And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, [Am] I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
Ver. 2. And Jacob's anger was kindled.] He that will be angry, and not sin, must not be angry, but for sin. Reprove thy wife, thou mayest; chide her, thou mayest not, unless the offence be against God, as here, and Job 2:10. And here a man may carry a severe rebuke in his countenance, as God doth, Psalms 80:16, though he say nothing: he may chide with his looks only.
Am I in God's stead?] Who carrieth this key under his own girdle; as is aforenoted. "Lo, children are a heritage that cometh of the Lord," as David Psa 127:3 once sang for Solomon, who had the experience of it: for of so many wives, he had but one son, that we read of; and he was none of the wisest. Ecc 2:19 This Solomon foresaw, and bewailed, as one unhappy bird, in his nest of vanities.