References (45)
He asked them, "Is he well?"
And they replied, "He is well, and behold, Rachel (Hebr. Rachel), his daughter, is coming with the sheep."
While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess.
And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel, his uncle Laban's daughter, and his sheep, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered Laban's flock.
And Jacob kissed Rachel, and he lifted up (raised—Hebr. nasa) his voice and wept.
And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's relative and that he was Rebekah's son. Then she ran away and told her father.
And Laban had two daughters, the older named Leah and the younger named Rachel.
Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel had a beautiful figure and was beautiful to look at.
And Jacob loved Rachel, and he said, "I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel."
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, but in his eyes it was only a few days, because of the love he had for her.
And it came to pass in the morning, that it was Leah; and he said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve you for Rachel? Why have you deceived me?"
And Jacob did so and completed his weeks, and he gave him Rachel, his daughter, as a wife.
And Laban gave his servant Bilhah (meaning: troubled) as a servant to his daughter Rachel.
And he [Jacob] went in also to Rachel, and he [Jacob] loved Rachel more than Leah, and served with him [Laban] another seven years.
[Jacob's love for Rachel more than Leah leads to jealousy, see , ; , . Jacob works seven years before marrying Leah and Rachel. He then commits to working seven more years, i.e., a total of 14 years.]
[The following paragraph describes the seven years after Jacob's marriage to Leah and Rachel. The 11 sons (and daughter Dinah) listed here are born within a seven-year period, see ; . The text contains contrasts such as loved/hated and fertile/barren. In Hebrew usage, this does not mean that Jacob actively "hated" Leah (; ); he loved Rachel more, for whom he had worked two seven-year periods to marry. The meaning is rather unloved, neglected, and rejected, see ; . See also ; . In Proverbs, one of four things that cause the earth to tremble is a "hated" woman who gets married, see . This imbalance becomes clear as the conflict in the family continues between the children. Later, Benjamin is born, see .]
And the Lord (Yahweh) saw that Leah was hated (unloved, repulsive, rejected), and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
And when Rachel saw that she was not bearing children to Jacob, she envied her sister [Leah, who had already borne Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah] and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die.”
Then Jacob’s anger flared up against Rachel, and he said to her, "Am I in the place of God (Elohim), who has withheld the fruit of the womb from you?"
And Rachel said, "God (Elohim) has judged (Hebr. danan) me and also heard my voice and has given me a son." Therefore, she named (called) him Dan [meaning: judge].
And Bilhah, Rachel's servant, became pregnant again and bore a second son to Jacob.
And Rachel said, "I have wrestled (struggled, 'twisted myself'; wrestled) with my sister for God's battles, and I have [truly] gained the upper hand (overcome)." So she named him Naphtali [meaning: "my struggle"; or possibly "cunning struggle"].
And Reuben [Jacob's firstborn (with Leah), who was now 4-5 years old] went out to the wheat harvest during the day and found mandrake roots (mandragora; "love apples" – Hebr. ) in the field and brought them home to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."
[All 11 sons (and daughter Dinah) listed in are born within a seven-year period (by four different mothers). After Leah gave birth to Reuben, she had three more children in quick succession. Then there was a pause when this event occurred. Reuben must have been 4-5 years old at the time, but not older, because she then had three more children in quick succession.
Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum) is a species in the potato family. The herb has coarse roots that often take on shapes reminiscent of naked human bodies. They were sometimes used as household gods (Hebr. teraphim). Long dark green leaves grow from the root, forming a rosette. It produces pale purple-blue flowers that turn into small yellow-red fruits in the spring. The fruit has been described as a yellow bird's egg in a transparent nest. At this time of spring, when the wheat harvest is gathered, the fruit is ripe and fragrant, see . The fruit can be peeled and eaten. Most likely, young Reuben simply picks the fruit and takes it home with him. There are ancient stories about how dogs and donkeys were used to pull up the deep roots, so considering his age, it is unlikely that he dug up the root. Its fruits were considered to act as an aphrodisiac with a strengthening effect on the sex drive. The Arabs called the fruit "the devil's apples" and in the Greek world it was nicknamed "the apple of love." The connection to love is also found in the Hebrew name (which also shares its root with the name David), which is similar to the word for love (Hebr. ) and "my beloved" in the Song, see . The Greek naturalist Dioscorides (40-90 AD) writes how mandrake root could be boiled in wine and given as a pain reliever. It also worked against insomnia and was used before surgical procedures. Mandrake still grows today in the fields of Israel.]
And she [Leah] said to her [Rachel]: "Is it not enough that you have taken my husband from me? Now you want to take my son's mandrakes ('love apples') too?"
So Rachel said, "Let him lie with you tonight [in exchange] for your son's mandrakes."
God (Elohim) remembered Rachel, and God (Elohim) listened to her and opened her womb.
And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I may go to my place and to my country.
And Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah and asked them to come out to his flock in the field,
Then Rachel and Leah replied, "Do we still have any share or inheritance in our father's property?
But Laban had gone to shear his sheep. Then Rachel stole her father's household gods (Hebr. teraphim).
But whoever you find your gods with shall not live. Here, in front of our relatives, you may see if I have anything of yours, and if so, take it." Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
Laban then went into Jacob's tent, and then into Leah's tent and the tents of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. When he came out of Leah's tent, he went into Rachel's tent.
But Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel's saddle and sat on them. Laban searched the whole tent without finding them.
[The Hebrew linguistic construction depicts the scene as Esau quickly approaches, and Jacob acts and divides his family.]
And Jacob lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, Esau was coming, and with him 400 men. And he divided the children to Leah and to Rachel and to the two maidservants.
And he put the maidservants and their children first, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last.
Leah and her children also came near and bowed down, and after them Joseph came near and Rachel, and they bowed down. [Same order as in verses 2-3.]
And they journeyed from Bethel, and there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, and Rachel gave birth, but she had a difficult delivery.
And Rachel died and was buried on the road to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem. [Cf. ]
And Jacob set up a pillar over her grave, which is Rachel's grave pillar to this day.
Rachel's [two] sons:
Joseph and Benjamin.
Rachel's [two] sons by her maid Bilhah:
Dan. and Naphtali.
The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife:
Joseph and Benjamin.
These are the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob—a total of 14 persons (souls, lives).
These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and whom she bore to Jacob—a total of 7 persons (souls, lives).
As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died on me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrathah. I buried her there on the way to Ephrathah." The place is called Bethlehem today.
All the people at the gate and the elders said: ”We are witnesses!
[Since Biblical Hebrew does not have a word for yes, the people respond by repeating Boaz’s last word edim, we are witnesses.]
May the Lord (Yahweh) make the woman who enters your house [home here in Bethlehem] like Rachel and Leah, the two women who built the house of Israel.
[Jacob, whom God later named Israel, bore twelve sons by them and their concubines, see .]
May you become mighty (honorable, strong, victorious, successful) [cf. ; ].
in the area of Ephrathah [the area around Bethlehem]
and your name be widely known (literally ’name a person’)
in Bethlehem. [; , ]
When you leave me today, you will find two men at Rachel's tomb on the border of Benjamin at Tzelzach, and they will say to you, 'The donkeys you went to look for have been found, and your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and is worried about you, saying, "What shall I do for my son?"
Thus says the Lord (Yahweh):
A voice (a cry) is heard in Ramah [meaning: "height"; can also refer to Bethlehem],
a lament (Lam. 1:1-3) and bitter weeping,
Rachel weeps for her sons,
she refuses to be comforted for her sons,
for they are not (her children are gone). []
[Rama is located 8 km north of Jerusalem, where according to an early tradition Rachel is also buried, see (another tradition places the tomb just north of Bethlehem, see ). Rachel, who was married to Jacob, was childless for a long time but eventually had two children, Joseph and Benjamin. Her grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, are the great northern tribes of Israel. Jeremiah now uses a metaphorical image of her weeping over her beloved "children" who had been captured and taken away to Assyria in 722 BC.]
"A voice was heard in
Rama, weeping and loud lamentation:
Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they were no more."
[In Joshua's list of cities, Bethlehem was so insignificant that it was not even mentioned, see . Archaeologists estimate that Bethlehem had about 300 inhabitants in Jesus' time. Calculations (based on estimates of the number of births and infant mortality) show that there were about six boys under the age of two in Bethlehem and the surrounding area who were affected by the death sentence. Compared to other events, this was not one that would have been noted by contemporary historians. However, there is one extra-biblical reference. The Latin author Macrobius writes in his work Saturnalia: "When Emperor Augustus heard how Herod had killed the boys under two years of age in Syria, and even had his own son killed, he said: 'It is better to be Herod's pig than his son.'"
Herod was known for his large construction projects, of which Masada, Herodium, Caesarea Maritima and the temple in Jerusalem are the most prominent. However, he is also notorious for his suspicion and cruelty. He had three of his sons killed, and even his wife Mariamne. The Jewish historian Josephus writes that when Herod was on his deathbed in Jericho, he became concerned that no one would mourn him. He therefore gathered all the influential Jewish leaders in the country at the Jericho horse racing track and ordered his soldiers to kill everyone there when he died. In this way, he wanted to ensure that there would be national mourning at his death, even if it was not for him. Fortunately, his sister Salome (Salome I) canceled this insane order after his death. Ironically, Herod died during the Jewish festival of Purim.]
