Rachel

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Rachel

In the book of Genesis, one of Jacob's two wives. Jacob was forced to serve her father, Laban, for seven years to win her, but at the end of that time he was tricked into marrying her sister, Leah. He was then allowed to marry Rachel as well, in return for seven more years of labour. At first childless, Rachel eventually gave birth to Joseph, and she died giving birth to Benjamin.

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Encyclopedia of Judaism: Rachel

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Wife of Jacob; one of the Matriarchs of Israel. She was the younger daughter of Jacob's uncle Laban. Jacob met her by a well and wished to marry her. Following trickery by Laban, who substituted his older daughter, Leah, for Rachel on Jacob's wedding night, Jacob was forced to work another seven years in addition to the first seven he had agreed to work for Rachel's hand. When Jacob fled from the house of his father-in-law, Laban, Rachel stole Laban's graven images. Laban pursued Jacob and his camp and searched it for these graven images, but Rachel successfully concealed them from her father.

Rachel is described as being, "of comely appearance and beautiful" (Gen. 29:17); she was Jacob's favorite wife. When Jacob finally met his brother Esau, after a 20-year separation, still fearing his wrath, he placed his concubines with their children first in his camp, followed by Leah and her children, and finally Rachel with Joseph. Evidently this was to protect Rachel and her son. It was in giving birth to her second son, Benjamin, just outside Bethlehem that Rachel died.

The traditional site of Rachel's tomb has drawn pilgrims at least since the Byzantine era and has been a favorite subject of Jewish folk art. Women, especially those who are barren, come to pray at Rachel's tomb, for it is related that she was barren for a long time before giving birth to her children.

Bible Guide: Rachel

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("ewe")

Laban's younger daughter and Jacob's second, but favored, wife.

Jacob first met Rachel by a well. Struck by her beauty, he fell in love with her, and pledged seven years of labor to her father as her brideprice. Having completed his term, Jacob was tricked into taking Rachel's elder sister Leah instead, but he then covenanted to work a further seven years to gain Rachel, and ultimately married her. However, Rachel remained barren while Leah was fertile (Gen chap. 29). After Rachel cried that she would die if she had no children, she was blessed with her first son, Joseph (Gen 30:22-24), and a second, Benjamin, at whose birth she died (Gen 35:16-18). Before she had children of her own, she had emulated Sarah and Leah, acquiring legal sons by giving Jacob her handmaid Bilhah, who bore for him two sons, Dan and Naphtali (Gen 30:3-8).

Although socially inferior as the younger sister and chronologically second to marry, and despite her persistent barrenness, Rachel always enjoyed her husband's love and preferential treatment. More often than not when she and Leah are mentioned together, her name comes first (e.g. Gen 31:4). Fearing hostility in his forthcoming encounter with Esau, Jacob ordered Rachel and her household to be stationed at the rear of the column to reduce the danger of harm to her (Gen 33:2). Rachel was the more spirited of the two sisters, as borne out by her successful removal of Laban's household gods (teraphim) prior to departure for Canaan, and her subsequent imprudent lie to her father about the affair (Gen 31:34ff). In the blessing for brides (Ruth 4:11) Rachel is named first although her sister's nominal domestic status and fertility ought to have gained her that position.

Rachel died on the way to Bethlehem and an ancient site became revered as her tomb. In biblical times she was already perceived as the tortured mother, whose untimely departure caused her to grieve continuously for her sons. As Jeremiah says: "Hark, lamentation is heard in Ramah, and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her sons. She refuses to be comforted�" (Jer 31:15; cf Matt 2:16-18 in connection with the massacre of the infants by Herod). Rachel is regarded as the fourth matriarch of the Jewish people.

Concordance
Gen 29:6, 9-12, 16-18, 20,25, 28-31; 30:1-2, 6-8,14-15, 22, 25; 31:4, 14, 19,32-34; 33:1-2,7; 35:16, 19-20, 24-25; 46:19, 22, 25; 48:7. Ruth 4:11. I Sam 10:2. Jer 31:15. Matt 2:18

Columbia Encyclopedia: Rachel

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Rachel (rā'chəl) , in the Bible, wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She is one of the four Jewish matriarchs. An alternate form is Rahel.

Dictionary: Ra·chel (rā'chəl)

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In the Bible, the second wife of Jacob and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin.

[Hebrew rāḥēl, ewe.]

Bible Dictionary: Rachel

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The second wife of Jacob (see Jacob and Esau). She was sterile for many years, but eventually had two sons: Joseph (see Joseph and his brothers) and Benjamin.

Wikipedia: Rachel

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This article is about the Biblical character. For other uses, see Rachel (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Rachael, Rachel (given name).

Rachel – Gustave Doré

According to the Hebrew Bible, Rachel (Hebrew: רחל, Modern Raḥel Tiberian Rāḫēl, Rāḥēl ; meaning "ewe {idiomatically: one with purity}"^[1]) is the second and favorite wife of Kean, one of the three Biblical Patriarchs, and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She was the daughter of Laban and the younger sister of Leah, Jacob's first wife. Jacob was her first cousin, as Jacob's mother Rebecca was Laban's sister.

1 Death and burial
2 Rachel's Children
3 Additional references in the Bible
4 References
5 External links

Death and burial

After Joseph's birth, Jacob decided to return to the land of Canaan with his family. Fearing that Laban would deter him, he fled with his four wives and twelve 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. The midwife tells her in the middle of the birth that her child is a boy.^[2] Before she died, Rachel named her son Ben Oni ("son of my mourning"), but Jacob called him Ben Yamin (Benjamin). Rashi explains that Ben Yamin either means "son of the right" (i.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,^[3] and was buried by Jacob on the road to Efrat, just outside Bethlehem.^[4] Today Rachel's Tomb, located between Bethlehem and the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, is visited by tens of thousands of visitors each year.^[5]

Rachel's Children

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,^[6] 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.^[7]^[8]

Additional references in the Bible

In Jeremiah 31:15, the prophet speaks of 'Rachel weeping for her children' (KJV). 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. 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.^[9]

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.

Mordechai, the hero of the Book of Esther, and Queen Esther herself, were descendants of Rachel through her son Benjamin. 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). 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

References

^ Campbell, Mike Behind the Name
^ Reisenberger, Azila, "Medical history: Biblical texts reveal compelling mysteries," Newsroom and Publications at the University of Cape Town website
^ Melamed, Zalman Baruch, "The Anniversary of Rachel's Death,"
^ "Rachel" at http://jewishencyclopedia.com
^ "Kever Rachel Trip Breaks Barriers" by Israel National News Staff at israelnationalnews.com, Published: 11/14/05
^ "Joseph" at jewishencyclopedia.com
^ Davidiy, Yair, "Moshiach Ben Yoseph," at britam.org
^ "The Messiah of Judaism," at truthnet.org
^ Weisberg, Chana, "Rachel - Biblical Women" at chabad.org

External links

Look up Rachel or רחל in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Rachel's Tomb Website General Info., History, Pictures, Video, Visitor Info., Transportation
The Committee for Rachel's Tomb

Children of Jacob by wife in order of birth (D = Daughter)

Leah

Rachel

Bilhah (Rachel's servant)

Dan (5)

Naphtali (6)

Zilpah (Leah's servant)

Gad (7)

Asher (8)

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