Genesis 29:6-31:35
Raquel (Heb. Râjêl, “sheep”; Gr. Rhajel). She is the youngest daughter of Laban, 2nd wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. Since the father was Jacob’s uncle on his mother’s side, Rachel was his cousin (cf Gen 28:2; 29:9, 10). Jacob met her for the 1st time at the well, near Haran, on reaching Padan-aram, where he had been sent to find a wife. After politely removing the stone from the mouth of the well and giving her flocks a drink (Gen 29:10), he greeted her with a kiss and introduced himself (vs 11, 12). Apparently, he fell in love at first sight with Rachel, and her affection for her grew firm and deep (v 20). Laban welcomed him into his home (vs 13, 14), and after a month hired him to tend his flocks (v 15; cf 30:31), with the understanding that Rachel would become his wife in return. of 7 years of service (29:15-19). This procedure was in accordance with the customs of the ancient East, which required that the prospective husband make a payment to the father of the bride when formalizing the marriage contract. Since Jacob had arrived penniless, and therefore could not pay the required dowry*, he had to work for the stipulated price. When 7 years had passed, Laban secretly replaced Rachel with her older sister, Leah, and Jacob, the deceiver (cp 27), was deceived (29: 21-25). Under the pretext that custom prevented the youngest daughter from marrying before the eldest, Laban proposed to Jacob that the week of the wedding feast (cf Jdg 14:12), which had already begun, continue for a week more, at the end of which he would also give Rachel, in exchange for another 7 years of service (Gen 29:26, 27, 30). To her great dismay and deep disappointment, “Rachel was barren” (v 31). Leah, on the other hand, gave birth to several children (vs 32-35). Jealous of Leah, Rachel blamed Jacob for her barrenness and arrogantly asked him to give her children (30:1), but he reminded her that this power was in God’s hands (v 2). Rachel then gave her maidservant Bilhah as her concubine (v 3), in harmony with ancient Eastern customs, by which her children became the legal children of the lawful wife. Dan and Naphtali were born from this union (vs 4-8). On one occasion, Raquel traded with Leah for some mandrakes that she had collected from her son Reuben (v 14). The peoples of the Near East believed that this plant, from the nightshade family, promoted fertility. At her time, God “remembered Rachel,” and she gave birth to Joseph (vs 22-24). 424. The so-called tomb of Rachel near Bethlehem. After 20 years of service (31:38), Jacob secretly left Laban to return to Canaan with his wives and his flocks (vs 1-18, 20). On the way out, Raquel stole her father’s “idols,” that is, the family gods (teraphs;* v 19), which were generally small figurines or images made of wood, clay, or precious metals, probably in the hope that they would increase her their fertility, one of the functions attributed to these gods (fig 503). When Laban later asked Jacob about them, Jacob, who knew nothing about the theft, invited him to check all of his possessions (Gen 31: 30-33). Raquel cunningly hid the images, and they were not found (vs 34, 35). Some years later, Jacob requested that all “foreign gods” belonging to members of his family be eliminated, and he “hid them under an oak tree” near Shechem (35:2-4). It is possible that Laban’s “images” were among 975 of them. Several more years passed and, on a journey from Bethel, Rachel gave birth to Benjamin, but she died in childbirth and was buried near Ephrathah (vs 16-19), where a pillar was raised to mark her grave ( v20). Her exact location is unknown, but she has erected a small chapel a short distance north of Bethlehem over the traditional site (fig 424). However, according to 1Sa 10:2 (cf Jer 31:15) it appears that she was buried in the vicinity of what later became the border between Benjamin and Judah, north of Jerusalem. The traditional site, 1.5 km north of the town of Bethlehem, would be about 6.5 km from the Benjamin border. Jacob’s deep love for Rachel is noted in his mention of her many years after her death (48:7). Jer 31:15 figuratively represents Rachel as weeping for her children, which may be the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, children of her son Joseph, who had been taken into captivity a century before the time of Jeremiah; but doubtless also by the people of Benjamin, her youngest son, who was about to suffer captivity by Nebuchadnezzar. Matthew (2:18) applies the figure of “Rachel weeping for her children” to the mourning of the mothers of Bethlehem for the murder of her children ordered by Herod the Great.
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
youngest daughter of Laban, favorite wife of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob, and mother of Joseph and Benjamin, Gen 29-35. She was a shepherd. For many years R. was barren and fathered children through her servant Bilhah, for his offspring, a common practice at that time. Later God remembered her and gave her Joseph, her first son, Gn 29, 31. Her second son died at birth, Gn 35, 16-30, exhaling gave him the name of Ben Oní, son of pain, but his father changed it for that of Benjamin, son of good omen. She was buried in Ramah 8 km north of Jerusalem.
Digital Bible Dictionary, Grupo C Service & Design Ltda., Colombia, 2003
Source: Digital Bible Dictionary
(Heb., rahel, sheep;
Gr., Rachel). The wife of Jacob, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin (Gen 29:6, Gen 29:16, Gen 29:18, Gen 29:31; Gen 30:1-9; compare Jer 31:15; Mat 2:18) . Rachel was the youngest daughter of Laban, the Aramean (VM-1893 Syrian), the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob (Gen 28:2); so Jacob and Rachel were first cousins. Rebekah suggested that Jacob leave home for a while and go to his brother Laban’s house in Haran (Paddan-aram) (Gen 27:43-45). Upon her arrival, Jacob was impressed by Rachel’s beauty and immediately fell in love with her (Gen 28: 17-18). He signed a contract with Laban for seven years of labor (the usual period for apprentice servants); at the end of that time, Rachel was to become his wife. Laban adopted Jacob as his son, giving him both Leah and her sister Rachel as his wives. Having prospered, Jacob left Laban’s house (Gen 31:21).
Rachel hid Laban’s family gods in luggage when she and Jacob fled (Gen 31:30-31). These family deities, approx. The size of miniature dolls, they were considered indisputable evidence of the rights and privileges of family property and inheritance (Gen 31:30).
For a time, Rachel remained barren, but she finally had Joseph (Gen 30:22), while she was still in Laban’s house. Then Benjamin was born, but Rachel died in childbirth (Gen 35:16-19). Jacob favored the children of his beloved Rachel over the children of Leah. Rachel inherited cunning and family impersonation traits from her (Gen 31:34). A believer in monotheism, she still clung to polytheistic ways.
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
(Lamb). Jacob’s wife. Mother of †¢José and †¢Benjamín. She daughter of † ¢ Laban. She † œwas fair in countenance and beautiful in appearance † (Gen 29:17). She herded her father’s sheep. She met Jacob when he came to bring the flock to drink water at a well. In love with her, Jacob agreed with Laban to serve her for seven years in exchange for having her as her wife. When the time was up, the wedding was celebrated, but Laban deceived Jacob and gave him his daughter †¢Lea as a wife, saying that it was not customary to give the youngest first in marriage, but he offered to give R. if Jacob served others. seven years. That’s how it was fixed. R. turned out to be barren, while her sister Leah quickly had children (Gen 29: 1-35).
Desperate for her sterility, R. told Jacob: “Give me children, or else I’ll die.” She took her maidservant Bilhah and gave her to Jacob as a wife, just as Sarah did to Abraham and Hagar. Bilhah gave birth to †¢Dan, who was named by R. Then †¢Naphtali was born, who was named by R.. † ¢ Reuben, son of Leah, † œfound mandrakes in the field † and brought them to his mother. It was believed in ancient times that this plant contributed to female fertility. R. asked her sister Leah for them and she demanded that Jacob sleep with her that night. Thus was Issachar procreated.
she heard R.’s prayer and bore him a son, whom she named Joseph. When Jacob decided to return to his land, he called his wives and consulted with them. they supported the decision. Running away, †œR. he stole his father’s idols †, because it seems to have been the custom in his land that whoever possessed such idols would be entitled to the inheritance in the event of the death of the father of the family. When Laban came to get idols of his R. † œhe put them on a camel’s saddle and sat on them † saying that he did not get up because he was in his menstrual period. Thus, Laban left without the idols of him (Gen 30: 1-43; Gen 31: 1-34).
R. was pregnant again, but at the time of delivery she had difficulties and died. The son was born well and was named †¢Benjamin. A. “She was buried on the way to Ephrathah, which is Bethlehem. And she raised Jacob a pillar over her grave † (Gen 35: 16-19). R. and Leah are remembered as “they who built the house of Israel” (Ruth 4:11). Jeremiah poetically recalls R. saying that she “mourns for her children” (Jer 31:15). An allusion to the exile of the tribes of †¢Ephraim and †¢Manasseh, descendants of Joseph, son of R.
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
tip, BIOG WOMAN MUAT
vet, = “sheep”. She the youngest daughter of Laban. She was so beautiful; Jacob met her at the well where she went to water her flocks, near Haran, in Mesopotamia. Jacob fell in love with her that very moment. However, Jacob, devoid of assets, could not pay the dowry that every suitor gave to the parents of a young woman. For this reason, he served Laban for seven years to obtain Rachel. At the same time, Jacob, lonely and fugitive, was providentially cared for, being able to join a patriarchal group. He entered into a contract, and Laban gave him a woman from the clan. Since then, he could not leave or take his own wife and children without asking permission to do so, even at the end of his contract. At the end of the seven years of work, Laban deceived Jacob, who the morning after their wedding night found that the wife he had was Rachel’s older sister, Leah, who appears to be much less attractive. Isaac’s son served seven more years to pay the price of the youngest, the only one he loved. Rachel became his wife (Gen. 29: 1-30), mother of Joseph (Gen. 30: 22-25) and of Benjamin; she died in childbirth giving birth to the latter (Gen. 35:16-20; 48:7). Jacob buried her in a place somewhat north of Ephrathah, better known as Bethlehem, along the road from the latter place to…