Rachel initially relies on her handmaiden Bilhah to bear children in her place, but Rachel eventually becomes pregnant and goes on to have one other child. They consented, as is said inGen. 31:14: Then Rachel and Leah answered, saying []. Since Rachel spoke before her sister, she was punished by dying before her(Gen. Rabbah74:4). 22). Rachel said: Naftalihe is mynofet[honeycomb].Nofetare the words ofTorah, that are called(Ps. She told Jacob that if he didn't "give" her children, she would die. Agadat Bereshit l.c. Jacob loved Rachel but was indifferent toward Leah. So after the ceremonial week of the wedding to Leah was over, Rachel married Jacob, becoming his second but most-loved wife. Jewish Women's Archive. According to Gen. R. (lxxii. Overall, the midrash portrays Rachel as incredibly generous and compassionate, and her goodness is seen in her descendants. Rachels good deeds also positively influenced her children. 4:19), andMichal (daughter of Saul)(II Sam. The reason for this was Josephs fear that Esau would see Rachel and desire her. The Bible does not say when Rachel was born, nor how old she was when she married Jacob, nor how long she lived. They answer that Jacob saw with the spirit of divine inspiration that when the Israelites would set out to exile, they would pass through Bethlehem on the road to Ephrath, and so he buried Rachel there, so that she would pray for them. Jacob is ultimately allowed to marry Rachel, which he does immediately after the festivities related to his wedding to Leah end, in exchange for another seven years' labor. If she had, then she would not have been able to employ a ruse to stop her father from searching her belongings too closely (see below). This exegetical direction is supported by the divine aid she received in the miraculous concealment of the idols from Laban. Rachelis depicted in theTorah she-bi-khetav: Lit. His love and our salvation come through grace. cit.). Theodor-Albeck, MS. Vatican, 99:20, p. 1270]). Themidrashrelates that there was no maiden comelier than Rachel, which was why Jacob desired to wed her, and sent her presents. 1) is only once (Gen. R. xlv. When Jacob first met Laban (his mother's brother), he immediately fell in love with his younger daughter Rachel. At the same time, they also illustrate the intricate and complex relationship betweenLeahand Rachel, the two sisters and the two wives of Jacob whose fate was intertwined. In another tradition, Rachel stole these idols so that they would not reveal to Laban that Jacob had fled with his wives, his children and his flocks (Tanhuma,Vayeze12). Jacob replied that he was her father's equal in trickery; and he agreed with Rachel upon certain signs which would enable him to recognize her. Laban's excuse was that it was not their custom to marry off the younger daughter before the older one. Updates? Rachel and Leah both took Jacob's side. Corrections? He knew that he would marry her, just as Rebekah had been married to Isaac, and he also understood that he would bury her. Rachel's envy at her sister's fertility (comp. According to another exegetical approach, it is Rachels son who wins the birthright. The midrash explains that the education that Joseph received from his mother continued to guide him even after her death. Rijksmuseum The story of how Jacob ends up marrying his two cousins, Leah and Rachel, begins in Canaan, with the marriage of his older twin, Esau, to two Hittite women of whom Isaac and Rebekah do not approve. She bore him in 2259 AM. Themidrashrecords a disagreement among the Rabbis concerning the origins of Elijah. Bilhah bore Jacob two sons, Dan and Naphtali, the first by her own merit, and the second by the merit of Rachel (Gen. Rabbati,Vayeze, p. 121). [Note Jacob was less than half this age when he met Rachel - this means that even compared to a modern man, he was in the prime of his life at that point.] 2). When Naphtali was born, Rachel felt that her competition with her sister had reached a point of equilibrium. Rachel's father Laban was the brother of Rebekah, Jacob mother. l.c. Jacob said: If all my children will be killed, Rachels son will remain, for he will punish this wicked seed, as it is said(Jud. Isaac married Rabecah and they had two sons - Esau and Jacob.. 60a, and Targ. Leah's life as Jacob's wife was distressful. 29a; R. H. 11a), and it was particularly her self-abnegation at the time of her sister's marriage which gained for her the divine clemency (Gen. R. lxxiii. Jealous of her sister, Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife. Forced to serve Rachel's father, Laban, for seven years to win her, Jacob was tricked at the end of that time into marrying her sister, Leah. Buber],Vayeze18). Had I not revealed to thee our signs, he would never have become thy husband" (Midr. By your life, your sons will stand before her son, and he will tell them(Gen. 50:19) Am I a substitute for God?(Gen. Rabbah71:7). "Meet Rachel - Favored Wife of Jacob." [2] Jacob had traveled a great distance to find Laban. 24), show that she was a prophetess. Agadah to Gen. xxx. Jacob said to Rachel: who has deniedyoufruit of the wombHe denied you, but me He did not deny [since I have sons from Leah]. This well had a heavy stone to cap it by night, and Rachel was accustomed to waiting for someone to roll the stone away when all the flocks were gathered. xxxi. 11). Bethlehem is now an Arab-controlled town. He said to them: My masters, why do you disagree about me? Rachel said: I prepared myself [nupeti, i.e., I prepared myself for Jacobs bed], I allowed myself to be persuaded [pititito withdraw in favor of my sister and to aid her to be Jacobs wife], I exalted my sister over myself [taliti ahoti alai], and I have prevailed(Gen. Rabbah71:8). She bore another son and a daughter over the next two years. According to this conception, Rachels son should from the outset have been the firstborn, but because God had compassion on the unloved Leah, He gave her the fruit of the womb and she bore Jacobs firstborn son. In the fourth interpretive possibility, the name given by Rachel portrays the childs character, thus predicting the future. The Rabbis learned from this that whoever makes a vow and delays fulfilling it will bury his wife (Lev. What am I, flesh and blood, dust and ashes, that I was not jealous of my rival wife, and that I did not allow her to be shamed and disgraced, but You, merciful living and eternal King, why were You jealous of idolatry that is of no import, and exiled my children who were slain by the sword, and allowed their enemies to do with them as they pleased? Gods mercy was immediately revealed, and He said: For your sake, Rachel, I shall return Israel to their placefor there is a reward for your labor []. There is also an intermediate approach, which argues that Reuben should have received the birthright, but it was permanently taken from him because of his sin. She hid these teraphim in her saddle bag, and sat on them. Jacob retorted in anger that he did not stand in the place of God, Who alone decided questions of that sort. 33:12): Of Benjamin he said: Beloved of the Lord, he rests securely beside Him [] as he rests between His shoulders (Tanhuma[ed. [1] In 1620, the Ottoman Turks surrounded the supposed grave with a cube surmounted by a dome. Mandelbaum],Roni Akarah20:1). When Rachel saw that she did not bear children, she followed in the footsteps of Sarah: just as she [Sarah] had been built (i.e., had children) through her rival wife [Hagar], so too, this one [Rachel] would be built by her rival wife [Bilhah] (Gen. Rabbahloc. ; Gen. R. lxxiv. The Rabbis further learned from Jacobs words that a wifes death profoundly affects her husband(BTSanhedrin22b). Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples. Rachel is mentioned twice in the Old Testament beyond her story in Genesis. According to the Rabbis, Laban would not have succeeded in deceiving Jacob without Rachels involvement. Leah gives birth to four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. Rabbah37:1). Some consider that she did so in order to conceal Jacob's flight; others, that her object was to turn her father from idolatry (Pire R. El. She performed the exchange fully aware of what she was doing, even though she knew that Leah would bear most of Jacobs sons. xxxvi. For instance. cit.). Those sons became the founders of the 12 tribes of Israel. The exegetes holding this view find Rachels words(Gen. 30:15) to be somewhat prophetic: I promise, he shall lie with you tonightwith you he will lie [in the grave], but with me he will not lie [in the grave]. Answer Rachel is a major character in the early Old Testament; she was a daughter of Laban, sister of Leah, favored wife of Jacob, and mother of two of Jacob's children. But the Bible makes no specific statement to this effect. When he gives him blessings of the breast and the womb he is saying to Joseph: may the breasts that nursed such a son, and the womb that brought him forth, be blessed(Gen. Rabbah98:20, [ed. Rachel immediately told her father Laban about the helpful stranger at the well. In the New Testament, this same verse in Jeremiah is cited in Matthew 2:18 as a prophecy fulfilled through Herods order to kill all male children under two in Bethlehem and the surrounding areas. Omissions? 12; Targ. God thereupon promised her the restoration of Israel (Lam. cit.). Read Genesis 29:15-30 Rachel has a son, Joseph Rachel may have been the more loved of the two women, but she was not the most fertile. As compensation for this negative depiction, Scripture calls Israel after her, after her son, and after her sons son. According to one, Reuben, Leahs son and the firstborn of Jacob, does receive the birthright. The Rabbis present Labans act of deceit as something in which Rachel was involved, from which they learn of her special qualities. 3; Pire R. El. (NIV). So Rachel offered her handmaid, Bilhah, as her surrogate. https://www.learnreligions.com/rachel-favored-wife-of-jacob-701193 (accessed May 1, 2023). In Ruth 4:11, she is named as one "from whom all the nation of Israel descended." All this means that Jacob was married to Rachel for some time between about 15 years and 22 years. Rachel died while giving birth to Benjamin. Why did Rachel die? At his meeting with Esau, Jacob showed his particular affection for Rachel by placing her last, with her son Joseph (xxxiii. Rachel and Jacob were cousins. By merit of the birth of Dan [the son of Bilhah], Rachel became pregnant; and by merit of the birth of Dan, Joseph and Benjamin were born(Gen. Rabbah73:4). 1-min read. [6] (Genesis 31:19-20 ) Jones[7] records that the phrase "born to him in Padan-aram" that appears after the listing of Jacob's sons (Genesis 35:26 ) can also mean "engendered by him in Padan-aram." Rachel and Leah persuaded their husband to flee from Laban's house, and at the moment of Jacob's flight Rachel stole her father's teraphim. The proverb teaches that we should not be surprised by this similarity, since Rachel was exceedingly beautiful, so was her son. She told her father she was having her period, making her ceremonially unclean, so he did not search near her. 10). The Jewish New Year, held on the first and second days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. 10:5], and therefore Rachel died during childbirth(Gen. 35:19). Scripture says Rachel was beautiful. He therefore went before her, stood up to his full height and hid her from Esau. Rachel asks Jacob: Is this how your father [Isaac] acted toward your mother [Rebekah]? Leah was busy with raising her children and therefore could not care for the needs of the household. gimkit hack website, insight mobile banking routing number,
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