Genesis 30:23

Gen 30:23 And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:

Ver. 23. God hath taken away my reproach.] That is, her barrenness, - with which she was often upbraided, - when now she was sufficiently humbled; besides that her children, as the rest of those women that were long barren, are noted to have been the best, and most gracious; as Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Samuel, the Baptist, &c. A child of many prayers cannot lightly miscarry, as he {a} told Monica.

{a} Ambrose.

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.

Because fruitfulness came of God’s blessing, who said Increase and multiply: barrenness was counted as a curse.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

23. God hath taken away] The Hebrew for “hath taken away” (âsaph) is clearly regarded as one etymology of the name Joseph.

my reproach] See note on Gen_30:1. Cf. Isa_4:1, “Take thou away our reproach”; Luk_1:25, “to take away my reproach among men.”

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.

Give me my wives,.... His two wives, Leah and Rachel, and the two maids, Bilhah and Zilpah, which he had given him for wives also; he desires leave not to have them, but to take them away with him:

and my children; his twelve children; he did not desire his father-in- law to take any of them, and keep them for him, but was desirous of having them with him: no doubt, for the sake of their education, though he had nothing of his own wherewith to support them; not doubting that God would make good his promise in giving him food and raiment, and returning him to his country; and which his faith applied to his family as well as to himself:

for whom I have served thee; not for his children, but for his wives, his two wives:

and let me go; free from thy service, and to my own country:

for thou knowest my service which I have done thee: how much and great it is, and with what diligence and faithfulness it has been performed, and that the time of it fixed and agreed upon was at an end.

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

Barrenness was then accounted a great reproach, especially in that race, because it was a kind of curse, whereby such persons were excluded both from the first and general blessing of fructification given to all mankind, Gen 1:28; and from the special blessing given to Abraham for the multiplication of his seed; and from all hopes of being the progenitors of the blessed Messias.

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

23. My reproach — She has now no words of envy or triumph towards her sister, but a humble acknowledgment of her previous pitiable condition among women.

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

אסף [GOD] HATH TAKEN AWAY [MY DISGRACE] — He has laid it up somewhere where it cannot be seen. Similar examples are (Isaiah 4:1) “Take thou away (אסוף) our reproach”; (Exodus 9:19) “and shall not have been taken away (יאסף) into the house “; (Joel 4:13) “withdraw (אספו) their shining”; (Isaiah 60:20) “neither shall thy moon withdraw itself (יאסף) — meaning shall not hide itself.

חרפתי DISGRACE — because I had become an object of reproach as I was barren for people said about me that I would fall to the lot of Esau, the wicked. A Midrashic explanation is (Genesis Rabbah 73:5): So long as a woman has no child she has no-one to blame for her faults; when, however, she has a child, she puts it on him. “Who broke this vessel?” “Your son!” “Who ate those figs?” “Your son!”

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.

G-D ‘OSAPH’ (HATH TAKEN AWAY) MY DISGRACE. I.e., “He has laid it up somewhere where it cannot be seen.” Similar examples are: And it shall not ‘yei’aseph’ (have been taken away) into the house; And the stars ‘asphu’ (withdraw) their shining; Neither shall thy moon ‘yei’aseph’ (withdraw itself), meaning it shall not hide itself. This is the language of Rashi. But Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that asaph has the same meaning as “vanish,” as in, ‘Vene’esaph’ (And vanish) will joy and gladness., 16:10.The correct opinion is that of Onkelos, who made them all expressions of gathering and assembling, as is their plain sense, derived from the verses: ‘Vaya’asphu’ (And they gathered) the quails; But ‘me’asphav’ (they who have garnered it) shall eat it. Death is called asiphah because the dying person is gathered to his dead ancestors. And it shall not ‘yei’aseph’ into the house means to be gathered to his household. And the stars ‘asphu’ their shining means that they will gather the light within them and not give forth their light outside, or that they will be gathered into their tent, which is in the firmament of the heaven. The word asiphah is used in connection with disgrace, meaning that the disgraced person should be gathered and not spread among people, i.e., to be discussed further in the streets.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ותהר..אסף אלוקים את חרפתי, the word אסף is to be understood like the same word in Joel 4,15 אספו נגהם, ”they have withdrawn their brightness.” Rachel’s shame, embarrassment was removed. Alternatively, the word could mean the destruction, termination of something as in Judges 18,25 ואספת נפשך, “you would lose your lives.” Rachel now lost her shame. The root אסף in the transitive sense also occurs in Samuel I 15,6 as פן אוסיפך עמו, “lest I destroy you with them.” Accordingly, the meaning of אסף here would be that it had terminated, ceased to exist.

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.