Genesis 29:34

Gen 29:34 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.

Ver. 34. And she conceived again.] So, what she wanted in beauty, she had in fecundity or fruitfuiness: and this redounded to God’s greater glory, by Leah’s thankfulness; who might say -

“ Si mihi difficilis formam natura negavit,

Laude Dei, formae, damna rependo, meae .”

- Sappho, apud Ovid.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

29:34 Leah named her third son Levi, hoping that her husband would become “attached” to her since she had given him three sons. This hope was not fulfilled.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 34. Therefore was his name called Levi.] לוי levi, joined; because she supposed that, in consequence of all these children, Jacob would become joined to her in as strong affection, at least, as he was to Rachel. From Levi sprang the tribe of Levites, who instead of the first-born, were joined unto the priests in the service of the sanctuary. See Gen 18:2; Gen 18:4.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

34. joined] From the root lavah, “to join.” In Num_18:2; Num_18:4, this word lavah is especially used of the attachment of the sons of Levi to the service of Jehovah, as the priestly tribe. According to many scholars, the name denotes the tribe par excellence of the Leah group; which, owing to some great disaster, was broken up, and the name survived only in the guild of Priests and their assistants. See on chap. 34 and Gen_49:5-7. On the meaning of Leah, see note on Gen_29:16.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And she conceived again, and bare a son,.... A fourth son, a son in whose line, and from whose tribe, the Messiah was to spring:

and she said, now will I praise the Lord; she had praised him before for looking on her affliction, and hearing her cries, and giving her one son after another; but now she determines to praise him more than ever, having a fresh instance of his goodness to her: the Targum of Jonathan adds this as a reason,"because from this my son shall come forth kings, and from him shall come forth David the king, who shall praise the Lord.''And why may it not be as well supposed that she had knowledge of the Messiah springing from him, which would greatly heighten and increase her joy and praise?

and therefore she called his name Judah; which signifies "praise". A further improvement is made of this name, and the signification of it, in Gen 49:8. According to the Jewish writers (y), these four sons of Jacob were born, Reuben on the fourteenth day of Chisleu, or November, and lived one hundred and twenty four years; Simeon on the twenty first of Tebeth, or December, and lived one hundred and twenty years; Levi on the sixteenth of Nisan, or March, and lived one hundred and thirty seven years; and Judah on the fifteenth of Sivan, or May, and lived one hundred and nineteen years. And all these names being of the Hebrew language, and derived from words in it, show that this language, or what was much the same with it, was spoken in Laban's family, and had been continued from Nahor, as it had been in Isaac's family from Abraham:

and left bearing; that is, for a while, for after this she bore two sons and a daughter; see Gen 30:17.

(y) Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 3. 2. & 4. 1.

Next: Genesis Chapter 30

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Levi, "adhesion or union." My husband will now stick to me.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

This time will my husband be joined unto me in more sincere and fervent affection.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

34. Levi — Which means a joining. Fondly now does she hope for a deeper and truer heart union with her husband.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And she conceived again (say, in the third year of her marriage), and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, hwl to join, is the root from which comes ywile. (Levi), her son"s name because I have borne him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi Associated, or Joined.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

הפעם ילוה אישי THIS TIME WILL MY HUSBAND BECOME ATTACHED TO ME — Because the Matriarchs were prophetesses and knew that twelve tribes would issue from Jacob and that he would have four wives, she said, “From now he will have no fault to find with me, for I have assumed my full share in giving him children” (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayetzei 9).

על כן THEREFORE — Wherever in the case of the names given to Jacob’s sons the word “therefore” is used, that tribe had a numerous population (Genesis Rabbah 71:4), Levi forming an exception, because the Ark decimated them.

קרא שמו לוי [THEREFORE] WAS HIS NAME CALLED LEVI (literally, he called his name) — Of all of them (the sons) it is written “And she called”, but of this one Scripture writes “he called!” There is a Midrashic statement in Deuteronomy Rabbah that the Holy One, blessed be He, sent Gabriel who brought him (Levi) into His presence. He called him by this name and gave him the twenty-four perquisites with which the priesthood was favoured, and because He gave him these perquisites as an accompaniment (לוהו) He called him Levi (accompanied).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ותהר...ילוה אישי אלי, he will be more inclined to respond to my love than to that of my sister. כי ילדתי שלשה בנים, seeing that what the righteous expect from their wives is that they bear sons for them.

על כן קרא שמו, Yaakov gave the boy this name because, as Leah had predicted, that he was so overjoyed at Levi’s birth. It is also possible that Yaakov had seen with a prophetic eye that the sons of Levi would be outstanding servants of the Lord and teachers of His Torah, and that they would constantly keep company with G’d, i.e. strive to fulfill His will. He therefore named this son both because of what his wife had proclaimed when he had been born, and because of the prophetic insight he had received regarding the descendants of this son. If we needed proof for this approach it is the fact that he was the only one of Yaakov’s sons who had been named by his father. The naming of Binyamin, respectively, renaming him, was due to a different consideration altogether. We will discuss this in due course.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.