And God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb.
Genesis 30 has been a chapter of rivalry and bargaining between two sisters married to one man. At this verse the story turns: God steps in, Rachel's long barrenness ends, and the son born here changes the whole family's course.
Earlier in the chapter the sisters worked to get children by their own devices.
When we reach verse 22, we find God begins to act. We leave behind us the scheming of the two wives, though it is still Rachel who gives the name of Joseph. Yet here is a son born as the fruit of God acting in answer to Rachel's prayers, and the story rises to a higher level.
Rachel envied her sister for the children she had. Writers set her beside Hannah, another wife who was taunted for having no children.
Self was at work in her. It blinded her to the fact that her sister did not have Jacob's heart, which she alone had. It was envy — that low feeling that cannot bear another, even a sister, having what she had not... How different from Hannah! She was sorrowful under Peninnah's taunts, and even under the high priest's misjudgment. She made no improper complaints against her husband. She wept and prayed and made a vow to the Lord, and the God of Israel heard her.
Rachel's own words after the birth show she knew what the barren years had been.
Rachel at last, as we read here, refreshes the heart, for here we see the thoughtful tenderness of God's ways. After her long humiliation for her unworthy self-seeking, He was pleased to pity her and give her the son she had longed for. Then she said, God has taken away my reproach. Despite her proud bearing, she knew she was under chastening.
Writers watch which name Rachel uses for God. Earlier she credits a bare "God". Only after Joseph is born does she name the Lord in faith.
How far everything has sunk morally from Abraham's time, and even Isaac's! This is not barrenness of the body, with God stepping in with promise and power. Instead, what a scene of selfishness, jealousies and craft! There is only one green spot in it — Rachel, the barren one, is heard... So Rachel here, even in her special situation, has no thought of the Lord's ways. It is "God has judged me," and so on all through, until her heart is softened by grace. Then she says, in faith, "The Lord will add." Joseph is the promise of Benjamin.
Joseph means "adding" — she asks for more even while holding her first. Writers see him as a picture of Christ, though not a complete one.
At last God answered Rachel's prayer, and she gave birth to Joseph (vv. 22-24). His name means "adding," because she had confidence that God would add to her another son. Joseph is plainly a type of Christ... Yet Joseph gives us only one side of the truth about Christ — that He was a Sufferer before being exalted. We must all learn this first. Only then can we appreciate the truth seen in Benjamin. He is a type of Christ as the Son of the Father's right hand, glorified and exalted to the throne, reigning in glory.
The two wives also picture God's larger dealings. Rachel, loved first, stands for Israel. Leah, given in the meantime, stands for the Gentiles — the nations outside Israel.
Jacob loved Rachel first. Yet he still had to wait and serve another week for her, after Leah had been given to him. This bears on the Lord's relation to Israel, loved first, while the slighted Gentile has meanwhile taken her place, with rich results in His grace. God at last remembers Rachel and takes away her reproach by adding to her a son, Joseph. He is a type of One glorified among the Gentiles, who delivers His Jewish brothers after suffering among both Jews and Gentiles.
The change reached her husband too.
The birth of Joseph was a turning point for the spirit of his mother. It did more than that. Jacob then woke up to his proper place and to his country, tied to the promises of God... The needed discipline was not over: Jacob still had more to learn about himself under God's good dealings.
- Remembered, not forgotten. Here God begins to act, and the scheming of the two wives comes to an end.
- Remembered after chastening. Rachel's own words show she knew the barren years were discipline for envy and self-seeking. Hannah, by contrast, wept and prayed instead of complaining against her husband.
- Remembered changes her speech. Before the birth she speaks only of God. Afterwards she names the Lord in faith and expects more — "the Lord will add."
- Remembered reaches beyond her. Joseph pictures Christ as a Sufferer before He was exalted. Benjamin pictures Him glorified at the Father's right hand.
- Remembered moves the whole household. From Joseph's birth Jacob turns his heart back toward his own land and the promises of God. His training was far from finished.
And she conceived, and bore a son, and said, God has taken away my reproach.
Rachel had been childless for years, and this verse records the moment that ended. Her first words on holding her son are not about the child but about God.
Her word "reproach" carries an admission. She knew she had been under God's hand.
Rachel at last, as we read here, becomes a refreshment to the heart, through the thoughtful tenderness of God's ways. After her long humiliation because of her unworthy self-seeking, He was glad to pity her and give her the son she had wanted so much. Then she said, God has taken away my reproach. Despite her proud manner, she knew she was under chastening.
Her reproach was that she had no children. That is where God has often begun.
She shared her reproach with many a woman whom God raised up to be a channel of blessing to His people. She is barren. Like Sarah, like Hannah, like Rebekah, there is nothing of nature's energy and nothing of nature's strength in her at all. Perfectly desolate, perfectly helpless. Her own deep sense of this may well have stirred her soul and prepared her for God to make His will known to her. We see the same in Hannah: she was so concerned before God about her need that He could meet it and answer the request of her soul.
The chapters around this verse are full of rivalry and scheming. Against that background, Rachel's answered longing stands out.
How badly everything has sunk morally from Abraham's time, and even Isaac's. What a scene of selfishness, jealousy and craft! Only one green spot is in it — Rachel, the barren one, is heard. All the rest is misery and flesh, only just chastisement and discipline from God.
Here Rachel says "God". In the very next verse she uses the name Jehovah — the name the ESV prints as "the LORD". Some have argued that shifts like this prove Genesis was stitched together from different writers.
It is Jehovah in Genesis 29 and God in Genesis 30:2-23, yet in the next verse (24) Rachel says not God, but Jehovah; and it is the same in verses 27 and 30. The notion of different writers is mere fancy, explains nothing, and blocks all proper enquiry into the divine motive for the change of name.
The change of name is not random. It tracks a change in Rachel herself.
In sovereign power God remembered Rachel. She not only confesses that the God of creation had taken away her reproach, but calls her son Joseph, saying that Jehovah will add to her another son. Rachel rose from the thought of His power to the recognition of His ways with His own.
Rachel did not stop with the son she had been given. The name she chose for him looks ahead.
Rachel shows the way of faith on this same occasion. She calls her son "Joseph", that is, "adding". She was certain that the Lord, who had now begun His mercies towards her, would go on with them and complete them. Faith in our hearts and on our lips speaks in the same spirit today: "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" From His gifts Rachel drew a plea to ask Him for still more. With bolder, happier faith she also drew a conclusion: she could trust Him for still more.
The son given to end her shame also points beyond her.
Jacob loved Rachel first, yet he had to wait for her and serve another week after Leah was given to him. This surely bears on the Lord's relation to Israel, loved first, while meanwhile the slighted Gentile has been put in her place, with rich results in His grace. God at last remembers Rachel. He takes away her reproach by adding a son to her, Joseph — a picture of One glorified among the Gentiles, who delivers His Jewish brothers after suffering among both Jews and Gentiles.
- Chastened. Her own word "reproach" shows she knew her barren years were God's discipline, not bad luck.
- Remembered. God remembered her, and the shame went. The One who withheld is the One who gives.
- Emptied first. Like Sarah, Rebekah and Hannah, she had none of nature's strength. God has often made such women a channel of blessing.
- Enlarged. She names the boy "adding" and asks for more. One gift from God is faith's ground for expecting the next.
- Christ. The son who ends her reproach pictures Christ. He is glorified among the Gentiles and delivers His own brothers after suffering at the hands of both.
And she called his name Joseph; and said, Jehovah will add to me another son.
Rachel had waited a long time for a child. Her son is born, and she names him for a second son she does not yet have. The name Joseph means "adding." That one word opens up her faith, God's dealings with her, and the Christ this son pictures.
The gift comes after a long humbling, and Rachel's own words admit it. She had carried her childlessness as a disgrace. God pitied her and took it away.
Rachel at last, as we read here, gives the heart something refreshing: the considerate tenderness of God's ways. After her long humiliation because of her unworthy self-seeking, He was pleased to pity her and give her the son she had longed for. Then she said, God has taken away my reproach. Despite her proud bearing, she knew she was under chastisement. The name she gave her firstborn is striking, for Joseph means He will add. As she said, Jehovah will add to me another. Her faith saw in Joseph the promise of Benjamin. Never before had she reached this level of expectation.
Up to this point Rachel had spoken of God only in the general title Elohim — "God has judged me." Here she uses Jehovah, the covenant name rendered "the LORD." One writer marks that switch as the moment grace softened her heart.
Rachel here, even in her special circumstances, has no thought of Jehovah's ways. It is "Elohim has judged me," and so all through, until grace softens her heart. Then she says, in faith, "Jehovah will add." Joseph is the promise of Benjamin.
Translations differ. The ESV reads a prayer — "May the LORD add." Older versions read a statement of faith — "Jehovah will add." Either way, her words look forward: because God has begun to give, she counts on Him to give again. Faith today reasons the same way.
The way of faith shows in Rachel on this same occasion. She calls her son "Joseph," that is, "adding." She was sure that the Lord, who had now begun His mercies towards her, would go on with them and complete them. So faith now in our hearts and on our lips says, in the same spirit, "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" From His gifts, Rachel not only drew a reason to ask Him for still more, but in bolder, happier faith drew the conclusion to trust Him for still more.
Commentators read Joseph as a type of Christ — a picture of Him. But he carries only half the picture. Joseph shows suffering first, then glory. The second son Rachel asked for fills out the rest.
Joseph is plainly a type of Christ… Yet Joseph gives us only one side of the truth about Christ — that He was a Sufferer before being exalted. This is most important for us all to learn first. Only then are we in any condition to appreciate the truth seen in Benjamin. He is a type of Christ as the Son of the Father's right hand, glorified and exalted to the throne, reigning in glory.
If the name means "adding," what does Christ add? One writer answers from the cross.
He adds to heaven's inhabitants. He says, in John 12:24, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." He refers here to His death. "Much fruit" is the result. And it is all to be gathered at last into the heavenly barn.
Rachel did get her second son. The cost was more than she could see at the time. Yet the faith in her asking is not forgotten.
He who remembered the barren woman and gave her a son will also remember, in that day, the faith that counted on Jehovah's boundless power and goodwill. That faith said, "The Lord shall add to me another son."
Kelly sets the sober note beside it.
How little she knew that Benjamin — son of his father's right hand — would be Benoni, son of his mother's sorrow; for his birth would prove her death. How much better to trust unfailing love and wisdom than to set the heart on any object here below!
- Remembered. God's pity, not Rachel's efforts, took away her reproach. Her own word shows she knew she had been under chastisement.
- Renamed. Grace softened her heart. She stops saying "God has judged me" and starts saying "Jehovah will add."
- Reasoned. Her faith argues forward. Because God has begun to give, He will keep giving. Faith today reasons the same way from the gift of God's own Son.
- Reaching. Joseph means "adding," and Christ adds. His death gathers much fruit into heaven's barn.
- Restrained. The second son came, and cost her life. Better to trust unfailing love and wisdom than to set the heart on any object here below.