Then God remembered Rachel: remembered does not mean that God had forgotten Rachel until now; it means that God “came to the aid of,” “helped,” “did something merciful for” her. In this case we may translate, for example, “God thought of Rachel and….” In some languages it will be more natural to express this in figurative terms; for example, “God’s heart was warm for Rachel and so he….”

Hearkened to her: see verse 17.

Opened her womb: see 29.31.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .