Genesis 30:22-24

Genesis 30:22-24

[22] And God  remembered  Rachel,  and God  hearkened  to her, and opened  her womb.  [23] And she conceived,  and bare  a son;  and said,  God  hath taken away  my reproach:  [24] And she called  his name  Joseph;  and said,  The LORD  shall add  to me another  son. 

What does Genesis 30:22-24 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

God eventually granted Rachel a Song of Solomon , Joseph. He was born at the end of Jacob"s fourteenth year in Laban"s service.
The jealousy, bickering, superstition, and weak faith demonstrated by Jacob and his wives stand out in this section. God"s gift of children was gracious; He gave them in spite of, rather than because of, the behavior of the parents. Rachel acknowledged this finally ( Genesis 30:23-24) as did Jacob. The use of the names "Elohim" and "Yahweh" reflects the attitudes of the various characters to God and shows their relationships with Him.
"On the human plane the story demonstrates the craving of human beings for love and recognition, and the price of thwarting it; on the divine level it shows once again the grace of God choosing difficult and unpromising material." [1]
"Jacob"s partiality and his general handling of his family led to strife and mother groupings that were to affect the history of Israel for centuries thereafter." [2]
Believers should not envy and strive, which leads to bitter conflicts, but should obey God trusting Him to dispense His blessings wisely, justly, and compassionately.
The actions of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah in this chapter, and those of Abraham and Sarah in chapter16 , raise questions about surrogate parenting. Today husbands and wives who cannot have children naturally sometimes choose to secure the services of a third person who can provide a needed function and thus enable them to have children. For example, if the wife cannot carry a baby in her womb for a full term pregnancy some doctors recommend that the couple use the services of another woman. If acceptable, they implant the couple"s fertilized egg in her womb that she agrees to "rent" for the nine-month gestation period. Another example is the securing of sperm from a donor if the husband is sterile. There are many ways in which childless couples can now become parents with this kind of help from a third, and sometimes fourth party. These situations are somewhat similar to what we find in Genesis 16 , 30. The common tie is that in all these cases someone other than the husband and wife is essential to the conception of the child. I do not believe that adoption is similar because in adoption a husband and wife simply agree to rear a child that has been or will be born. They do not require a third party for the conception of the child as in surrogate parenting.