John Calvin Commentary Genesis 30

And when Rachel saw. Here Moses begins to relate that Jacob was distracted with family conflicts. But although the Lord was punishing him, because he had been guilty of a serious sin in marrying two wives, and especially sisters, yet the chastisement was fatherly; and God Himself, seeing that He is accustomed to mercifully pardon His own people, restrained His hand to some degree.

And so it happened that Jacob did not immediately repent, but added new offenses to the previous ones. But first, we must speak of Rachel. Because she rejoiced to see her sister subjected to contempt and grief, the Lord represses this sinful joy by giving His blessing to Leah, to make their conditions equal.

She hears the grateful acknowledgment of her sister and learns from the names given to the four sons that God had pitied and had sustained by His favor her, who had been unjustly despised by man. Nevertheless, envy inflames her and prevents any of the dignity fitting for a wife from appearing in her.

We see what ambition can do. For Rachel, in seeking preeminence, does not spare even her own sister; and scarcely refrains from venting her anger against God for having honored that sister with the gift of fruitfulness. Her jealousy did not arise from any injuries she had received, but because she could not bear to have a partner and an equal, though she herself was really the younger. What would she have done if she had been provoked, given that she envies her sister who was contented with her lot?

Now Moses, by showing this evil in Rachel, intends to teach us that it is inherent in all, so that each of us, tearing it up by the roots, may diligently purify ourselves from it. To be cured of envy, we must put away pride and self-love, as Paul prescribes this single remedy against contentions: Let nothing be done through vainglory (Philippians 2:3).

And Jacob’s anger was kindled. Jacob’s tender affection made him reluctant to offend his wife; yet her unworthy conduct compelled him to do so when he saw her petulantly exalting herself, not only against her sister, who piously, humbly, and thankfully was enjoying God’s gifts, but even against God Himself, of whom it is said that the fruit of the womb is his reward (Psalms 127:3).

For this reason, therefore, Jacob is angry, because his wife ascribes nothing to God’s providence and, by imagining that children are the offspring of chance, would deprive God of the care and government of mankind. It is probable that Jacob had already been sorrowful because of his wife’s barrenness. Therefore, he now fears that her folly might further provoke God’s anger to inflict more severe strokes. This was a holy indignation, by which Jacob maintained the honor due to God, while he corrected his wife and taught her that it was not without sufficient cause that she had been barren until now. For when he affirms that the Lord had shut her womb, he subtly implies that she ought to humble herself more deeply.

Behold my maid Bilhah. Here the vanity of the female disposition appears. For Rachel is not induced to flee to the Lord, but strives to gain a triumph by illicit arts. Therefore she hurries Jacob into a third marriage. From this we infer, that there is no end of sinning, once the Divine institution is treated with neglect.

And this is what I have said, that Jacob was not immediately brought back to a right state of mind by Divine chastisements. He acts, indeed, in this instance, at the instigation of his wife: but is his wife in the place of God, from whom alone the law of marriage proceeds?

But to please his wife, or to yield to her insistence, he does not hesitate to depart from the command of God. To bear upon the knees, is nothing more than to entrust the child when born to another to be brought up. Bilhah was a maidservant; and therefore did not bear for herself but for her mistress, who, claiming the child as her own, thus obtained the honor of a mother.

Therefore it is added, in the way of explanation, I shall have children, or I shall be built up by her. For the word which Moses here uses, is derived from בן (ben), a son: because children are as the support and stay of a house. But Rachel acted sinfully, because she attempted, by an unlawful method, and in opposition to the will of God, to become a mother.

And Bilhah conceived. It is wonderful that God should have seen fit to honor an adulterous connection with offspring: but he sometimes strives in this way to overcome by kindness the wickedness of people, and pursues the unworthy with his favor. Moreover, he does not always make the punishment equal to the offenses of his people, nor does he always rouse them equally quickly from their sluggishness, but waits for the proper time of correction.

Therefore, it was his will that those who were born from this flawed union should nevertheless be counted among the legitimate children; just as Moses just before called Bilhah a wife, who, however, might more properly have been called a harlot. And the common rule does not hold that what had no validity from the beginning can never gain validity over time; for although the agreement, into which the husband and wife sinfully entered against God's command and the sacred order of nature, was void, it nevertheless came about by special privilege that the union, which in itself was adulterous, obtained the honor of marriage.

Finally, Rachel begins to attribute to God what is his own; but her confession is so mixed with ambition that it conveys nothing of sincerity or uprightness. She pompously proclaims that her cause has been undertaken by the Lord. As if, indeed, she had been so injured by her sister that she deserved to be uplifted by God's favor; and as if she had not attempted to deprive herself of his help. We see, then, that under the pretext of praising God, she rather wrongs him by making him subservient to her desires. Add to this, that she imitates hypocrites who, while in adversity, rush against God with closed eyes; yet when more prosperous fortune favors them, indulge in empty boasts, as if God smiled upon all their deeds and sayings. Rachel, therefore, does not so much celebrate the goodness of God as she applauds herself. Therefore, let the faithful, learning from her example, refrain from defiling the sacred name of God with hypocrisy.

With great wrestlings Others translate it, “I am joined with the joinings of God;” as if she exulted in having recovered what she had lost, or certainly, in having obtained an equal degree of honor with her sister. Others render it, “I am doubled with the duplications of God.”

But both derive the noun and the verb from the root פתל (patal), which signifies a twisted thread. The former of these senses means this: that since Rachel has attained a condition equal to that of her sister, there is no reason why her sister should claim any superiority over her.

But the latter sense expresses more confident boasting, since she proclaims herself a conqueror and doubly superior. But a simpler meaning is (in my opinion) adduced by others: namely, that she “wrestled with divine or excellent wrestlings.” For the Hebrews indicate all excellence by adding the name of God; because the more excellent anything is, the more the glory of God shines in it.

But perverse is that boasting with which she glories over her sister, when she ought instead to have humbly implored forgiveness. In Rachel the pride of the human mind is depicted; because those whom God has endowed with his benefits, for the most part, are so elated that they rage scornfully against their neighbors.

Besides, she foolishly prefers herself to her sister in fruitfulness, in which she is still manifestly inferior. But those who are puffed up with pride also have the habit of maliciously belittling those gifts which the Lord has bestowed on others, in comparison with their own smaller gifts.

Perhaps, also, she expected a numerous progeny, as if God were under obligation to her. She did not, as pious persons are accustomed to do, conceive hope from benefits received; but, by a confident presumption of the flesh, made herself sure of everything she wished.

Until now, then, she gave no sign of pious modesty. Why is this, if not because her temporary barrenness had not yet thoroughly subdued her? Therefore, we ought to be all the more careful, lest if God relaxes our punishments, we, being inflated by his kindness, should perish.