What Does Genesis 30:3 Mean in the King James?
And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
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
Rachel’s Hebrew says she may be “built through” Bilhah, revealing that the hoped-for child is also imagined as the building of Rachel’s household.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now through the stark image of a life seeking to be established through another person’s body. Rachel places Bilhah’s bearing and her own hope for children in one arrangement, naming the hoped-for result as being built through Bilhah. The longing is real, and so is the asymmetry: one woman bears while another imagines her own future being built.
THE ROOT
אִבָּנֶה
’ibbāneh
GROWS FROM
בנה
b-n-h
To build, construct, or establish.
“have children by her” in this verse is ’ibbāneh. The KJV says “have children,” while Rachel’s Hebrew verb means “I may be built,” from בנה (banah, build). Birth is cast as construction: Bilhah bears, and Rachel expects to be established through her.
ALSO GROWS
banah: Build.
בָּנָה
This is the root verb behind Rachel’s description of the future she hopes for.
nivnah: Be built.
נִבְנָה
This form makes the image explicit: Rachel describes herself as being built through Bilhah.
binyan: Building, structure.
בִּנְיָן
The related noun keeps the construction image in view: the hoped-for child is part of what Rachel imagines will establish her household.
THE PATTERN
Scripture pictures households and communities as things built through people and relationships.
And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Beth-lehem:For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.THE THREAD
And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.The Hebrew repeats the verb בנה (banah, build): Sarai hopes to be built through her maid, and Rachel uses the same construction. What the KJV renders “obtain children” there and “have children” here shares one image of a household being built through another woman’s bearing.
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