Genesis 30:24

Gen 30:24 And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.

Ver. 24. The Lord shall add to me another son.] A sweet and sure way of argumentation. God, that hath thus and thus done me good, will not be wanting to me in anything that may be conducive to mine eternal comfort; but "will perfect that which concerneth me". {Psa 138:8} Qui ad vituli hortatur esum, quid tandem mihi negaturus est? {a}

{a} Bernard.

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.

Verse 24. She called his name Joseph] יוסף Yoseph, adding, or he who adds; thereby prophetically declaring that God would add unto her another son, which was accomplished in the birth of Benjamin, Ge 35:18.

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

24. add] Heb. jôsêph. This clause gives another etymology of the name Joseph from yâsaph, “he hath added.” These two traditional interpretations of the name are taken, the one from E, the other from J narrative. According to E, the name means âsaph Elohim, “God hath taken away”; according to J, it means yôsêph Jehovah, “may Jehovah add.” This name is very possibly to be read in the list of Thothmes III (No. 78) as Joseph-el (Ysp’r); see p. 273. Similarly Yašupili appears in documents of Hammurabi’s time as a proper name.

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 Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry,.... One would think he could not expect to have much from him, by his treatment of him; but he craftily cajoles him in this fawning, flattering way, in order to gain a point, and begs of him, in a very humble and suppliant manner, if he had any love for him, that he would not depart from him, but stay with him, which he should take as a great favour; for he could not insist upon it, as bound in duty, or as a point of justice:

for I have learned by experience; by the observations made in the fourteen years past:

that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake: Laban had so much religion as to ascribe the blessings, the good things he had, to the Lord, as the author and giver of them; and so much honour, or however, thought it was more his interest to own it, that it was for Jacob's sake that he was thus blessed: the word translated is used sometimes of divination, and the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem render it, "I have used divinations"; and according to Jarchi and Aben Ezra, Laban was a diviner and soothsayer; and by the teraphim he had in his house, Gen 31:19; he divined, and knew thereby that he was blessed for the sake of Jacob; but, as Schmidt observes, it is not credible that the devil should give so famous a testimony to Laban of Jehovah and Jacob.

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

Joseph. In imposing this name, Rachel looks both to the past and to the future; thanking God for taking away (asop) her reproach, and begging that He would add (isop or Joseph) the blessing of another son, as he really did, though it occasioned her death: so little do we know what we ask for! Joseph means one "adding or increasing," chap. xlix. 22. (Haydock) --- He was born when the 14 years of service were over; being a most glorious figure of Jesus Christ, who came to redeem us from slavery. (Du Hamel)

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).

24. Joseph — Which means adding, for she herewith expresses her faith that Jehovah will add to her another son. There seems also to be a play upon the word אסŠ, hath taken away, used in the preceding verse. Thus the name takes on a twofold significance. Elohim has taken away her reproach, and Jehovah will add another son. While this faith showed a nobler spirit than she had manifested before, it also showed an impatience and ambition, which issued in sorrow and death, when the other son was added. See Gen_35:18.

The dates of the birth of the above-named children of Jacob are not given, though Gen_30:25 shows that on the birth of Joseph, Jacob had served out his fourteen years. Here, then, eleven children appear to have been born unto him in seven years, and yet during that period Leah for a time left bearing, (Gen_29:35.) All this, however, may be readily understood as follows. Dinah was born “afterwards,” (Gen_30:21;) so she may be set aside from the seven years; and nothing necessarily hinders our supposing Zebulun, Leah’s sixth son, to have been born after Joseph. Leah probably bore the four sons named in Gen_29:32-35, in rapid succession within the first four years after marriage. Then she left off bearing for two years, which would be noticeable after having borne four sons so quickly. Meanwhile, and probably before the birth of Judah, Leah’s fourth son, Rachel sought children by Bilhah, and during the fourth and fifth years the children of both the hand-maids were born. At the beginning of the seventh year Leah may have borne Issachar, and Zebulun at its close, or very soon after. So there is nothing improbable in the narrative of the eleven children being born in seven years.

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

יסף ה' לי בן אחר THE ETERNAL WILL ADD TO ME ANOTHER SON — She knew prophetically that Jacob would rear only twelve tribes. She therefore prayed: “May it be God’s will that the tribe which he is yet destined to rear may issue from me”. For this reason she prayed only for one other son (Genesis Rabbah 72:6).

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.

ותקרא...בן אחר. Rachel meant that she hoped for at least one more son.

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.