What Does Genesis 30:14 Mean in the King James?
And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The mandrake’s name echoes the Hebrew for “beloved,” so Rachel’s request carries a note of desire inside the object itself.
THE MEANING
A longing can take the shape of a small, tangible thing: Reuben brings the mandrakes to Leah, and Rachel asks her for them. Their Hebrew name may echo “beloved” or “love,” lending the request an undertone the verse leaves unspoken.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Longing always names itself plainly; here it arrives as a request, while the word for the object may carry an echo of love.
THE ROOT
דּוּדָאִים
dūdāʾîm
GROWS FROM
דוד
d-w-d (dōd): beloved, love, or affection; the plant name’s derivation from this root is debated.
The mandrake’s name carries the same consonants as dōd, “beloved,” making a wordplay on love plausible, though not certain. The related dōdîm appears in Song of Songs 1:2 for “love,” and the same word for mandrakes returns in Song of Songs 7:13 beside the beloved and abundant fruit. That echo gives Rachel’s request another register without making the plant a guarantee of fertility.
ALSO GROWS
dōd: Beloved or lover; also uncle, depending on usage.
דּוֹד
Its sense of belovedness lets the name of the plant sound alongside the desire Rachel expresses through her request.
dōdîm: Loves or caresses; rendered “thy love” in Song of Songs 1:2.
דּוֹדִים
This related form makes the love-echo audible in another biblical passage and deepens the undertone of Rachel’s request.
THE PATTERN
Longing takes visible form in what is asked for, offered, or treasured.
And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son’s mandrakes.The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.THE THREAD
The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.The same Hebrew word, דּוּדָאִים (dūdāʾîm), appears for mandrakes in both verses. Here it stands beside “my beloved” and gathered fruit, making the love-echo in Rachel’s request easier to hear.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us