Genesis 30:14

And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Reuben	רְאוּבֵ֜ן re.'u.Ven	H7205	Reuben · proper noun, a man's name
in	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
days	בִּימֵ֣י bi.Mei	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
wheat	חִטִּ֗ים chi.Tim	H2406	wheat · noun, common masculine plural absolute
harvest	קְצִיר ke.tzir-	H7105	severed · noun, common masculine singular construct
found	וַיִּמְצָ֤א vai.yim.Tza'	H4672	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
mandrakes	דֽוּדָאִים֙ du.da.'Im	H1736	a boiler or basket · noun, common masculine plural absolute
field	בַּשָּׂדֶ֔ה ba.sa.Deh	H7704	a field (as flat) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
brought	וַיָּבֵ֣א vai.ya.Ve'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
mother	אִמּ֑וֹ 'i.Mo	H517	a mother (as the bond of the family) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Leah	לֵאָ֖ה le.'Ah	H3812	Leah · proper noun, a woman's name
Rachel	רָחֵל֙ ra.Chel	H7354	Rachel · proper noun, a woman's name
said	וַתֹּ֤אמֶר va.To.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
Leah	לֵאָ֔ה le.'Ah	H3812	Leah · proper noun, a woman's name
me	תְּנִי te.ni-	H5414	to give · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
son’s	בְּנֵֽךְ be.Nekh	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
mandrakes	מִדּוּדָאֵ֖י mi.du.da.'Ei	H1736	a boiler or basket · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Song of Solomon 7:13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
Genesis 25:30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 30:14-24

Here is, I. Leah fruitful again, after she had, for some time, left off bearing. Jacob, it should seem, associated more with Rachel than with Leah. The law of Moses supposes it a common case that, if a man had two wives, one would be beloved and the other hated, Deu 21:15. But at length Rachel's strong passions betrayed her into a bargain with Leah that Jacob should return to her apartment. Reuben, a little lad, five or six years old, playing in the field, found mandrakes, dudaim. It is uncertain what they were, the critics are not agreed about them; we are sure they were some rarities, either fruits or flowers that were very pleasant to the smell, Sol 7:13. Note, The God of nature has provi…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 30:3

Bilhah . . . Zilpah--Following the example of Sarah with regard to Hagar, an example which is not seldom imitated still, she adopted the children of her maid. Leah took the same course. A bitter and intense rivalry existed between them, all the more from their close relationship as sisters; and although they occupied separate apartments, with their families, as is the uniform custom where a plurality of wives obtains, and the husband and father spends a day with each in regular succession, that did not allay their mutual jealousies. The evil lies in the system, which being a violation of God's original ordinance, cannot yield happiness.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 30:14

Reuben - found mandrakes - דודאים dudaim. What these were is utterly unknown, and learned men have wasted much time and pains in endeavoring to guess out a probable meaning. Some translate the word lilies, others jessamine, others citrons, others mushrooms, others figs, and some think the word means flowers, or fine flowers in general. Hasselquist, the intimate friend and pupil of Linne, who traveled into the Holy Land to make discoveries in natural history, imagines that the plant commonly called mandrake is intended; speaking of Nazareth in Galilee he says: "What I found most remarkable at this village was a great number of mandrakes which grew in a vale below it. I had not the pleasure to…

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The Church Fathers

Some say that the mandrake is a plant whose fruit resembles apples, which have a scent and are edible. So by means of these mandrakes, with cheerfulness seasoned with faith, Leah made Jacob take her that night.
— Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 28.3.1

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Barren — For a woman to be barren was accounted a severe punishment among the Jews (Gen. 16:2; 30:1-23; 1 Sam. 1:6, 27; Isa. 47:9; 49:21; Luke 1:25). Instances of barrenness are noticed (Gen. 11:30; 25:21;…
Concubine — In the Bible denotes a female conjugally united to a man, but in a relation inferior to that of a wife. Among the early Jews, from various causes, the difference between a wife and a concubine was…
Mandrakes — Hebrew dudaim; i.e., “love-plants”, occurs only in Gen. 30:14-16 and Cant. 7:13. Many interpretations have been given of this word dudaim. It has been rendered “violets,” “Lilies,” “jasmines,”…
Wheat — One of the earliest cultivated grains. It bore the Hebrew name hittah, and was extensively cultivated in Palestine. There are various species of wheat. That which Pharaoh saw in his dream was the…
Emulation · .In Jacob’s household — .In Jacob’s household
Herbs, & C · Mentioned in scripture: Mandrakes — Mentioned in scripture: Mandrakes
Mandrake · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Polygamy · .In Jacob’ s family — .In Jacob’ s family

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 30:14

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 30:14-24

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 30:3

Adam Clarke on Genesis 30:14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 30:14

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 30:14-24

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 30:3

Adam Clarke on Genesis 30:14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Genesis 30:14

John Calvin on Genesis 30:14

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 30:14-21

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 30:14-17

Rashi on Genesis 30:14