Gênesis 30
Jerome · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Gênesis 30:5-6
(Chapter XXX.—Verses 5 and 6) And Bala conceived and bore a son to Jacob: and Rachel said: The Lord judged me, and heard my voice, and gave me a son: therefore she called his name Dan. She expressed the reason for the name, that because the Lord had judged her, a son of the handmaid, she would give the name of judgment: Dan, indeed, is interpreted as judgment. — Hebrew Questions on Genesis
Gênesis 30:7-8
(Verse 7 and 8) And she conceived again, and bore a son. And Rachel said, God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son. Therefore she called his name Naphtali. The meaning of the name Naphtali is explained differently here than it is written in the Book of Hebrew Names. Hence also Aquila says, 'God has joined me, and I have joined together,' which in Hebrew is written Naphtule Elohim, Naphtalethi. From the conversion or from the comparison, since both signify conversion or comparison, he named the son Nephthalim. But what follows. — Hebrew Questions on Genesis
Gênesis 30:10-11
(Verse 10 and 11.) And Zilpah, the maid of Leah, bore Jacob a son, and Leah said, 'In fortunate circumstances,' and she called his name Gad. Where we have placed ourselves, in fortunate circumstances, and in Greek it is said ἐν τύχῃ, which can be translated as 'event.' In Hebrew, it is Bagad (), which Aquila interprets as 'girdle' or 'belt.' But we can say 'in readiness.' For Ba can sound like the preposition 'in,' and gad means 'coming.' Therefore, from the event or readiness, the son of Zilpah, Gad, was called. Sequitur: — Hebrew Questions on Genesis
Gênesis 30:12-13
(Verse 12 and 13.) And Zilpah, Leah's maidservant, gave birth to a second son for Jacob. And Leah said, 'I am blessed, for women will call me blessed.' And she called his name Asher, which means 'riches'. The riches are added with a play on words, that is, πλοῦτος. The etymology of the name Asher is explained by the authority of Scripture, which says, 'I am blessed, and women will call me blessed.' And because she is called blessed by people, she named her son blessed. Therefore, Asher is not called riches but blessed, only in this particular context. For in other cases, according to the ambiguity of the word, riches can be called thus. — Hebrew Questions on Genesis
Gênesis 30:17-18
(Verse 17 and 18.) And God heard Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob her fifth son, and she said, 'God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband.' And she called his name Issachar. The Septuagint Interpreters have given the etymology of this name, it is wages. Not that, as many wrongly read with an added pronoun, it is to be understood as written, which is wages, but the whole name is interpreted, it is wages. For it is said that Sachar, the son of Ruben, bought the entrance which was owed to Rachel, for a price. It follows: — Hebrew Questions on Genesis
Gênesis 30:19-20
(Verse 19 and 20.) And Leah conceived again and gave birth to her sixth son for Jacob. And Leah said, 'God has endowed me with a good endowment. Now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.' And she called his name Zebulun. Wherever we have settled, he will dwell with me.' And the Seventy translated it as 'he will love me.' In Hebrew, it is written as Jezbuleni. And the meaning is that I have borne Jacob six sons, so now I am secure, for my husband will dwell with me. Therefore, my son is called "Habitaculum". However, in the book of Numbers, Zabulon is translated as "fluxus noctis" (night's flow) wrongly and violently. — Hebrew Questions on Genesis
Gênesis 30:21
(Verse 21.) And after these things she gave birth to a daughter, and named her Dinah (). She is involved in a case, which the Greeks more significantly call δίκην. For there was a cause of contention in Shechem. After the sons, the names of the parents are to be given. Leah (), is interpreted as laboring. Rachel (), a sheep, whose son Joseph (), is called the addition because his mother had desired another to be added to her. — Hebrew Questions on Genesis
Gênesis 30:32-33
(Verse 32 and 33.) I will pass through all your flock today: separate from it all the variegated and discolored animals: and all the animals of one color will be lambs and the variegated and discolored ones will be goats, they will be my reward: and my justice will be answered to me the next day, when my reward comes before you: everything that is not variegated and discolored among the goats and lambs, will be considered as theft to me, and so on. The meaning of this passage has been greatly confused among the Septuagint Interpreters, and until today I have not been able to find any clear explanation from our scholars regarding what is meant in this passage. I will serve you, Jacob, he said, seven more years, do what I demand. Separate all the speckled and spotted, both the sheep and the goats, and give them into the hands of your sons. And from the entire flock, the white and the black animals, that is, of one color, give them to me. So if anything speckled or spotted, which are of one color, is born, it will be mine; but if anything of one color is born, it will be yours. I ask for a not difficult thing. Nature makes it so that white offspring are born from white animals, and black offspring are born from black ones: my justice will be with me, as long as God looks at my humility and labor. He eagerly seized the opportunity given by Laban, and, doing as Jacob requested, separated Jacob and his sons with a three-day journey, so that no deceitful child would be born from near the flock. Therefore, Jacob devised a new strategy and fought against the natural order of white and black livestock with his cunning. For he made three rods, of poplar, almond and pomegranate, even though the Seventy had storax, walnut and plane tree rods, partly stripping the bark, to create a variety of rod colors, so that wherever he left the bark on the rod, the ancient color would remain; but where he removed the bark, a bright color would be revealed. So Jacob observed that at the time when the flocks were mating, and after the heat of the day, when they were thirsty and eager to drink, he would place the discolored rods in the troughs. And as the rams and goats came to drink, driven by their intense desire, he would make them mate, so that from this double longing, as they eagerly drank and were mounted by the males, they would conceive offspring resembling the shadows of the rams and goats as they ascended from above in the mirror of the water. For when men and women have experienced those of varied color in the bedding, it is not surprising that this is the nature of women, that they give birth to offspring resembling those they have seen or imagined in the heat of extreme pleasure; this is said to also happen among herds of mares in Spain. And Quintilian, in a controversy where a matron was accused of giving birth to an Ethiopian, argues in defense of her that this is the nature of conceptions, as we have mentioned above. But when the kids were born, and various lambs of different colors from white and solid color herds, Jacob separated them and made them be far from the original flock. But if any were born of one color, that is, white or black, he would give them into the hands of Laban's sons, and he would place the peeled rods in the troughs where the water was poured out, and they would come to drink opposite the animals, so that they would conceive at the time when they came to drink. — Hebrew Questions on Genesis
Gênesis 30:41-42
(Ver. 41 and 42.) And the flocks conceived against the rods that Jacob had set before the flocks in the gutters, so that they conceived by the rods; but the sheep that were weak, he did not put the rods. And Laban's flocks were weak, but Jacob's were strong and healthy. This is not found in the Septuagint Interpreters, but instead of the weak and healthy ones, they translated something else, I don't know what, which does not make sense. But what the Scripture says is this: Jacob, wise and clever, observed justice and fairness even in a new way. For if all the ewes and goats were producing various offspring, there would be some suspicion of deceit, and openly Laban, envying this situation, would oppose it. Therefore, he managed everything in such a way that he himself would benefit from the result of his labor, and Laban would not be completely deprived. If ever the sheep and goats were bred in the early season, because the spring offspring is better, he would place rods in front of them so that diverse offspring would be born. But whatever sheep and goats were bred late and were seeking a male, he would not place objects in front of their eyes so that animals of a single color would be born. And whatever was first born belonged to him, because it was different and varied: whatever came after, belonged to Laban: for from one colored cattle, both black and white, were born. But in the place where it is written, that they conceive in rods: in Hebrew it has Jeamena (). I cannot express the force of the Hebrew word without going around it. Jeamena properly means the extreme heat in sexual intercourse, by which the whole body trembles, and is near the end of pleasurable satisfaction. — Hebrew Questions on Genesis