwelling. It points to dwelling in the relationship God has given us to Himself.
- Hope — she pins that dwelling on a husband's love, and one writer calls this a low moment for her.
- Shortfall — six sons, not seven: hard effort still falls short of real satisfaction.
- Fulfilment — the tribe named "dwelling" ended up mixed with the nations and sitting in darkness. There a Dweller came, in whom God dwells with man.