Vayeitzei 30:01 · unit 1

Parashas Vayeitzei · Passuk 30:01

The Complete Passuk

וַתֵּ֣רֶא רָחֵ֗ל כִּ֣י לֹ֤א יָֽלְדָה֙ לְיַעֲקֹ֔ב וַתְּקַנֵּ֥א רָחֵ֖ל בַּאֲחֹתָ֑הּ וַתֹּ֤אמֶר אֶל־יַעֲקֹב֙ הָֽבָה־לִּ֣י בָנִ֔ים וְאִם־אַ֖יִן מֵתָ֥ה אָנֹֽכִי׃

And Rachel saw that she had not borne children to Yaakov, and Rachel envied her sister, and she said to Yaakov, “Give me children, and if not I am dead.”

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to classical sources on the intensity of Rachel’s request.

TT lemma: הבה לי בנים.

Sefaria — Genesis 30:1

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
אָמְרוּ: מִכָּאן שֶׁכׇּל מִי שֶׁאֵין לוֹ בָּנִים הֲרֵי הוּא כְּמֵת.

English: They said: From here [we learn] that anyone who has no children is regarded as dead.

On the daf / in context: Rachel’s declaration is the source for the teaching that childlessness is comparable to death.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (midrashic) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The extreme language is taken as a normative statement about the status of the childless.

What Is Learned

One who has no children is considered as if dead; Rachel’s words establish the principle.