And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, [Am] I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
2. Am I in God’s stead ] See Gen 50:19. For God as the author and giver of human life, cf. Gen 16:2, Gen 29:31; 1Sa 1:5. A similar exclamation occurs in 2Ki 5:7.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 2. Am I in God’s stead] Am I greater than God, to give thee what he has refused?
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel for the injury done to himself, and especially for the sin against God, in which case anger is not only lawful, but necessary.
Am I in God’s stead? It is God’s prerogative to give children. See Gen 16:2; 1Sa 2:5-6; Psa 113:9; 127:3.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel,…. Whom yet he dearly loved, hearing her talk in such an extravagant manner, as her words seemed to be, and were not: only expressive of great uneasiness and impatience, but implied what was not in the power of man to do:
and he said, [am] I in God’s stead: do you take me to be God, or one that has a dispensing power from him to do what otherwise no creature can do; and which also he never gives to any? for, as the Targum of Jerusalem on Ge 30:22 says, this is one of the four keys which God delivers not to an angel or a seraph; even the key of barrenness. Children are the gift of God, and his only, and therefore he is to be sought unto for them: hence Onkelos land Jonathan paraphrase it;
“wherefore dost thou seek them of me? shouldest thou not seek them of the Lord?”
who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? children,
Ps 127:3; not Jacob, but the Lord.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2. And Jacob’s anger was kindled. The tenderness of Jacob’s affection rendered him unwilling to offend his wife; yet her unworthy conduct compelled him to do so, when he saw her petulantly exalt herself, not only against her sister, who piously, homily, and thankfully was enjoying the gifts of God; but even against God himself, of whom it is said that the fruit of the womb is his reward. (Psa 127:3.) On this account, therefore, Jacob is angry, because his wife ascribes nothing to the providence of God, 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 been already sorrowful on account of his wife’s barrenness. He now, therefore, fears lest her folly should still farther 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 hitherto barren. For when he affirms that the Lord had shut her womb, he obliquely intimates that she ought the more deeply to humble herself.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
2. Jacob’s anger Here is something that stings to the quick the soul of him who has hitherto showed such general gravity and calmness . Such rebuke from the lips of his beloved Rachel arouses him to a sudden outburst of anger, in which he administers to her a sharp rebuke .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in God’s place? Who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
Rachel’s accusations stir up Jacob’s anger. He too no doubt feels frustrated. So he reacts with an outburst. He points out that it is God who is withholding a child not him. There is possibly a hint that Rachel is somehow to blame.
“God”. The word is Elohim. Failure cannot be laid at the door of God as Yahweh. Indeed from now on the whole passage uses Elohim until we reach Rachel’s vindication in the bearing of a blood child (Gen 30:24). What happens is no longer looked on as the direct intervention of Yahweh (compare Gen 29:31), it is more pious comment.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
See Job’s conduct. Job 2:10 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 30:2 And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, [Am] I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
Ver. 2. And Jacob’s anger was kindled.] He that will be angry, and not sin, must not be angry, but for sin. Reprove thy wife, thou mayest; chide her, thou mayest not, unless the offence be against God, as here, and Job 2:10 . And here a man may carry a severe rebuke in his countenance, as God doth, Psa 80:16 , though he say nothing: he may chide with his looks only.
Am I in God’s stead?] Who carrieth this key under his own girdle; as is aforenoted. “Lo, children are a heritage that cometh of the Lord,” as David Psa 127:3 once sang for Solomon, who had the experience of it: for of so many wives, he had but one son, that we read of; and he was none of the wisest. Ecc 2:19 This Solomon foresaw, and bewailed, as one unhappy bird, in his nest of vanities.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
anger: Gen 31:36, Exo 32:19, Mat 5:22, Mar 3:5, Eph 4:26
Am I: Gen 16:2, Gen 25:21, Gen 50:19, 1Sa 1:5, 1Sa 2:5, 1Sa 2:6, 2Ki 5:7
withheld: Deu 7:13, Deu 7:14, Psa 113:9, Psa 127:3, Luk 1:42
Reciprocal: Gen 11:30 – barren Gen 15:2 – childless Gen 20:18 – General Gen 29:17 – Rachel Gen 29:31 – he opened Gen 30:22 – opened Gen 33:5 – children Gen 48:9 – my sons Exo 17:2 – Give us Rth 4:13 – the Lord Job 1:21 – the Lord gave Job 33:6 – in Jam 3:14 – if
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 30:2. And Jacobs anger was kindled He was angry at the sin, and showed his displeasure, by a grave and pious reply: Am I in Gods stead? Can I give thee that which God denies thee? He acknowledges the hand of God in the affliction: He hath withheld the fruit of the womb. Whatever we want, it is God that withholds it, as sovereign Lord, most wise, holy, and just, who may do what he will with his own, and is debtor to no man; who never did, nor ever can do any wrong to any of his creatures. The key of the clouds, of the heart, of the grave, and of the womb, are four keys which God has in his hand, and which (the rabbins say) he trusts neither with angel nor seraph. He also acknowledges his own inability to alter what God appointed; am I in Gods stead? There is no creature that is, or can be, to us, in Gods stead. God may be to us instead of any creature, as the sun instead of the moon and stars; but the moon and all the stars will not be to us instead of the sun. No creatures wisdom, power, and love, will be to us instead of Gods. It is therefore our sin and folly to place that confidence in any creature which is to be placed in God only.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
30:2 And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, [Am] I in {a} God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
(a) It is only God who makes one barren or fruitful, and therefore I am not at fault.