ותקנא רחל באחותה, “Rachel became jealous of her sister;” she had not become jealous until after Leah had given birth to her fourth son. The reason was that by doing so she had received more than her “fair” share of the 12 sons Yaakov was supposed to sire.

את בלהה שפחתה לאשה, “her servantmaid Bilhah as wife.” This was similar to what Leah had received from her father when she had married. She also gave that servant maid to her husband Yaakov, as reported in 30,9. We know that Joseph in his early years kept company with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah who are described there as his father’s “wives.” (Genesis 37,2) This teaches that these women were not concubines, but regular wives with all the financial security that such a status guarantees the wife. None of the 12 “tribes” were born to women who were merely concubines. The only time when the expression “concubine” is used about them is when they are mentioned in comparison to Rachel and Leah, when the indiscretion of Reuven is alluded to by the Torah in both Genesis 35,22, and 49,4. Gad and Asher had already been born when that indiscretion took place.

דנני, “He has judged me;” she acknowledges that she had been appropriately punished for having been jealous of her sister. Nonetheless she had also then been rewarded. (Compare Bereshit Rabbah 71,7)

נפתלתי עם אחותי, “I have struggled mightily with my sister;” first she had been judged by the attribute of Justice of G-d; as a result of realising her error, she had now become closer to her sister. This is reflected in history. Though Betzalel, from the tribe of Yehudah (son of Leah) became the primary architect of the Tabernacle in the desert, his second in command was Oholiov, from the tribe of Dan, i.e. from Rachel’s servant maid. She felt that in a measure she had also prevailed over her sister in her rivalry, as the permanent Temple in Solomon’s time would be constructed by a descendant of Naftali, from her family. (Compare Kings I7,1314: וישלח המלך שלמה ויקח את תירם בן אשה אלמנה הוא ממטה נפתלי, “King Solomon sent for Chirom and brought him down from Tyre. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naftali, and his father had been a Tyrian, a coppersmith. He was endowed with skill, ability, and talent, for executing all work on bronze.” He came to King Solomon and executed all his work.”

ותאמר לאה בגד, Leah said: “he betrayed,” i.e. this son is the result of my husband’s betrayal. [based on the word בגידה, “treachery. Ed.] Leah felt that although she had given Yaakov her servant maid to sleep with, he should not have accepted that offer. Did I not bear him four sons already? While it is true that he slept with Rachel’s servant maid also, this was understandable, as she had not born him any children. She called the son גד. [If I understand our author correctly, Leah was happy to be the “mother” of another son, but unhappy about how she had to come by him, i.e. vicariously. Ed.] She called the second son her servant maid had born, אשר, i.e. source of happiness, as by now she had reconciled herself to have given Yaakov her maidservant (This interpretation is close to the one offered in the midrash hagadol)

The word: בגד, which is spelled as a single word instead of as two words: i.e. בא גד, but is read as one word. If we read this word as two words, the meaning is: בא גד, “a troop arrived,” i.e. my four sons have now been joined by another one that forms part of my little army.

וימצא דודאים, “he found figs.” (Rash’bam).

המעט קחתך את אישי, “not only have you usurped my position as the senior wife, seeing that I was married to him first, but...”

וישכב עמה בלילה הוא, “he slept with her on that night.” [In order to be grammatically correct, the Torah should have written: בלילה ההוא. Our author points out that this is not a scribe’s error, but that we have a similar formulation in Genesis 32,23: ויקם לילה הוא, “he got up during that night,” where we also would have expected to find: בלילה ההוא. [Perhaps the missing letter is to indicate that in both instances Yaakov made the decision hastily. Ed.]

נתן אלוקים שכרי אשר נתתי שפחתי לאישי, “G-d gave me my reward for having given my maidservant to my husband.” She acknowledged G-d’s generosity, by having realised that if her sister had become a mother only vicariously by having given her servant maid to her husband, she had had good reason, as she had failed to personally provide him with children, and this was excusable; she, Leah having done so also was probably inexcusable; if nonetheless G-d had blessed her with having two more sons to raise, she considered this as a reward for her generosity in offering Yaakov her servant maid as a wife. In light of these considerations she named this son יששכר, “he who will be the symbol of a reward.” The name is written with two letters ש to draw our attention to what she meant.

יזבלני אישי, “my husband will make a home with me.” The word is a composition of two words. Examples of similar constructions are found in Jeremiah 10,20: my sons will leave me; as well as in Genesis 49,19 גדוד יגודני, “troops will be called up from the tribe of Gad.”

ואחר ילדה בת, “afterwards she gave birth to a daughter.” This is the only time that the mother has not first been described as becoming pregnant. Our author uses this as proof at Dinah was a twin sister of Zevulun. (This interpretation is quoted also by Ibn Ezra, B’chor shor, and David Kimchi.) An alternate exegesis: the reason why no mention has been made of a pregnancy here is that originally, this child was supposed to be another male. Leah prayed that it would become a female, as otherwiseseeing that Yaakov was destined to sire 12 sons,Rachel could not have given birth to two sons. The fetus which would have been Joseph thus became Dinah. (Compare Rashi, whose source is an opinion in the Talmud B’rachot, 60 a well as the Targum Yonathan ben Uzziel [older than the Talmud. Ed.])

ויזכור אלוקים את רחל, G-d attribute of Justiceremembered Rachel. Blessed the righteous who posses the power to turn the attribute of Justice into the attribute of Mercy. (Based on Bereshit Rabbah 72,3 which adds that whenever the expression אלוקים is used in the Torah it refers to G-d’s attribute of Justice)

אסף אלוקים את חרפתי, “G-d has removed my shame.” Rachel referred to her becoming the victim of the same penalty as people guilty of karet, leaving behind no biological issue. The expression אסף occurs in a similar context in Isaiah 16,10: נאספה שמחה וגיל, “rejoicing and gladness are gone;”

ויהי כאשר רחל ילדה יוסף, “it occurred as soon as Rachel had born Joseph,” i.e. when Yaakov’s second term of indenture to Lavan had been completed; now all the 12 sons that were to become the twelve tribes of Israel had been born. [according to Ibn Ezra, who considers Dinah as one of those 12. Ed] Rachel’s giving birth completed this circle, she who had been described as barren in 29,31 finally having overcome her handicap. Yaakov therefore now approached Lavan by announcing that he planned to go home to his parents. A different interpretation: the words “ויאמר שלחני,” Yaakov had not asked Lavan for permission to leave previously because he was afraid that as long as Rachel was still barren, Lavan would suspect him of treating her with disdain on account of this. Now that she too had born him a son, he felt confident that Lavan would permit him to leave. We have found the following text in the book called seder olam: “eleven of the tribes, plus Dinah were born during the seven years of Yaakov serving his second term of seven years. Each one of these was born after a pregnancy of only seven months by his respective mother. The 84 months of these seven years are made up of the mothers being actively pregnant for six months each, and allowing for one week of ritual impurity separating each birth from the next.” [Clearly this is a mystic approach which saw in these 84 months a single preordained sequence, and the mothers all being perceived as if they were only one mother. Ed.] The text in seder olam interprets a statement in the Talmud Rosh hashanah 11 in this sense. [The Talmud there discusses the viability of a fetus that was born after less than 36 weeks’ pregnancy. Ed.]

נחשתי, “I have learned by divination;” Lavan owned household idols. Seeing that this was so, he consulted with sorcerers.

נחשתי ויברכני, “I consulted with them and have found that I have been blessed since your having come to me.” Rashi explains this as follows: until you came here I have only had daughters. This is why he had to send out his daughters to tend his flocks. Surely, if he had had sons he would not have sent out daughters to tend the flocks. One could understand the line: כי רועה היא in 29,9 to mean: “instead of them;” the boys. Maybe his sons were too young to be sent out tending sheep.

ויאמר נקבה שכרך, “he said: tell me what you wish to receive as compensation for tending my flocks?” This line refers to when Lavan had told Yaakov that he realised that Yaakov’s presence had been especially beneficial for him. He was interested in keeping Yaakov near him as he had been such a source of blessing for him. The repetition of the word ויאמר in two successive verses is not especially unusual.

את אשר עבדתיך, “I have served you for the hand of a woman in marriage, not for “wages.”

?ויאמר מה אתן לך, He said: “what shall I give you for the work you have performed for me?”

ויאמר יעקב לא תתן לי מאומה, Yaakov said: “you do not have to give me anything;” he referred to the last seven years; he had worked for the hand of Rachel in marriage. She was his now. However, he added, “if you wish me to stay with you longer and to continue to look after your flocks, do the following for me and I will agree and continue to tend your flocks;”

כל שה נקוד וטלוא, “every lamb whose skin pattern is characterised by being either dappled or blotched, etc., he referred not to fully grown animals but to the ones under one year old. Neither did he single out the animals whose skin had a pattern known as עקודים; any animals that would be borne henceforth and whose skin reflected the patterns described by Yaakov would be his. Lavan commenced immediately with his treachery by removing any animals which according to accepted standards were likely to either sire or give birth to young ones having the skin patterns that Yaakov had stipulated as becoming his. This treachery forced Yaakov to devise a different means to encourage the remaining animals under his care to produce some young that reflected the skin patterns he had chosen.

חום בכבשים, brown skin patterns among the sheep; this is emphasised as he did not do so with the goats, as the majority of them displayed such brown skin blotches.

וענתה בי צדקתי, an abbreviated verse; the meaning is: “my truthfulness will be demonstrated on the following day i.e. in the future, (when these animals will produce young) when you have a chance to check on what I have selected as the basis for my wages.

ביום, the letter ב does not have the vowel patach, as Yaakov cannot predict the exact day when this will be proven several months later.

מקל, “rod;” the letter ק has the vowel patach under it (instead of tzeyreh). This is not unusual for the construct mode; we find it also in the word מעשר, Leviticus 27,32, as well as in the word מספד in Jeremiah 6,26 which has the vowel patach under the letter .פ

לבנה לח, “moist aspen wood;” the wood of this tree is white only when exposed after peeling the bark and still moist. This distinguishes it from the luz and armon trees the wood of which are white regardless of moist or dry. This is why they are described as לבנה, “white.”

ולוז, and almond trees. We know this from the Talmud Bechorot 8, where the time needed for a hen to lay an egg after copulating is given as 21 days, identical to the development of the almond in the almond tree after pollination. It is not to be confused with the hazelnut tree which produces small nuts, and which requires more than 21 days between pollination and blossoming.

ויפצל, “he peeled;” this word does not appear elsewhere in the Bible. In the Talmud it means to split something into separate parts by peeling or skimming. Examples are enclosures where female sheep or goats are prevented from escaping so that the males introduced will copulate promptly and impregnate them. This is the meaning of the phrase: והיו הקשורים ליעקב, “and the ones that had been tied up would belong to Yaakov.”

ויחמנה, “they grew heated;” the construction of this word is a combination of two conjugations. It is similar in this respect to Samuel I 6,12: וישרנה הפרות, “the cows went straight, and to ארבע מלכיות מגוי יעמודנה, “four kingdoms will arise out of a nation,” and in Daniel 8,2, and in ותקרבו העצמות עצם אל עצם, “the bones came together,” in Ezekiel 37,7.

ויחמו הצאן, “the flocks grew heated;” the Torah did not mind in this case to use the singular mode when speaking of numerous animals; we know of other examples of a similar construction such as Judges 21,21: אם יצאו בנות שילה, “as soon as the daughters of Shiloh will come forth,” where the masculine mode is applied to the girls of Shiloh.

אל המקלות, “in response to the sticks;” the word אל does not mean to approach physically;” similar to Genesis 41,57: לשבור אל יוסף, “to buy grain from Joseph,” where it also has not been used in a physical sense. Another interpretation: “on account of the sticks.” This would be similar to Yaakov saying in Genesis 37,35: כי ארד אל בני שאולה, “for I will join my son on the way down to hades” (a grave in the nether regions of the earth).

ותלדנה הצאן עקודים, “the flocks gave birth to young with striped birth patterns on the skins of their feet.” From then on Yaakov did not again bother to erect the sticks near the troughs, but he simply separated the animals that had displayed the skin patterns in accordance with his agreement Lavan from the brownskinned ones that were Lavan’s.

ולא שתם על צאו לבן, and he did not keep them near the flocks that belonged to Lavan. He did not want Lavan to be able to say that he had mixed them among Lavan’s flocks in order that Lavan’s sheep would produce young looking like those of Yaakov.

The construction: על צאן לבן, must be understood as similar to Leviticus 25,31: על שדה הארץ יחשב, “shall be considered as open country.”