Genesis 30:7
ESV
Rachel 's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
NIV
Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
NASB
And Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
CSB
Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
NLT
Then Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son.
KJV
And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.
NKJV
And Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
What does Genesis 30:7 mean?
Rachel was angry that her unloved sister, Leah, was able to bear sons for their mutual husband, Jacob, while she was childless (Genesis 29:31). After foolishly blaming Jacob (Genesis 30:1–2), Rachel then turned to a strategy used previously in the same family. According to custom, a woman could "bear" children through a servant, and those children would be considered hers; this is how Abraham and Sarah attempted to shortcut God's plans many years previous (Genesis 16:1–4). Rachel's scheme is successful, at least in that it results in a child: Dan (Genesis 30:6), the fifth son of Jacob.Bilhah is still referred to as Rachel's servant (Genesis 29:29), implying that Rachel retains possession of and responsibility for Bilhah in spite of her also being one of Jacob's wives. Bilhah conceives again and gives birth to second son, Jacob's sixth. This child will be named Naphtali, a reflection of Rachel's great struggle to obtain children, as well as her sense that there is a competition afoot between the two wives.
