And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor.
16. some way ] The word in the Heb. denotes a measure of distance. What it was, however, cannot be determined. It is found in Gen 48:7 and 2Ki 5:19. LXX renders as a proper name Chabratha.
to Ephrath ] The name of a place otherwise unknown, in Benjamite territory, south of Bethel: not Bethlehem (Mic 5:2); see Gen 35:19.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
16 22a (J). Birth of Benjamin and Death of Rachel
“The meaning of the statement that Rachel died when Benjamin was born is that the formation of the new tribe Benjamin broke up the old tribe Rachel” (Bennett). But it would be a mistake to attempt to distinguish too closely the personal and tribal elements in the narrative. Events in personal life may be recorded for their symbolical significance. The story of Jacob, as distinct from that of Joseph, closes with Rachel’s death.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gen 35:16-20
Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem
The death of Rachel
I.
IN ITS SOLEMN AND MELANCHOLY ASPECT.
1. It was death upon a journey.
2. It was death in the time of travail.
3. It was death just when his old fond desire was accomplished.
II. IN ITS HOPEFUL AND PROPHETIC ASPECT.
1. It teaches the doctrine of victory through pain.
2. It teaches that death is not annihilation. As her soul was in departing (for she died) (Gen 35:18). Death is here represented, not as the complete extinction of all thought and feeling, but as the separation of soul and body. It is not a sinking into nought, but only a change of state and place.
3. It teaches us what is the characteristic mark of Gods chosen people. Israel of old had the portion of affliction, and thus became the time of the Messiah, whose peculiar and distinctive mark was, that He was a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isa 53:3). Rachel was theancestress of the suffering children of Israel.
4. It teaches a lesson of encouragement to all mothers dying in similar circumstances. (T. H. Leale.)
Rachels death
Thus she that had said, Give me children, or I die, died in child-birth! Several circumstances which attended this afflictive event are deserving of notice.
(1) The words of the midwife: Fear not: thou shalt have this son also. When Rachel bare her first son, she called him Joseph, that is, adding; for, said she, by a prophetic impulse, the Lord shall add to me another son. It is probably in reference to this that the midwife spake as she did.
Her words, if reported to Jacob, with the recollection of the above prophetic hint, would raise his hopes, and render his loss more affecting, by adding to it the pain of disappointment. They appear to have no influence however on Rachel. She has the sentence of death in herself, and makes no answer; but turning her eyes towards the child, and calling him Ben-oni, the son of my sorrow, she expired!
(2) The terms by which her death is described. As her soul was in departing. An ordinary historian would have said, as she was dying, or as she was ready-to expire: but the Scriptures delight is an impressive kind of phraseology, which at the same time shall both instruct the mind and effect the heart. It was by means of such language, on various occasions, that the doctrine of a future state was known and felt from generation to generation among the Israelites, while the heathen around them, with all their learning, were in the dark upon the subject.
(3) The change of the childs name–She called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. The former, though very appropriate at the time, yet if continued, must tend perpetually to revive the recollection of the death of his mother; and of such a monitor Jacob did not stand in need. The name given him, signified, the son of my right hand; that is, a son of the most tender affection and delight, inheriting the place which his mother had formerly possessed in his fathers heart. If the love of God be wanting, that of a creature will often be supreme; and where this is the case, the loss of the object is frequently known to leave the party utterly inconsolable; but though the affection of a good man may be very strong, and his sorrow proportionably very deep; yet he is taught to consider that every created good is only lent him; and that his generation work being as yet unfulfilled, it is not for him to feel melancholy, nor to pore over his loss with a sullenness that shall unfit him for duty, but rather to divert his affections from the object that is taken, and direct them to those that are left.
(4) The stone erected to her memory, and which appears to have continued for many generations. Burying her in the place where she died, Jacob set a pillar upon her grave; and that was the pillar of Rachels grave when her history was written. It was near this place, if not upon the very spot, that the tribe of Benjamin afterwards had its inheritance: and therefore it is that the people who lived in the times of Jeremiah are called Rachels children. The babes which Herod murdered are also so called. (A. Fuller.)
Lessons
1. Providence ordereth the saints below no long settlement, but to move sometimes from desired places.
2. Motions from Bethel to Ephrath, from Gods comforts to Gods chastenings are ordered to Gods saints by himself.
3. Providential afflictions may betide Gods dearest servants unexpectedly in their ways.
4. Souls exorbitantly desirous of children, may have them from God with bitterness enough (Gen 35:16).
5. The bitterest pains in child-bearing may befall the best of women.
6. It is the midwifes honour, with Gods Spirit, to be pitiful and comfortable unto women in travail.
7. God doth add sons to His in their earnest desires sometimes, wherein they may take little delight (Gen 30:24),
8. Providence sometimes brings living children out of dying mothers (Gen 35:17).
9. Killing pains in child-bearing may befal souls to much longing for children.
10. Dying mothers in their passions may name children their griefs and not their joy.
11. Souls die not, but go out of bodies to God who gave them Ecc 12:7).
12. Tender affection in fathers name their children more dear which they have with loss of wives (verse 18).
13. Rachels may die when Leahs live, the beloved before the despised.
14. Comely interment is a duty to relations in all places, where providence calleth them away.
15. Places notable for births and burials are sometimes noted by Gods spirit (verse 19).
16. It is suitable to nature and not contrary to grace, to set up and keep memorials of deceased relations.
17. Durable monuments of providences may be useful for posterity.
18. It is not unlawful to leave monuments of the dead, only vanity and superstition avoided (verse 20). (G. Hughes, B. D)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 16. There was but a little way to come to Ephrath] The word kibrath, translated here a little way, has greatly perplexed commentators. It occurs only here, in Ge 48:7, and 2Kg 5:19; and it seems to have been some sort of measure applied to land, as we say a mile, an acre, a rood, a perch; but what the exact quantity of the kibrath was cannot be ascertained. Ephrath, called also Bethlehem, and Bethlehem Ephrata, was the birthplace of our blessed Redeemer. See its meaning Mt 2:6.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
16. And they journeyed fromBeth-elThere can be no doubt that much enjoyment wasexperienced at Beth-el, and that in the religious observancessolemnized, as well as in the vivid recollections of the gloriousvision seen there, the affections of the patriarch were powerfullyanimated and that he left the place a better and more devoted servantof God. When the solemnities were over, Jacob, with his family,pursued a route directly southward, and they reached Ephrath, whenthey were plunged into mourning by the death of Rachel, who sank inchildbirth, leaving a posthumous son [Ge35:18]. A very affecting death, considering how ardently the mindof Rachel had been set on offspring (compare Ge30:1).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they journeyed from Bethel,…. Jacob and his family; how long they stayed there is not certain, some say four months z; hence they removed towards Bethlehem, which was twelve miles from Bethel a, in their way to Hebron:
and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath; or Bethlehem, as it was also called, Ge 35:19; a mile off of it, according to the Targums of Onkelos and Jerusalem; or about a mile, as Saadiah Gaon; for it was not a precise exact mile, but something less than a mile, as Ben Melech observes; and so Benjamin of Tudela, who was on the spot, says b, that Rachel’s grave is about half a mile from Bethlehem. Ben Gersom thinks the word here used signifies cultivated land, and that the sense is, that there were only fields, vineyards, and gardens to go through to the city, see Ge 48:7:
and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour; the time of childbirth was come, and which came suddenly upon her, as travail does, even while journeying, which obliged them to stop; and her pains came upon her, and these very sharp and severe, so that she had a difficult time of it: pains and sorrow in childbearing are the fruit of sin, and more or less attend all in such a circumstance; but, in some, labour is more painful than in others, and more at one time than at another, and is the most painful in women than in other creatures.
z Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 5. 1. a Bunting’s Travels, p. 72. b Itinerar. p. 47.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Birth of Benjamin and Death of Rachel. – Jacob’s departure from Bethel was not in opposition to the divine command, “dwell there” (Gen 35:1). For the word does not enjoin a permanent abode; but, when taken in connection with what follows, “make there an altar,” it merely directs him to stay there and perform his vow. As they were travelling forward, Rachel was taken in labour not far from Ephratah. is a space, answering probably to the Persian parassang, though the real meaning of is unknown. The birth was a difficult one. : she had difficulty in her labour (instead of Piel we find Hiphil in Gen 35:17 with the same signification). The midwife comforted her by saying: “ Fear not, for this also is to thee a son, ” – a wish expressed by her when Joseph was born (Gen 30:24). But she expired; and as she was dying, she called him Been-oni, “son of my pain.” Jacob, however, called him Ben-jamin, probably son of good fortune, according to the meaning of the word jamin sustained by the Arabic, to indicate that his pain at the loss of his favourite wife was compensated by the birth of this son, who now completed the number twelve. Other explanations are less simple. He buried Rachel on the road to Ephratah, or Ephrath (probably the fertile, from ), i.e., Bethlehem (bread-house), by which name it is better known, though the origin of it is obscure. He also erected a monument over her grave ( , ), on which the historian observes, “ This is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day: ” a remark which does not necessarily point to a post-Mosaic period, but which could easily have been made even 10 or 20 years after its erection. For the fact that a grave-stone had been preserved upon the high road in a foreign land, the inhabitants of which had no interest whatever in it, might appear worthy of notice even though only a single decennary had passed away.
(Note: But even if this Mazzebah was really preserved till the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, i.e., more than 450 years, and the remark referred to that time, it might be an interpolation by a later hand. The grave was certainly a well-known spot in Samuel’s time (1Sa 10:2); but a monumentum ubi Rachel posita est uxor Jacob is first mentioned again by the Bordeaux pilgrims of a.d. 333 and Jerome. The Kubbet Rahil (Rachel’s grave), which is now shown about half an hour’s journey to the north of Bethlehem, to the right of the road from Jerusalem to Hebron, is merely “an ordinary Muslim wely, or tomb of a holy person, a small square building of stone with a dome, and within it a tomb in the ordinary Mohammedan form” (Rob. Pal. 1, p. 322). It has been recently enlarged by a square court with high walls and arches on the eastern side (Rob. Bibl. Researches. p. 357). Now although this grave is not ancient, the correctness of the tradition, which fixes upon this as the site of Rachel’s grave, cannot on the whole be disputed. At any rate, the reasons assigned to the contrary by Thenius, Kurtz, and others are not conclusive.)
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Death of Rachel. | B. C. 1732. |
16 And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. 17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also. 18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin. 19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem. 20 And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.
We have here the story of the death of Rachel, the beloved wife of Jacob. 1. She fell in travail by the way, not able to reach to Bethlehem, the next town, though they were near it; so suddenly does pain sometimes come upon a woman in travail, which she cannot escape, or put off. We may suppose Jacob had soon a tent up, convenient enough for her reception. 2. Her pains were violent. She had hard labour, harder than usual: this was the effect of sin, ch. iii. 16. Note, Human life begins with sorrow, and the roses of its joy are surrounded with thorns. 3. The midwife encouraged her, v. 17. No doubt she had her midwife with her, ready at hand, yet that would not secure her. Rachel had said, when she bore Joseph, God shall add another son, which now the midwife remembers, and tells her her words were made good. Yet this did not avail to keep up her spirits; unless God command away fear, no one else can. He only says as one having authority, Fear not. We are apt, in extreme perils, to comfort ourselves and our friends with the hopes of a temporal deliverance, in which we may be disappointed; we had better found our comforts on that which cannot fail us, the hope of eternal life. 4. Her travail was to the life of the child, but to her own death. Note, Though the pains and perils of childbearing were introduced by sin, yet they have sometimes been fatal to very holy women, who, though not saved in childbearing, are saved through it with an everlasting salvation. Rachel had passionately said, Give me children, or else I die; and now that she had children (for this was her second) she died. Her dying is here called the departing of her soul. Note, The death of the body is but the departure of the soul to the world of spirits. 5. Her dying lips called her new-born son Ben-oni, The son of my sorrow. And many a son, not born in such hard labour, yet proves the son of his parent’s sorrow, and the heaviness of her that bore him. Children are enough the sorrow of their poor mothers in the breeding, bearing, and nursing of them; they should therefore, when they grow up, study to be their joy, and so, if possible, to make them some amends. But Jacob, because he would not renew the sorrowful remembrance of the mother’s death every time he called his son by his name, changed his name, and called him Benjamin, The son of my right hand; that is, “very dear to me, set on my right hand for a blessing, the support of my age, like the staff in my right hand.” 6. Jacob buried her near the place where she died. As she died in child-bed, it was convenient to bury her quickly; and therefore he did not bring her to the burying-place of his family. If the soul be at rest after death, it matters little where the body lies. In the place where the tree falls, there let it be. No mention is made of the mourning that was at her death, because that might easily be taken for granted. Jacob, no doubt, was a true mourner. Note, Great afflictions sometimes befal us immediately after great comforts. Lest Jacob should be lifted up with the visions of the Almighty with which he was honoured, this was sent as a thorn in the flesh to humble him. Those that enjoy the favours peculiar to the children of God must yet expect the troubles that are common to the children of men. Deborah, who, had she lived, would have been a comfort to Rachel in her extremity, died but a little before. Note, When death comes into a family, it often strikes double. God by it speaks once, yea, twice. The Jewish writers say, “The death of Deborah and Rachel was to expiate the murder of the Shechemites, occasioned by Dinah, a daughter of the family.” 7. Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave, so that it was known, long after, to be Rachel’s sepulchre (1 Sam. x. 2), and Providence so ordered it that this place afterwards fell in the lot of Benjamin. Jacob set up a pillar in remembrance of his joys (v. 14), and here he sets up one in remembrance of his sorrows; for, as it may be of use to ourselves to keep both in mind, so it may be of use to others to transmit the memorials of both: the church, long afterwards, owned that what God said to Jacob at Bethel, both by his word and by his rod, he intended for their instruction (Hos. xii. 4), There he spoke with us.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 16-20:
God had not given specific instruction that Jacob remain permanently at Bethel. Thus, after an undisclosed time, Jacob began a journey southward by way of Ephrath, “fruitful.” Rachel was pregnant, and soon into the journey went into hard labor. This was likely complicated because of advancing age, for it was at least sixteen years since the birth of Joseph A literal rendering of the mid-wife’s words is, “Fear not, for also this (is) to you a son,” implying that the baby was already born and that it was a son.
Rachel was unable to survive the extremely hard labor, and with her dying breath named her son “Ben-oni,” meaning “son of my sorrow,” in recognition of her suffering in bearing him and of her death because of him. Jacob changed the name of the child to “Ben-jamin,” meaning “son of my right hand.” The sorrow Jacob felt at Rachel’s death was mitigated by the joy found in the son she gave him.
Jacob buried Rachel where she died, on the way from Beth-el to Bethlehem. He marked the grave with a monument. The site was well-known as late in Bible times as the time of Samuel (Isa 10:2). There is little reason to doubt that the actual site is that of the Turkish chapel Kubbet Rachil, about a half-hour’s journey north of Bethlehem.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
16. And they journeyed from Beth-el. We have seen how severe a wound the defilement of his daughter inflicted on holy Jacob, and with what terror the cruel deed of his two sons had inspired him. Various trials are now blended together, by which he is heavily afflicted throughout his old age; until, on his departure into Egypt, he receives new joy at the sight of his son Joseph. But even this was a most grievous temptation, to be exiled from the promised land even to his death. The death of his beloved wife is next related; and soon after follows the incestuous intercourse of his firstborn with his wife Bilhah. A little later, Isaac his father dies; then his son Joseph is snatched away, whom he supposes to have been torn in pieces by wild beasts. While he is almost consumed with perpetual mourning, a famine arises, so that he is compelled to seek food from Egypt. There another of his sons is kept in chains; and, at length, he is deprived of his own most beloved Benjamin, whom he sends away as if his own bowels were torn from him. We see, therefore, by what a severe conflict, and by what a continued succession of evils, he was trained to the hope of a better life. And whereas Rachel died in childbirth, through the fatigue of the journey, before they reached a resting-place; this would prove no small accession to his grief. But, as to his being bereaved of his most beloved wife, this was probably the cause, that the Lord intended to correct the exorbitance of his affection for her. The Holy Spirit fixes no mark of infamy upon Leah, seeing that she was a holy woman, and endowed with greater virtue; but Jacob more highly appreciated Rachel’s beauty. This fault in the holy man was cured by a bitter medicine, when his wife was taken array from him: and the Lord often deprives the faithful of his own gifts, to correct their perverse abuse of them. The wicked, indeed, more audaciously profane the gifts of God; but if God connives longer at their misconduct, a more severe condemnation remains to them on account of his forbearance. But in taking away from his own people the occasion of sinning, he promotes their salvation. Whoever, therefore, desires the continued use of God’s gifts, let him learn not to abuse them, but to enjoy them with purity and sobriety.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Gen. 35:18. Ben-oni.] Heb. Son of my pain. Benjamin. Heb. Son of right hand, or, son of happiness.
Gen. 35:20. The pillar of Rachels grave unto this day.] The grave of Rachel was well known in the time of Samuel. (1Sa. 10:2.) The expression unto this day occurs often in Genesis, but not elsewhere in the Pentateuch, excepting once in Deuteronomy.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Gen. 35:16-20
THE DEATH OF RACHEL
Consider it
I. In its solemn and melancholy aspect
1. It was death upon a journey. And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath. (Gen. 35:16.) In such cases, death is generally an unlooked for event. This sad circumstance deeply impressed Jacob, and many years afterwards he looks back to it with sorrowful remembrance. (Gen. 48:7.)
2. It was death in the time of travail. This is always a melancholy circumstance when the mother sacrifices her own life in giving life to her child.
3. It was death just when her old fond desire was accomplished. When Joseph was born, she believed that God would add to her another son. Now the long expected gift is granted, but she expires in the very moment of victory. Consider it
II. In its hopeful and prophetic aspect.
1. It teaches the doctrine of victory through pain. She enriches the family of Jacob with a son, thus completing their number to twelve. The midwife comforts her thereupon. But the dying mother gave to the boy the name of Ben-oni, son of my pain. Through pain and sorrow this victory was gained. This was not an utterance of despair, but a conviction that life had come out of death; victory out of pain, sorrow, and apparent failure. This is the spirit of the cross. Through pain and sorrow, and apparent failure, Christ has purchased victory for us.
2. It teaches that death is not annihilation. As her soul was in departing, (for she died). (Gen. 35:18.) Death is here represented, not as the complete extinction of all thought and feeling, but as the separation of soul and body. It is not a sinking into nought, but only a change of state and place.
3. It teaches us what is the characteristic mark of Gods chosen people. Israel of old had the portion of affliction, and thus became the type of the Messiah, whose peculiar and distinctive mark was, that He was a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. (Isa. 53:3.) Rachel was the ancestress of the suffering children of Israel.
4. It teaches a lesson of encouragement to all mothers dying in similar circumstances. This is the first instance, recorded in the Bible, of a mother dying in travail. How solemn was the original penalty. Gen. (Gen. 3:16.) And yet in Gods later Revelation that penalty becomes transfigured, and there is in it an element of hope and blessing. (1Ti. 2:15.)
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen. 35:16. Bethel beheld him at the summit of worldly happiness; Bethlehem, the next town through which he passes, sees him in the depths of affliction. The incident recalls, with painful vividness, the passionate exclamation she had before uttered, Give me children, or else I die. Her prayer was heard, but at the expense of her life. Alas! how often should we be ruined at our own request, if God were not more merciful to us than we are to ourselves.(Bush).
Gen. 35:17. The first midwife who appears in the region of sacred history is a worthy counterpart to the first nurse, Deborah. She shows the vocation of a midwife, to support the labouring with sympathy, to encourage her, and to strengthen her by the birth of a child, especially of a son, or the announcement of the beginning of the new life.(Lange).
Gen. 35:18. Her words appear to have had no influence upon Rachel, who has the sentence of death in herself, and makes no answer; but, turning her dying eyes towards the child, and calling him, Ben-oni, Son of my sorrow, she expires.(Bush).
The former name, though very appropriate at the time, yet if continued, must tend perpetually to revive the recollection of the death of his mother, and of such a monitor Jacob did not stand in need. It is not for him to feed melancholy, nor to pore over his loss with a sullenness that shall unfit him for duty, but rather to divert his affections from the object that is taken, and direct them to those that are left.(Fuller).
It is true, indeed, even in the sense of the usually received antithesis, that every newborn child is a Ben-oni, and a Benjamin; Ben-oni in Adam, Benjamin in Christ.(Lange).
Let men make their burdens as light as they can, and not increase their worldly sorrow by sight of sad objects. It will come, as we say of foul weather, soon enough; we need not send for it.(Trapp).
As her soul was in departing. An ordinary historian would have said, as she was dying, or as she was ready to expire. But the Scriptures delight in an impressive kind of phraseology, which at the same time shall both instruct the mind and touch the heart.(Fuller.)
Gen. 35:19. Bethlehem here enters, clouded by Jacobs mourning; afterwards enlightened by David, the Old Testament hero out of Judah, and finally glorified by the fulfilment of Israels hope.(Lange.)
Gen. 35:20. The pillar of Rachels grave. Jacob loves the monumental stone.(Murphy).
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(16) But a little way.Heb., and there was still a chibrath of land to come to Ephrath. This word occurs four times in the Old Testament: here, in Gen. 48:7, in 2Ki. 5:19, and in Amo. 9:9, where it is used in the sense of a sieve. Many of the Rabbins, therefore, translate in the spring-time, because the earth is then riddled by the plough like a sieve; and the Targum and Vulgate adopt this rendering. The real meaning of the word is lost, but probably it was a measure of distance; and the Jewish interpreters generally think that it meant a mile, because Rachels traditional tomb was about that distance from Bethlehem.
Ephrath (the fruitful) and Beth-lehem (the house of bread) have virtually the same meaning, but the latter name would be given to the town only when its pastures had given place to arable lands, where corn was sown for bread.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
DEATH OF RACHEL, Gen 35:16-20.
16. Journeyed from Beth-el Having paid his vows at Beth-el, he feels a yearning to move on, southward, and see his father Isaac again .
A little way Hebrews, a chibrath of land; some apparently definite measure of length or distance, but now to us unknown.
Ephrath The ancient name of the place afterwards so well known as Bethlehem. Gen 35:19.
Rachel travailed At the birth of Joseph, she had yearned for yet another son, (Gen 30:24,) and had given her firstborn a name in confidence that this hope would be realized . But many years passed before her hope was filled, and then at the cost of her own life .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And they journeyed from Bethel, and there was still some way to come to Ephrath, and Rachel began to experience birth pains and she had hard labour. And it happened that when she was in hard labour the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for now you will have another son. And it happened that, as her life was departing, for she died, she called his name Benoni (son of my sorrow), but his father called him Benjamin (son of the right hand). And Rachel died and was buried in the way to Ephrath, the same is Bethlehem.’
The journey from Bethel to Mamre is interrupted by sad experiences of which the first is the death of Rachel in childbirth. But as she dies she is able to rejoice in the birth of a son, calling him Benoni – product of my sorrow. Understandably however Jacob does not want a continual reminder of the loss of his beloved wife, and changes the name to Benjamin. This name, ‘son of the right hand’ is probably intended to indicate good fortune. Jacob wants him to be connected with good fortune rather than with mourning. Note that it is not said the she was buried in Bethlehem itself. She was buried in ‘the way to Ephrath’, (‘there was still some way to come to Ephrath’ – Gen 48:7), the Bethlehem Road on the way from Bethel, which goes through Benjaminite territory (1Sa 10:2-3; Jer 31:15).
“The same is Bethlehem.” A later note added by a scribe to identify Ephrath.
The name Benjamin is attested elsewhere in the Mari texts (eighteenth century BC) as binu yamina which probably means ‘sons of the South’, but there is no good reason for identifying them with the later tribe of Benjamin. It is a name that could be given to many tribes for identification purposes, looking from a particular standpoint (compare ‘children of the East’).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Death of Rachel
v. 16. And they journeyed from Bethel, v. 17. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also. v. 18. And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing v. 19. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.
v. 20. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave; that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Gen 35:16
And they journeyednot in opposition to the Divine commandment (Gen 35:1), which did not enjoin a permanent settlement at Bethel, but in accordance probably with his own desire, if not also Heaven’s counsel, to proceed to Mamre to visit Isaacfrom Bethel (southwards in the direction of Hebron); and there was but a little way (literally, there was yet a space of land; probably a few furlongs (Murphy), about four English miles (Gerlach). The Vulgate translates, “in the spring-time,” and the LXX. render, , both of which are misunderstandings of the originalto come to Ephrath:Fruitful; the ancient name of Bethlehem (vide infra Gen 35:19)and Rachel travailed, and she had hard laborliterally, she had hard labor in her parturition, which was perhaps all the more severe that sixteen or seventeen years had elapsed since her first son, Joseph, was born.
Gen 35:17
And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor (literally, in her laboring hard in her parturition), that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son alsoliterally, for also this to thee a son; meaning either that she would certainly have strength to bring forth another son, or, what is more probable, that the child was already born, and that it was a son.
Gen 35:18
And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing,literally, in the departing of her soul; not into annihilation, but into another (a disembodied) state of existence (vide Gen 25:3)for she died (a pathetic commentary on Gen 30:1), that she called his name Ben-oni (“son of my sorrow,” as a memorial of her anguish in bearing him, and of her death because of him): but his father called him Benjamin“son of my right hand;” either “the son of my strength” (Clericus, Rosenmller,. Murphy), or “the son of my happiness or good fortune” (Gesenius, Keil, Kalisch), with allusion to Jacob’s now possessing twelve sons; or as expressive of Jacob’s unwillingness to see a bad omen in the birth of Rachel’s child (Candlish); or “the son of my days,” i.e. of my old age (Samaritan), an interpretation which Lunge pasaes with a mere allusion, but which Kalisch justly pronounces not so absurd as is often asserted (cf. Gen 44:20); or “the son of my affection” (Ainsworth; cf. Gen 50:18)
Gen 35:19
And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehemor House of Bread, about seven miles south of Jerusalem. It afterwards became the birthplace of David (1Sa 16:18) and of Christ (Mat 2:1). The assertion that this clause is a later interpolation (Lunge) is unfounded (Kalisch, Kurtz).
Gen 35:20
And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave (vide on Gen 35:14): that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day i.e. unto the times of Moses; but the site of Rachel’s sepulcher was known so late as the age of Samuel (1Sa 10:2); and there seems no reason to question the tradition which from the fourth century has placed it within the Turkish chapel Kubbet Rachil, about half-an-hour’s journey north of Bethlehem.
Gen 35:21
And Israel (or Jacob) journeyed (from Ephrath, after the funeral of Rachel), and spreadi.e. unfolded (Gen 12:8; Gen 26:25)his tent beyond the tower of Edarliterally, to, i.e. not trans (Vulgate), ultra (Dathe), but ad, usque (Rosenmller), as far as Migdol Edar, the Tower of the Flockprobably a turret, or watch-tower, erected for the convenience of shepherds in guarding their flocks (2Ki 18:8; 2Ch 26:10; 2Ch 27:4),the site of which is uncertain, but which is commonly supposed to have Been a mile (Jerome) or more south of Bethlehem.” The LXX. omit this verse.
Gen 35:22
And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine:an act of incest (Le Gen 18:8) for which he was afterwards disinherited (Gen 49:4; 1Ch 5:1)and Israel heard it. The hiatus in the text and the break in the MS. at this point may both have been designed to express Jacob’s grief at the tidings. The LXX. add feebly , which surely fails to represent the mingled shame and sorrow, indignation and horror, with which his eldest son’s wickedness must have filled him. Now the sons of Jacob were twelvea separate verse in the LXX; which is certainly more in accordance with the sense than the division in the text.
Gen 35:23-26
The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun (cf. Gen 29:32-35; Gen 30:18-20; Gen 46:8-15; Exo 1:2, Exo 1:3). The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin (Cf. Gen 30:22-24; Gen 35:18; Gen 46:19). And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali (cf. Gen 30:4-8). And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid; Gad, and Asher (cf. Gen 30:9-13): these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padan-aram. All except Benjamin were born there. Either this is an instance of the summary style of Scripture in which minute verbal accuracy is not always preserved (Inglis), or the whole period of Jacob’s pilgrimage to Mesopotamia and back is intended by his residence in Padan-aram (Kalisch).
Gen 35:27
And Jacob came unto Isaac his father, unto Mature (on the probability of Jacob’s having previously visited his father, vide Gen 35:8), unto the city of Arbah (Gen 13:18; Gen 23:2, Gen 23:19; Jos 14:15; Jos 15:13), which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.
Gen 35:28
And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. At this time Jacob was 120; but at 130 he stood before Pharaoh in Egypt, at which date Joseph had been 10 years governor. He was therefore 120 when Joseph was promoted at the age of 30, and 107 when Joseph was sold; consequently Isaac was 167 years of age when Joseph was sold, so that he must have survived that event and sympathized with Jacob his son for a period of 13 years.
Gen 35:29
And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto hit people,cf. the account of Abraham’s death (Gen 25:8)being old and full of days (literally, satisfied with days. In Gen 25:8 the shorter expression satisfied is used): and his sons Esau and Jacob buried himEsau arriving from Mount Seir to pay the last service due to his deceased parent, and Jacob according to him that precedence which had once belonged to him as Isaac’s firstborn.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD
Gen 35:16-29
These family records mingle well with the story of God’s grace. The mothers “Ben-oni“ is the father’s “Benjamin.” Out of the pain and the bereavement sometimes comes the consolation. A strange blending of joy and sorrow is the tale of human love. But there is a higher love which may draw out the pure stream of peace and calm delight from that impure fountain. Jacob and Esau were separated in their lives, but they met at their father’s grave. Death is a terrible divider, but a uniter too. Under the shadow of the great mystery, on the borders of an eternal world, in the presence of those tears which human eyes weep for the dead, even when they can weep no other tears, the evil things of envy, hatred, revenge, alienation do often hide themselves, and the better things of love, lessee, brotherhood, amity come forth. Jacob was with Isaac when he died, and Esau came to the grave.R.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Gen 35:16. And there was but a little way, &c. There was but “a small piece, or portion of ground,” (so the word kiberath signifies,) between them and Ephrath; or in other words they were very near to Ephrath.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
SEVENTH SECTION
Departure from Bethel. Benjamins birth. Rachels death.
Gen 35:16-20
16And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little4 way to come to Ephrath [fruit, the fruitful]: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor. 17And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.5 18And it came to pass as her soul was in departing, (for she died,) that she called his name Ben-oni [my son of pain or sorrow]: but his father called him Benjamin [son of the right hand]. 19And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem [house of bread]. 20And Jacob set a pillar [monument] upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachels grave unto this day.
EXEGETICAL, AND CRITICAL
And they journeyed.The residence at Bethel, enjoined upon him, had reached its end with the founding of the altar, and the completed thanksgiving.And there was but a little way.An unknown distance. The Rabbinical explanation, as far as one could plough in a day, is senseless, for in one direction they could plough miles, but in ploughing a field, the breadth ploughed depends upon the length of the field, but in any case is too small to be the measure of distances. The Sept., misunderstanding the passage, makes it the name of a place. [In the 19th verse, however, the Sept. has hippodrome.A. G.] Delitzsch conjectures a distance equal to a Persian parasang.And Rachel travailed.The wish she had uttered at Josephs birth, that God would give her another son, now, after a long period, perhaps sixteen or seventeen years, is about to be fulfilled, but it caused her death. Jacob was now old, and Rachel certainly was no longer young; moreover, she had not. borne children for many years. Delitzsch reckons Jacobs age at one hundred and six, and Rachels at about fifty years.When she was in hard labor.The Piel and Hiphil forms of denote not merely heavy birth-pains, but the very birth-throes and anguish.The midwife, i. e., a maid-servant skilful and trusted in this matter.Thou shalt have a son.The last consolation for Rachel. She dies during the final fulfilment of the strongest wish of her life. [As her soul was departing, denotes not the annihilation of the soul, but the change of state and place. It presupposes, of course, its perpetual existence; at least, its existence after death.A. G.] In this sense we must explain the giving of the name. The emphasis in the son of my pain, must be laid upon son. From her very death-anguish, a son is born to her. Knobel explains the name to mean son of my vanity, , because his birth caused her annihilation, i. e., death. In this explanation, the child becomes the father, i. e., originator of her annihilation, but is not the son. The son of her pain, on the contrary, denotes the great gain of her sorrow; she dies, as it were, sacrificing herself; and, indeed, the once childless, now in childbed.But his father called him.Against the interpretation of Benjamin, as the son of prosperity, may be urged the in the Hebrew, which cannot with any certainty be said to mean prosperity; and further, that this would have been in harsh contrast with the dying word of the mother. Delitzsch, therefore, holds that the son of the right hand, may mean the son of the south, since the other sons were born in the north. Some derive the name son of prosperity from the fact that Jacob had now reached a happy independence, or from the fact that Benjamin filled up the prosperous number twelve (see Delitzsch). But Benjamin might be regarded as the son of the strong right hand, since he fills up the quiver of the twelve mighty sons (Psa 127:5). We may bring into view, further, the relation of the name to the state of rest which Jacob now believed that he had attained. The tired wanderer now prepares himself as a patriarch to rest, and his youngest favorite must take the place at his right hand. But he is not thereby designated as his successor. Jacob seems, in some erroneous way, for a long time to have had Joseph in his eye for this position; still, not with the same self-will with which Isaac had chosen Esau. The Samaritan explanation, son of days, , i. e., of his old days or age, we pass with a mere allusion. Some suggest, also, that Jacob called him Benjamin, so that he might not be constantly reminded of his loss by the name Ben-oni. This lays the ground for the change of the name, but not for the choice of Benjamin.In the way to Ephrath.Ephrath (from ) is the fruitful, a name which corresponds with the added name Bethlehem (house of bread). The distance from Jerusalem to Bethlehem is about two hours, in a southerly direction, on the road to Hebron. About a half-hour on this side of Bethlehem, some three hundred steps to the right of the road, there lies, in a small recess, the traditional grave of Rachel. This Kubbet-Rahil (Rachels grave), is merely a Moslem wely, or the grave of some saint, a small, square stone structure, with a dome, and within a grave of the ordinary Mohammedan form (Robinson: Res. vol. i. p. 322), which has been recently enlarged by the addition of a square court on the east side, with high walls and arches (later Res. p. 373). Keil. We must distinguish between the old tradition as to the locality, and the present structure. Knobel infers, from Mic 4:8, that Jacobs next station, the tower of the flock, was in the vicinity of Jerusalem. In that case Rachels grave, and even Ephrath, must be sought north of Jerusalem, according to 1Sa 10:2, and the additionwhich is Bethlehemmust be viewed as a later interpretation. In Micah, however, in the passage which speaks of the tower of the flock, or the stronghold of the congregation, the words seem to be used in a symbolical sense. But the passage, 1Sa 10:2, is of greater importance. If Rama, the home of Samuel, lay to the north of Jerusalem, then Rachels grave must have been in that region, and the more so, since it is said to have been within the limits of Benjamin, whose boundaries did not run below Jerusalem. We refer for further discussions to Knobel, p. 275, and Delitzsch [and Mr. Grove, in Smiths Bible Dict.A. G.] We are inclined to regard it as probable that the Benjamites, at the time of the conquest of the country, brought the bones of Rachel from Ephrath, into their own region, and that since then, there have been two monuments of Rachel, one marking the place of her death, and her first burial; the other, the place where they laid her bones, in the home of her Ben-oni. Similar transportations of the remains of the blessed occur in the history of Israel. In this view we may explain more clearly how Rachel (Jer 40:1) bewailed her children at Rama, than it is by the usual remark, that the exiled were gathered at Rama.Unto this day.From this notice Delitzsch infers that Genesis was not completed until after the arrival of the Israelites in Canaan. Keil says this remark would have been in place within ten or twenty years after the erection of the pillar. Still, he appears to have felt that a term of from ten to twenty years could make no distinction between older and more recent times, and hence adds in a note, if this pillar was actually preserved until the time of the conquest, i. e., over four hundred and fifty years, this remark may be viewed as an interpolation of a later writer. It belongs, doubtless, to the last redaction or revision of Genesis. Still there are possible ways in which the Israelites even in the desert could have received information as to the existence of this monument, although this is less probable. [Kurtz defends the genuineness of the passage, but locates the grave of Rachel in the vicinity of Rama, on the grounds that the announcement here of a stretch of land is indefinite, and further, that the designation of the place by the distant Bethlehem, arose from the fact that the tower of the flock in Bethlehem was the next station of Jacob, and his residence for a considerable period; and lastly, that Jer 31:15 clearly points to the vicinity of Rama. Keil urges in favor of his own view, that the existence of a monument of this kind, in a strange land, whose inhabitants could have had no interest in preserving it, even for the space of ten or twenty years, might well have appeared worthy of notice.A. G.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Rachels wish; Rachels death; but her death at the same time her last gain in this life.
2. Rachels confinement at Bethlehem, viewed in its sad and bright aspects: 1. The sad aspect: A confinement upon a journey; a death in the presence of the goal of the journey so long desired; a parting by death from the desired child. 2. The joyful aspect: A son in whom her old wish is now fulfilled (see Gen 30:24; also the passionate word, Give me children, or else I die, Gen 30:1); a new enriching of Jacob, and indeed, to the completion of the number twelve; the triumph that she dies as the mother of a child.
3. Rachels death and grave. A preliminary consecration of the region of Bethlehem. Through her tragic end she becomes the ancestress of the suffering children of Israel generally, even of the children of Leah (Jer 31:15; Mat 2:17). Her grave probably at, Ephrath and Rama at the same time. Rachel as the first example mentioned in the Scriptures of a mother dying in travail, and a comforter to mothers dying in similar circumstances. The solemn aspect of such a death (Gen 3:16). Its beauty and transfiguration (1Ti 2:15).
4. The heroic struggles, and struggling places of travailing women. Through these painful struggles they form the beautiful complement to the manly struggles in sacred wars. While the latter are institutes of death, the former are the institutes of life.
5. The first midwife who appears in the region of sacred history, is a worthy counterpart to the first nurse, Deborah. She shows the vocation of a midwife, to support the laboring with sympathy, to encourage her, and to strengthen her by announcing the birth of a child, especially of a son, or the announcement of the beginning of the new life.
6. The name Benoni, on Rachels lips, was not an utterance of despair, but of a deeply painful feeling of victory. The desired fruit of her womb came out of these death-struggles. Jacobs naming connects itself with this also: the son of my right hand, companionship of my rest, support, joy of my old age. It is true, indeed, even in the sense of the usually received antithesis, that every new-born child is a Benoni, and a Benjamin; Benoni in Adam, Benjamin in Christ.
7. The youngest children of a family, Benjamins companions; and frequently described as Benjamins, they stand under the blessing of a ripe old age, under the protection of older and stronger brothers and sisters; but on the other hand, the danger that the paternal discipline should give way to grandfather-like indulgence, great as it may be in particular cases, is scarcely brought into view here. They embrace, as it were, in themselves, the whole past of the family and the most distant future.
8. Bethlehem here enters, clouded by Jacobs mourning; afterwards enlightened by David, the Old-Testament hero out of Judah, and finally glorified by the fulfilment of Israels hope.
9. The following verse shows how Jacob, as the Israel of God, rises from his grief over Rachels death.
10. As her soul was departing. As Starke suggests, we have thus an indication that we are to regard death as the separation of the soul and body. For if, indeed, , the soul, is life also, so, and much more, is the human life, soul.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
See the Doctrinal and Ethical remarks. It requires no special notice that this section is peculiarly adapted for texts at the burial of women dying ir confinement, at the transactions over consecrated graves, and similar occasions.Rachels death upon the journey.Rachels journey home in a two-fold sense.Our life a pilgrimage.As we are all born during the pilgrimage, so we must all die upon our pilgrimage.We reach a fixed, permanent goal only upon the other side. Benoni and Benjamin: 1. The similarity of the names; 2. the difference between them.Jacob at Rachels grave.His silent grief.His uttered faith.
Starke: An enunciation of Jacobs sorrows. It is connected with the names: Simeon, Levi, Dinah, Rachel, Reuben, and Bilhah. Then follows Isaacs death, and afterwards Josephs disappearance; the famine, etc. Hence he says: Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been (Gen 47:9). (An allegorical comparison of Rachel, at this birth, with the Jewish Church. As Rachel died at the birth of Benjamin, so the Jewish Church at the birth of Christ.)Cramer: The birth-throes are a cross and a reminder of our sins (Gen 3:16). God recognizes this, and gives his aid (Joh 16:21).But if the divinely-blessed mother, or her fruit, should die, their happiness is not put in peril (1Ti 2:15).Christian midwives should encourage women in this fearful crisis.Women in this state should diligently prepare themselves for death.Osiander: The dead bodies of the pious are not to be treated as those of irrational animals, but must be decently buried, that we may thus testify our hope in the resurrection from the dead (Pro 10:7).Schrder: Bethlehem is called now Beit-Lahm; i. e., meat-house. Benjamin a type of the Messiah, who, in his humiliation, was a man of sorrows, and in his exaltation a son of the right hand of God (Drechsler). [Wordsworth here brings out several striking analogies between Benjamin and St. Paul, basing them upon the word , which the apostle applies to himself as one born out of due time, properly, the child whose birth is the cause of his mothers death. Paul speaks of himself as one thus born, and thus seems to invite us to compare him with Benjamin. P. 145.A. G.]
Footnotes:
[4][, a space or stretch of ground. How long is unknown; see Gen 48:7; 2Ki 5:19. Josephus renders a furlong; the Sept., somewhat longer distance.A. G.]
[5][Lit., for this is also to thee a son.A. G.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
1Th 5:3 See, the effects of a fallen state! Gen 3:16 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 35:16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
Ver. 17. Thou shalt have this son also. ] So she had “children,” according to her desire; but this last, to her cost, for a chastisement of her strong affections, which drew on strong afflictions; as hard knots must have hard wedges. They that would needs have a penny for their pains, had no joy of their penny: when the end of the day came, Mat 20:13 when they were to go into another world, they saw that their penny was no such good silver; that preferment, profit, credit, were but empty things, and could not satisfy. It is best to be moderate in our desires after these outward things; and not so set upon it as to indent with God for such, and so much: this may be dangerous.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 35:16-21
16Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she suffered severe labor. 17When she was in severe labor the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for now you have another son.” 18It came about as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20Jacob set up a pillar over her grave; that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day. 21Then Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
Gen 35:16 “Ephrath” This is another way of designating Bethlehem in Judah (cf. Mic 5:2). There were other Bethlehem’s, but Ephrath was a way of signifying the one located near Jerusalem, which will later be the city of David, the site of the birth of the Messiah (See Special Topic: Messiah ).
“she suffered severe labor” This VERB (BDB 904, KB 1151) in the Piel stem is found only here in the OT.
The chosen family suffered and was diseased (cf. Gen 27:1) just as other people affected by the fall. God intervenes to assure their survival, but not their comfort and ease (see Gordon Fee, The Disease of the Health, Wealth Gospel).
Gen 35:17 “do not fear” The VERB (BDB 431, KB 432, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense) is somewhat surprising. One would think she would be contemplating her own death, but in context the healthy birth of a male son is priority (cf. 1Sa 4:20). This seems to fulfill the request she expressed to God in Gen 30:24.
Gen 35:18 “her soul was departing” “Soul” is the Hebrew word nephesh (BDB 659, see note at Gen 35:18 ). We must be careful that we do not mix Greek philosophy with Hebrew Scripture. The OT does not say that we have a soul, but that we are a soul (cf. Gen 2:7). The word “soul” comes from the Akkadian word napishtu, which signifies the place of breathing or the throat (cf. Psa 69:2). Humanity’s uniqueness is not in the fact that they have a nephesh, for in the early parts of Genesis the animals also had a nephesh (cf. Gen 1:21; Gen 1:24; Gen 2:19; Lev 11:46; Lev 24:18). This is simply a Hebrew idiom that one’s physical life on earth ceased when breath departed.
“she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin” His name given by Rebekah meant “son of my sorrow” (BDB 122), however Jacob changed it to “son of my right hand” (BDB 122). This was the place of skill, honor, and help. We learn from the Mari Tablets that this term could also mean “son of the south” (i.e., place of his birth, Canaan).
Gen 35:19 “(that is Bethlehem)” There was probably a later editorial insertion (place names Gen 35:6; Gen 35:27; Gen 36:1 and the phrase “to this day” in Gen 35:20). Although I personally hold to the Mosaic authorship for the bulk of the Pentateuch, I also believe there are several editorial hands, as well as oral and written traditions from the Patriarchs, which were utilized by Moses. The possible editors would include: Joshua, Samuel, the author of Kings, Ezra, Jeremiah, and/or priests.
Gen 35:21 “the tower of Eder” The name is “Migdal-eder.” Migdal (BDB 153) means watch tower and is used in combination with several locations (i.e., Jos 15:37; Jos 19:38). This one is near Bethlehem (cf. Mic 4:8). Eder (BDB 727) means flock or herd. This raised pile of stones would have served as a vantage point to keep watch over the flocks.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Ephrath. Hebrew fertility.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jacobs Sons; Esaus Sons; Isaacs Death
Gen 35:16-29; Gen 36:1-8
From Bethel to Bethlehem is not far. The one, the House of God; the other, the House of Bread. We need them both, if we are to bear up under the repeated shocks of life, such as the death of the old nurse Deborah, the death of our beloved Rachels, the sins of our children, and the breakup of the old home, as when our father is borne to his grave. Well was it for Jacob that he had got right with God before these repeated waves broke upon him. Isaac had not lived a great life, but his full years gave him a claim on the veneration of his sons, who forgot their jealousies and feuds as they stood together at his bier. But how greatly men misjudge death. It is not the end, but the beginning. We find hereafter Isaac associated with Abraham and Jacob, as welcoming the saints homeward. Death greatens good men!
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
a little way to come: Heb. a little piece of ground, 2Ki 5:19
Ephrath: Gen 48:7, Rth 1:2, 1Ch 2:19, Psa 132:6, Mic 5:2, Mat 2:1, Mat 2:16, Mat 2:18
hard labour: Gen 3:16, 1Ti 2:15
Reciprocal: Gen 12:8 – of Bethel Gen 30:1 – or else I die Gen 35:24 – General Gen 42:4 – Benjamin Gen 42:13 – Thy servants Gen 42:38 – his brother Gen 44:27 – General Gen 46:19 – Rachel Num 1:36 – General Rth 4:11 – Rachel 1Ki 11:26 – an Ephrathite Psa 106:33 – he spake Eze 48:23 – Benjamin Mat 1:2 – Jacob begat Act 7:8 – and Jacob
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac As they continued their journey away from Bethel, Rachel experienced a very difficult time in childbirth. She named the boy born on that day Ben-Oni, or “son of my sorrow.” However, Jacob would not let him have such a sorrowful name. He renamed him Benjamin, which means “son of my right hand.” Likely, this name refers to the comfort he expected to receive in the life of the son after his mother was dead. Rachel died and was buried there on the way to Ephrath, or Bethlehem. They then travelled on past the sheep tower and set up camp. It was here that Reuben sinned by laying with his father’s concubine, Bilhah, who was Rachel’s handmaid.
Jacob was at last reunited with his father at Mamre, or Hebron. This was the place Isaac had lived with his father, Abraham. Isaac died at the age of one hundred eighty. Jacob and Esau, having put away all past wrongs, buried their father with those who had died before him ( Gen 35:16-29 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Gen 35:16-22 a. Rachel Dies at the Birth of Benjamin.
Gen 35:16-20 is assigned by some to J and by some to E. There is no decisive reason for either. Gen 35:21-22 a is from J. The use of Israel as Jacobs name is characteristic of J. The pathetic story of Rachels death is often explained to mean that, when the tribe of Benjamin was formed in Palestine after the Conquest, the earlier tribe of Rachel was broken up. This may be correct, but is very uncertain. Ephrath is identified in Gen 35:19; Gen 48:7 with Bethlehem. This is probably an incorrect gloss (see Cent.B on Jer 31:15), and an otherwise unknown Ephrath near Bethel in the border between Benjamin and Ephraim (1Sa 10:2 f.) is intended. The mother refuses to be comforted with the cheering news that her prayer of Gen 30:24 has been answered, as later she wails from her tomb and refuses to be comforted when her children have gone into exile (Jer 31:15). She calls the child Benoni, born in bitter and fatal anguish (cf. mg.); but Jacob for this ill-omened name substitutes Benjamin, son of good luck, the right (mg.) being the lucky side. The real meaning is probably son of the south, Benjamin lying to the S. of Ephraim and Manasseh. The fragmentary reference to Reubens intrigue with Bilhah (cf. Gen 49:4) may be explained as a reminiscence of some alliance of Reuben with Dan and Naphtali against the other tribes, or an encroachment of Reuben upon the Bilhah tribes. But it is too brief and obscure to warrant any confident interpretation (cf. Homer, Iliad, ix. 449452, where Phoenix, at his wronged mothers request, avenges her by an intrigue with his fathers concubine, and is cursed by him for it). Presumably the original story explained how Reuben lost the birthright for his misconduct.
Gen 35:21. Eder: the flock; a watch-tower for the protection of the flocks is intended.
Gen 35:22 b Gen 35:29. List of Jacobs Sons; Death and Burial of Isaac.From P. Observe that Benjamin is included among the sons born in Paddan-aram. With Gen 35:29 b, cf. Gen 25:9.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
35:16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a {f} little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
(f) The Hebrew word signifies as much ground as one can cover from resting point to resting point, which is taken for half a days journey.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The birth of Benjamin, death of Rachel, and sin of Reuben 35:16-29
Was Jacob disobedient to God when he left Bethel? God had told him to go to Bethel and "live there" (Gen 35:1). This may have been a command to dwell there while he fulfilled his vow. On the other hand, God may have wanted Jacob to establish permanent residence there. This seems unlikely, however, since Jacob remained a semi-nomad.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Ben-oni means "son of my pain (Gen 35:18)." For Rachel, Benjamin’s birth was a fatally painful experience. However the birth of his twelfth son mollified Jacob’s sorrow over Rachel’s death. He named his son Benjamin meaning "Son of my good fortune." [Note: See James Muilenberg, "The Birth of Benjamin," Journal of Biblical Literature 75 (1956):194-201.] Oni in Hebrew can mean either "trouble" or "wealth." This is the only son that Jacob named, which suggests his renewed leadership of the family, at least over Rachel’s sons. Benjamin was born on land that later became part of his tribe’s allotment. His birth there gave him title to it.
Jacob buried Rachel near Ephrath, an older name for Bethlehem (house of bread; Gen 35:19-20). Both Bethlehem and Kiriath Jeraim became known as Ephrath(a) because the clan of Ephrath settled in both places (cf. 1Ch 2:50).
The opening section of the Isaac toledot (Gen 25:19-26) contained the record of two births: Esau’s and Jacob’s. Its closing section (Gen 35:16-29) documented two deaths: Deborah’s and Rachel’s. Ironically Rachel, who had cried in desperation to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die" (Gen 30:1), died giving birth to a child.
The tower of Eder ("Migdal-eder") was simply a watchtower built to help shepherds protect their flocks from robbers (Gen 35:21; cf. 2Ki 18:8; 2Ch 26:10; 2Ch 27:4). Since the time of Jerome, the early church father who lived in Bethlehem, tradition has held that this Eder lay very close to Bethlehem.
A concubine was sometimes a slave with whom her owner had sexual relations. She enjoyed some of the privileges of a wife, and people sometimes called her a wife in patriarchal times, but she was not a wife in the full sense of the term.
Reuben may have wanted to prevent Rachel’s maid from succeeding Rachel as his father’s favorite wife. He probably resented the fact that Jacob did not honor his mother. [Note: Wenham, Genesis 16-50, p. 327.] Reuben’s act constituted a claim against (a challenge to) his father as well as being an immoral act (cf. Deu 22:30; 2Sa 16:21-22; 1Ki 2:13-25). In the ancient Near East a man who wanted to assert his superiority over another man might do so by having sexual relations with that man’s wife or concubine (cf. 2Sa 16:21-22). Ancient Near Easterners regarded this act of physical domination as an evidence of personal superiority.
"Taking the concubine of one’s predecessor was a perverted way of claiming to be the new lord of the bride." [Note: Jordan, p. 65.]
Reuben’s act, therefore, manifested rebellion against Jacob’s authority as well as unbridled lust. It resulted in his losing the birthright. Judah obtained the right to rule as head of the family, and Levi got the right to be the family priest eventually. The double portion of his father’s inheritance went to Joseph who realized it through his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (cf. 1Ch 5:1-2).
"At an early stage in the narrative Reuben had played some small part in the all too brief restoration to his mother of her conjugal rights (Gen. XXX. 14ff.), but now, at the end of the Jacob narrative, it is by his agency that the supplanter is well and truly supplanted." [Note: George G. Nicol, "Genesis XXIX. 32 and XXXV. 22a: Reuben’s Reversal," Journal of Theological Studies 31:2 (October 1980):538.]
As at Shechem, Jacob appears to have reacted passively. Moses wrote that he heard of Reuben’s act, but not that he did anything about it.