Rachel – Gustave Doré

Rachel (Hebrew: רחל, Standard Raḥel Tiberian Rāḫēl, Rāḥēl ; also spelled Rachael, meaning "lamb of god", or possibly "innocence and gentility of a rose" or "lovely") is the second and favorite wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin, first mentioned in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible. Tiberian Hebrew is an extinct (yet very well documented Oral tradition of pronunciation for ancient Hebrew, especially the Hebrew of the Tanakh, that was A wife is a Female spouse or participant in a Marriage, or Civil union or Civil partnership. Jacob ( Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב, Standard   Yaʿaqov Tiberian   Yaʿăqōḇ; Joseph or Yosef (יוֹסֵ Standard Yosef Tiberian Yôsēp̄, يوسف Yusuf; "He Benjamin ( in the Book of Genesis, is a son of Jacob, the second (and last son of Rachel, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Benjamin The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written in Biblical Hebrew (and the related Biblical Aramaic She was the daughter of Laban and the younger sister of Leah, Jacob's first wife. Laban ( is the son of Bethuel, brother of Rebecca and the father of Leah and Rachel as described in the Book of Genesis. Leah ( "Weary tired" is the first of the four concurrent wives of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob, and mother of six of the Twelve Tribes of Israel along Jacob was her first cousin, as Jacob's mother Rebecca was Laban's sister. This article is about the biblical matriarch For other uses of the word Rebecca see Rebecca (disambiguation Rebecca (also Rebekah also

Marriage to Jacob

The Torah introduces Rachel and her older sister Leah with these words:

Laban had two daughters. term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to The name of the older one was Leah and the name of the younger one was Rachel.

Leah's eyes were tender, while Rachel was beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance.

(Genesis 29:16-17)

It was this external beauty that initially attracted Jacob when he met her by the well, tending her father's sheep. Rebekah had sent Jacob back to her hometown to avoid being killed by his brother Esau, and possibly to find a wife. Esau (ˈisɔ ( Hebrew, Standard Hebrew Esav, Tiberian Hebrew ʿĒśāw) is the brother of Jacob (whom God renamed When Jacob saw Rachel for the first time, he rolled the heavy stone off the well (something that normally took many men to accomplish) and watered her flock.

After living and working for a month in Laban's house, Jacob asked for Rachel's hand in marriage. Laban agreed, on condition that Jacob work as a shepherd for him for the next seven years. A shepherd is a person who tends to feeds or guards Sheep, especially in flocks The Torah says those years "seemed to him a few days, because of his love for her" (Genesis 29:20).

On the wedding night, however, Laban dressed Leah in the wedding dress and veil and brought her to Jacob instead of Rachel. To reinforce the ruse, Laban gave Zilpah as a handmaid to Leah. In the Book of Genesis, Zilpah ( זִלְפָּה "Drooping" Standard Hebrew Zilpa, Tiberian Hebrew Zilpāh) Zilpah was the younger of the two handmaids in the house, and it was assumed that she would become the servant of Rachel, while Bilhah, the older handmaid, would become the servant of Leah. In the Book of Genesis, Bilhah ( בִּלְהָה "Faltering bashful" Standard Hebrew Bilha, Tiberian Hebrew Bilhāh (Some say that Bilhah and Zilpah were younger sisters of Rachel and Leah). ^[1]

According to the Talmud (Megillah 13b), Jacob and Rachel suspected that Laban would pull a trick like this. They made up a series of secret signs with which the veiled bride would identify herself to her bridegroom. Participants in wedding ceremonies, also known as the wedding party, include the bride and groom (or bridegroom) the maid of honor Participants in wedding ceremonies, also known as the wedding party, include the bride and groom (or bridegroom) the maid of honor But when Rachel saw her father bringing Leah out to the wedding canopy, she could not bear to see her sister shamed in public, and revealed the signs to Leah. ^[2]

When Jacob discovered the deception in the light of day, the marriage had already been consummated. Jacob agreed to work another seven years in order to marry Rachel as well (see Genesis 29). Following the week-long celebration of his marriage to Leah, Jacob also married Rachel.

Motherhood

Rachel and her sister Leah in a painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Dante Gabriel Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882 was an English poet Illustrator, painter and Translator.

Rachel became the favored wife of Jacob. The Torah states: "He loved Rachel more than Leah" (Hebrew: ויאהב גם-את-רחל מלאה) (Genesis 29:30), although the text could also read, "He loved also Rachel from Leah," meaning that loving Leah taught him how to love Rachel. Nevertheless, the Torah continues, "God saw that Leah was hated, and opened her womb, but Rachel remained barren" (Genesis 29:31). Leah gave birth to four sons in quick succession, naming Reuben, Simeon and Judah with an acknowledgement to God for hearing her prayers, and Levi with a prayer that her husband draw closer to her. Reuben or Re'uven ( Hebrew: רְאוּבֵן, Standard Rəʾuven Tiberian Rəʾûḇēn A number of people named Simeon appear in the Bible Simeon (Hebrew Bible, the second son of Jacob Simeon the Righteous, mentioned in Luke 2 Judah / Yehuda ( Hebrew: יְהוּדָה Standard Yəhuda Tiberian Yəhûḏāh) was according This article discusses the Biblical patriarch See Levi Strauss for the inventor of jeans Levites for the Biblical tribe or Matthew the Evangelist

When Rachel saw that she was unable to conceive, she offered her handmaid Bilhah to her husband in marriage, and named the two sons that Bilhah bore, Dan and Naphtali, indicating that they were to be considered her family. Dan ( Hebrew: דָּן Standard Dan Tiberian Dān "Judge" was according to the Book of Genesis, a Naphtali (ˈnæftəˌlaɪ ( was according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Jacob and Bilhah, and the founder of the Israelite ^[3] Leah, who also desired more children, then offered her handmaid Zilpah to Jacob, and Zilpah bore two more sons, Gad and Asher. For Gad the prophet of King David see Gad (Bible prophet Gad ( was according to the Book of Genesis, the first son of Jacob Asher ( in the Book of Genesis, is the second son of Jacob and Zilpah, and the founder of the Tribe of Asher. Finally, after Leah produced another two sons, Issachar and Zebulun, and a daughter, Dinah, Rachel finally bore a son, Joseph. Issachar / Yissachar ( was according to the Book of Genesis, a son of Jacob and Leah (the fifth son of Leah and ninth son of Jacob and the Zebulun (also Zebulon, Zabulon or Zaboules, Hebrew: זְבֻלוּן or זְבוּלֻן or זְבוּלוּן Tiberian Hebrew Zəḇūlūn According to the Hebrew Bible, Dinah ( was the daughter of Jacob, one of the Patriarchs of the Israelites and Leah, his first wife Joseph or Yosef (יוֹסֵ Standard Yosef Tiberian Yôsēp̄, يوسف Yusuf; "He

Rivalry with Leah

On a homiletical level, the classic Chassidic texts explain the sisters' rivalry as more than marital jealousy. Homiletics ( Gr homiletikos, from homilos, to assemble together in Theology the application of the general principles of Rhetoric Hasidic Judaism (also Chasidic, etc from the Hebrew: he '''''חסידות''''', Chassidus, meaning "piety" from the Hebrew Each woman desired to grow spiritually in her avodat Hashem (service of God), and therefore sought closeness to the tzadik (Jacob) who is God's personal emissary in this world. For the Hebrew letter "Tzadik" see Tsade. Tzadik ( צדיק, "righteous one" pl By marrying Jacob and bearing his sons, who would be raised in the tzadik's home and continue his mission into the next generation (indeed, all 12 sons became tzadikim in their own right and formed the foundation of the Nation of Israel), they would develop an even closer relationship to God. Therefore Leah and Rachel each wanted to have as many of those sons as possible, going so far as to offer their handmaids as wives to Jacob so they could have a share in the upbringing of their handmaids' sons, too. [1]

Death and burial

After Joseph's birth, Jacob decided to return to the land of Canaan with his family. Canaanites redirects here For the 1940s social and political movement in Israel, see Canaanites (movement. Fearing that Laban would deter him, he fled with his four wives and eleven children without informing his father-in-law. Laban chased him and accused him of stealing his idols. Indeed, Rachel had taken her father's idols, hidden them inside her camel's seat cushion, and sat upon them. Not knowing that the idols were in his wife's possession, Jacob pronounced a curse on whoever had them: "With whoever you will find your gods, he will not live" (Genesis 31:32). Laban proceeded to search the tents of Jacob and his wives, but when he came to Rachel's tent, she told her father, "Let not my lord be angered that I cannot rise up before you, for the way of women is upon me" (Genesis 31:35). Laban left her alone, but the curse Jacob had pronounced came true shortly thereafter.

At the outskirts of the land of Canaan, approaching Efrat, Rachel went into a difficult labor with her second son, Benjamin. Canaanites redirects here For the 1940s social and political movement in Israel, see Canaanites (movement. Childbirth (also called labour, birth, partus or parturition) is the culmination of a Human Pregnancy or Benjamin ( in the Book of Genesis, is a son of Jacob, the second (and last son of Rachel, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Benjamin The midwife tells her in the middle of the birth that her child is a boy. ^[4] Before she died, Rachel named her son Ben Oni (literally, "son of my mourning"), but Jacob called him Ben Yamin (Benjamin). Rashi explains that Ben Yamin either means "son of the right" (i. For the astrological concept see Rāshi (Jyotiṣa. Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, (רבי שלמה יצחקי better known by the acronym Rashi e. , "south"), since Benjamin was the only one of Jacob's sons born in Canaan, which is to the south of Paddan Aram; or it could mean "son of my days," as Benjamin was born in Jacob's old age.

Rachel died on the eleventh day of the Hebrew month of Heshvan,^[5] and was buried by Jacob on the road to Efrat, just outside Bethlehem. Cheshvan ( Hebrew: חֶשְׁוָן, Standard Ḥešvan Tiberian Ḥešwān) short for Efrat ( אפרת or Efrata ( is an Israeli settlement in Judea (southern West Bank) located south of Jerusalem, between the Bethlehem ( بيت لحم,, lit "House of Meat" Βηθλεέμ Bethleém בית לחם Beit Lehem, lit "House of Bread" is a ^[3] Today Rachel's Tomb, located between Bethlehem and the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, is visited by tens of thousands of visitors each year. Rachel's Tomb ( Hebrew: קבר רחל Arabic: translit Qubbat Rakhil, trans Bethlehem ( بيت لحم,, lit "House of Meat" Βηθλεέμ Bethleém בית לחם Beit Lehem, lit "House of Bread" is a Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the Gilo (גילֹה is a neighborhood in southern Jerusalem built on land De facto annexed to Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War. ^[6]

Rachel's offspring

Rachel's son, Joseph, is destined to be the leader of Israel's tribes between exile and nationhood. This role is exemplified in the Biblical story of Joseph, who prepared the way in Egypt for his family's exile there,^[7] and in the future figure of Mashiach ben Yosef (Messiah, son of Joseph), who will fight the apocalyptic Wars of Gog and Magog, preparing the way for the kingship of Mashiach ben David (Messiah, son of David) and the messianic age. The tradition of Gog and Magog ( Hebrew גוג ומגוג Arabic يأجوج و مأجوج begins in the Hebrew Bible with the reference to ^[8][9]

Additional references in the Bible

• In Jeremiah 31:15, the prophet speaks of 'Rachel weeping for her children' (KJV). The Book of Jeremiah, or Jeremiah ( יִרְמְיָהוּ Yirməyāhū in Hebrew) is part of the Hebrew Bible, Judaism This is interpreted in Judaism as Rachel crying for an end to her descendants' sufferings and exiles following the destruction of the First Temple in ancient Jerusalem. Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut Solomon's Temple (בית המקדש transliterated Beit HaMikdash) also known as the First Temple, was according to Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the According to the Midrash, Rachel spoke before God: "If I, a mere mortal, was prepared not to humiliate my sister and was willing to take a rival into my home, how could You, the eternal, compassionate God, be jealous of idols, which have no true existence, that were brought into Your home (the Temple in Jerusalem)? Will You cause my children to be exiled on this account?" God accepted her plea and promised that, eventually, the exile would end and the Jews would return to their land. Midrash ( Hebrew: מדרש plural midrashim, lit "to repeat" is a Hebrew term referring to the not exact but comparative ( homiletic Idolatry is usually defined as Worship of any Cult image, Idea, or object, as opposed to the worship of a monotheistic God. Etymology The Hebrew name given in Scripture for the building is Beit HaMikdash or "The Holy House" and only the Temple in Jerusalem is referred to by this name ^[10]

• In the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew (part of the New Testament), this reference from Jeremiah is interpreted as a prediction of the Massacre of the Innocents by Herod the Great in his attempt to kill the young Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew (Gk Κατά Ματθαίον Ευαγγέλιον is one of the four Canonical gospels in the New Testament and is a Synoptic gospel For the painting by Peter Paul Rubens see " Massacre of the Innocents (Rubens " Herod (הוֹרְדוֹס Horodos, Greek: Herōdes) also known as Herod I or Herod the Great (73 BC – 4 BC in Jericho Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE)

• Mordechai, the hero of the Book of Esther, and Queen Esther herself, were descendants of Rachel through her son Benjamin. Mordecai or Mordechai ( - the son of Jair, of the Tribe of Benjamin, is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the The Book of Esther is a book of the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible) and of the Old Testament. Esther ( born Hadassah, is a queen of Persian Empire in the Hebrew Bible, the queen of Ahasuerus (traditionally identified with Artaxerxes The Book of Esther details Mordechai's lineage as "Mordechai the son of Yair, the son of Shimi, the son of Kish, a man of the right (ish yemini)" (Esther 2:5). The designation of ish yemini refers to his membership in the Tribe of Benjamin (ben yamin, son of the right). See also History of ancient Israel and Judah According to the Bible, the Israelites were the dominant group living in the Land of Israel. The rabbis comment that Esther's ability to remain silent in the palace of Ahasuerus, resisting the king's pressure to reveal her ancestry, was inherited from her ancestor Rachel, who remained silent even when Laban brought out Leah to marry Jacob. Ahasuerus ( Latin: Xerxes, Persian: Khashayarshah, commonly transliterated Achashverosh) is a name used several times in the [2]

Rachel as a modern name

The name Rachel is popular in England and the United States. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The United States of America —commonly referred to as the According to United States Social Security card applications in 2006, the name Rachel ranked 38th out of the top 100 names chosen by parents for their baby girls[3]. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United States Social Security Administration ( SSA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that administers Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

References

External links

• The Committee for Rachel's Tomb