פירוש על בראשית 30:2

התחת means AM I IN HIS STEAD?

ויחר, because she had said: הבה לי!. This sounded as if Rachel’s having children was something within the power of her husband. His anger was on behalf of his Creator, G’d, Who had been insulted by Rachel’s words. He had to ignore his love and commiseration for Rachel’s plight seeing she had been guilty of such a fauz pas.

ויחר אף יעקב, Jacob became agitated, etc. Jacob's agitation was due to her having uttered a curse, i.e. declaring that she would die. When the righteous utter a curse, even conditionally, this makes an indelible impression. We know from Bereshit Rabbah 74,9 that Rachel died prematurely because Jacob himself uttered a curse when he decreed death on the thief who stole Laban's Teraphim. This is why the Torah added the word ברחל, i.e. on her account. He was also upset because she demanded children, הבה לי בנים, instead of having asked her husband to pray on her behalf.

ויחר...אשר מנע ממך, G’d denied you children, not I. You have to pray to Him, not to berate me. As far as I am concerned, I have made my contribution already having slept with you far more often than with Leah. If you are genetically barren then you have to ask G’d to open your womb. Your sister did the same and her prayer has been answered. The word מנע, prevented, which Yaakov used meant that the sperm did not enter the area of the womb where fertilisation takes place. Yaakov’s anger was due to Rachel attributing her problem to Yaakov and something Yaakov had failed to do, and not to G’d, Who decrees who is barren and who is fertile. The demand to her husband הבה לי בנים, “get me children,” was entirely out of place. Had she asked Yaakov to plead with G’d to have mercy on her, she would have been perfectly in order. He would not then have become angry at her.

From you that He has withheld, not from me. Question: Many prophets prayed for others, such as Elisha (Melachim II 4:33), and [Eliyahu] for the Tzorphis woman. Why did not Yaakov, too, pray for her, although he had children? Furthermore, why was he angry? He should have answered her calmly, as the words of the wise are heard when spoken calmly. The answer is: Yaakov told Rochel that he had prayed for her, but Hashem did not accept the prayer. Rochel said, “If so, you must be wicked.” Thus he was angry with her, as she considered him wicked. He answered her: “I am not like my father. Both of them were childless, and his prayer was accepted because of both their merits. But I am not childless; Hashem has withheld children only from you. With us, only one person’s merit [is relevant]. That is why my prayer is not answered! (Maharshal)

AND JACOB’s ANGER WAS KINDLED. It is not in the power of the righteous that their prayer be heard and answered in any case, and because she spoke in the manner of yearning women who are loved, thus attempting to frighten him with her death, his anger was kindled. Therefore, he said to her that he is not in G-d’s stead that he should remember the barren ones by giving them children in any case, and he does not care about it since it is from her that children were withheld and not from him. He said this in order to admonish her and shame her. Now the righteous woman Rachel, seeing that she could not rely upon Jacob’s prayer, then went to pray on her own behalf to Him Who hears the cry of those in trouble. This is the sense of the verse, And G-d hearkened to her.¹⁰⁶Further, Verse 22.
Perhaps we can rectify Jacob’s retort in consonance with the opinion of our Rabbis [who related that Jacob said to Rachel, “It is from you that he has withheld children and not from me,”] for it is impossible to think that Jacob did not pray on behalf of his beloved wife who was barren, however his prayer was not accepted.
Now Rachel came to him with a pretext saying that he should, in any case, give her children through his prayer for he is not of less stature than his father who did so. At this, his anger was kindled and he said to her that the matter is up to G-d and not to him, and that his father’s prayer was heard because he was a righteous man and was destined to have children, but here it is from her that He has withheld children. This is a correct interpretation.

התחת א׳ אנכי , an meinen Wünschen und Bitten liegt es nicht, Gott hat dir die Mutterfreude versagt.

אשר מנע ממך WHO HATH WITHHELD FROM THEE —You say that I should do as my father did; but I am not circumstanced as my father was. My father had no children at all, I, however, have children. From you He has withheld children and not from me (Genesis Rabbah 71:7).

אשר מנע ממך, Yaakov had detected clear physiological symptoms indicating that Rachel was incapable of conceiving.