17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
17 And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, "Don't despair, for you have another son."
17 And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, "Do not fear, for you have another son."
17 When her labor pains were at their worst, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid - you have another boy."
17 Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, "Do not fear; you will have this son also."
17 After a very hard delivery, the midwife finally exclaimed, "Don't be afraid-you have another son!"
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 35:17
Commentary on Genesis 35:16-20
(Read Genesis 35:16-20)
Rachel had passionately said, Give me children, or else I die; and now that she had children, she died! The death of the body is but the departure of the soul to the world of spirits. When shall we learn that it is God alone who really knows what is best for his people, and that in all worldly affairs the safest path for the Christian is to say from the heart, It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good. Here alone is our safety and our comfort, to know no will but his. Her dying lips called her newborn son Ben-oni, the son of my sorrow; and many a son proves to be the heaviness of her that bare him. Children are enough the sorrow of their mothers; they should, therefore, when they grow up, study to be their joy, and so, if possible, to make them some amends. But Jacob, because he would not renew the sorrowful remembrance of the mother's death every time he called his son, changed his name to Benjamin, the son of my right hand: that is, very dear to me; the support of my age, like the staff in my right hand.