The Meaning of Genesis 30:18 Explained

Genesis 30:18

KJV: And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.

YLT: and Leah saith, 'God hath given my hire, because I have given my maid-servant to my husband;' and she calleth his name Issachar.

Darby: And Leah said, God has given me my hire, because I have given my maidservant to my husband; and she called his name Issachar.

ASV: And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I gave my handmaid to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And Leah  said,  God  hath given  me my hire,  because  I have given  my maiden  to my husband:  and she called  his name  Issachar. 

What does Genesis 30:18 Mean?

Context Summary

Genesis 30:1-24 - Sons Born To Jacob
The details of this paragraph are given with great minuteness, because they concern the twelve sons of Jacob, the forefathers of Israel. After all, history is made in the nursery, and we are very much what our mothers have made us in the formative years. An old Spanish proverb says, "An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy." Leah's influence on her boys, as judged by their subsequent life, was anything but healthy; yet with Jacob being the man he was, there was poor chance for them to realize the highest ideals. Rachel's anguish of heart led her to earnest prayer. Compare Genesis 30:1; Genesis 30:22. Wait on God, oh, anguished ones: ye shall surely have reason to praise him. Was it not worth waiting for, to bear a Joseph, whose branches were to run over the wall in blessing? There are more compensations in life than we think for. If Rachel had her husband's love, Leah had a large family of boys. In the saddest lives there are glints of sunshine. [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 30

1  Rachel, in grief for her barrenness, gives Bilhah her maid unto Jacob
5  Bilhah bears Dan and Naphtali
9  Leah gives Zilpah her maid, who bears Gad and Asher
14  Reuben finds mandrakes,
15  with which Leah buys her husband's company of Rachel
17  Leah bears Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah
22  Rachel bears Joseph
25  Jacob desires to depart
27  Laban detains him on a new agreement
37  Jacob's policy, whereby he becomes rich

What do the individual words in Genesis 30:18 mean?

And said Leah has given me God my wages because I have given my maidservant to my husband So she called his name Issachar
וַתֹּ֣אמֶר לֵאָ֗ה נָתַ֤ן אֱלֹהִים֙ שְׂכָרִ֔י אֲשֶׁר־ נָתַ֥תִּי שִׁפְחָתִ֖י לְאִישִׁ֑י וַתִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמ֖וֹ יִשָּׂשכָֽר

וַתֹּ֣אמֶר  And  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
לֵאָ֗ה  Leah 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: לֵאָה  
Sense: daughter of Laban, first wife of Jacob, and mother of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah.
נָתַ֤ן  has  given  me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
אֱלֹהִים֙  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
שְׂכָרִ֔י  my  wages 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: שָׂכָר  
Sense: hire, wages.
אֲשֶׁר־  because 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
נָתַ֥תִּי  I  have  given 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
שִׁפְחָתִ֖י  my  maidservant 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: שִׁפְחָה  
Sense: maid, maid-servant, slavegirl.
לְאִישִׁ֑י  to  my  husband 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
וַתִּקְרָ֥א  So  she  called 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim.
שְׁמ֖וֹ  his  name 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: שֵׁם  
Sense: name.
יִשָּׂשכָֽר  Issachar 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשָּׂשׂכָר  
Sense: the 9th son of Jacob and the 5th by Leah his first wife and the progenitor of a tribe by his name.