†. Gen 35:16b . . Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor.
Rachel was no longer a spring chicken. Rueben, Jacob's firstborn, is now old
enough to fool around with grown women. It's probably been in the
neighborhood of 40+ years since Rachel's first meeting with Jacob back in
chapter 29; when she was just a youngster of perhaps 15-20 years old at
the time.
†. Gen 35:17 . .When her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said
to her: Have no fear, for it is another boy for you.
Rachel, no doubt remembered why she named her other son Joseph, back in
chapter 30, while they were all yet still living up north with Laban. Joseph's
Hebrew name is Yowceph (yo-safe') which is a mini prayer that says: May
the Lord add another son for me. (Gen 30:24)
†. Gen 35:18 . . But as she breathed her last-- for she was dying -
she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
A complicated delivery in those days typically ended in tragedy. People had
no surgical skills nor tools and procedures to save either the mother or her
child. The exact nature of Rachel's problem isn't stated. She could have
experienced severe hemorrhaging; or maybe her heart just couldn't take the
stress, and gave out.
Ben-oni possibly means: "A Son Born In Grief". But Jacob changed it to
Benjamin which possibly means: "The Son At My Right Hand" (cf. Ps 16:8, Ps
110:1). Benny's only a baby in this section but he's already Jacob's right
hand man; viz: a dependable man. You could certainly never say the other
brothers were dependable; especially Reuben, of whom Jacob would later
say "As unstable as water" (Gen 49:3-4). Benjamin holds the distinction of
being the only one of Jacob's children born in the land of Canaan.
Note: how did Jacob know Joseph was dependable? Well; the patriarchs were
prophets. Thus; they new beforehand quite a bit about their kids. (cf. Gen
9:25-37, Gen 49:1-27)
†. Gen 35:19 . .Thus Rachel died. She was buried on the road to
Ephrath-- now Bethlehem.
The postscript "now Bethlehem" indicates an editorial insertion by someone
later; possibly a scribe or someone assigned the task of making copies;
which was a perpetual task in the ages prior to the existence of modern
papers, printing presses, and electronic storage media.
This is the very first mention of Bethlehem in the Bible. The word itself is
from the Hebrew word Beyth Lechem (bayth leh'-khem) which means: house
of bread; viz: a place where no one goes hungry.
The site was officially Bethlehem by the time of Joshua's invasion. (Josh
19:15)
Note: Loss of access to an important ancestor's grave site isn't just an
archeological loss; it's a family loss.
When my father-in-law passed away in 2012. a step-daughter tried to
commandeer his body from the hospital so she could get him cremated and
spread his ashes somewhere over the landscape in Arizona without the
slightest consideration for the feelings of his blood kin who, except for my
wife, all live on the East coast.
Well; thank God my wife and her sister intervened with the appropriate legal
documents in the nick of time to take custody of their father's body before
the step-daughter got away with her nefarious scheme. My father-in-law
certainly deserved better than just discarding his ashes somewhere out in
the desert. He was a pipeline engineer with the US Army on the Ledo Road
(a.k.a. Stilwell Road) in the China/Burma/India theater in the second world
war. As of this writing, his remains were safely stored back East awaiting a
proper burial in the family's cemetery; where his real kin can come and visit
him on occasion.
†. Gen 35:20 . . Over her grave Jacob set up a pillar; it is the pillar at
Rachel's grave to this day.
The pillar was probably just a pile of rocks, like a cairn. The phrase "to this
day" indicates the day of the writer rather than the day upon which
somebody in our own day might read this passage.
By the time of 1Sam 10:2-- roughly 1020 BC --Rachel's Tomb was a famous
landmark. The traditional site, presently so-called, lies about four miles
south of Jerusalem, and one mile north of Bethlehem. The current small,
square shaped, domed structure isn't the original, but a relatively late
monument. In 1841, the "tomb" was renovated, and in 1948 taken over by
Jordanian invaders. Jews were barred from visiting it, and the area was
converted into a Muslim cemetery; which was eventually liberated by Israelis
in 1967.
Cont.
/
Rachel was no longer a spring chicken. Rueben, Jacob's firstborn, is now old
enough to fool around with grown women. It's probably been in the
neighborhood of 40+ years since Rachel's first meeting with Jacob back in
chapter 29; when she was just a youngster of perhaps 15-20 years old at
the time.
†. Gen 35:17 . .When her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said
to her: Have no fear, for it is another boy for you.
Rachel, no doubt remembered why she named her other son Joseph, back in
chapter 30, while they were all yet still living up north with Laban. Joseph's
Hebrew name is Yowceph (yo-safe') which is a mini prayer that says: May
the Lord add another son for me. (Gen 30:24)
†. Gen 35:18 . . But as she breathed her last-- for she was dying -
she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
A complicated delivery in those days typically ended in tragedy. People had
no surgical skills nor tools and procedures to save either the mother or her
child. The exact nature of Rachel's problem isn't stated. She could have
experienced severe hemorrhaging; or maybe her heart just couldn't take the
stress, and gave out.
Ben-oni possibly means: "A Son Born In Grief". But Jacob changed it to
Benjamin which possibly means: "The Son At My Right Hand" (cf. Ps 16:8, Ps
110:1). Benny's only a baby in this section but he's already Jacob's right
hand man; viz: a dependable man. You could certainly never say the other
brothers were dependable; especially Reuben, of whom Jacob would later
say "As unstable as water" (Gen 49:3-4). Benjamin holds the distinction of
being the only one of Jacob's children born in the land of Canaan.
Note: how did Jacob know Joseph was dependable? Well; the patriarchs were
prophets. Thus; they new beforehand quite a bit about their kids. (cf. Gen
9:25-37, Gen 49:1-27)
†. Gen 35:19 . .Thus Rachel died. She was buried on the road to
Ephrath-- now Bethlehem.
The postscript "now Bethlehem" indicates an editorial insertion by someone
later; possibly a scribe or someone assigned the task of making copies;
which was a perpetual task in the ages prior to the existence of modern
papers, printing presses, and electronic storage media.
This is the very first mention of Bethlehem in the Bible. The word itself is
from the Hebrew word Beyth Lechem (bayth leh'-khem) which means: house
of bread; viz: a place where no one goes hungry.
The site was officially Bethlehem by the time of Joshua's invasion. (Josh
19:15)
Note: Loss of access to an important ancestor's grave site isn't just an
archeological loss; it's a family loss.
When my father-in-law passed away in 2012. a step-daughter tried to
commandeer his body from the hospital so she could get him cremated and
spread his ashes somewhere over the landscape in Arizona without the
slightest consideration for the feelings of his blood kin who, except for my
wife, all live on the East coast.
Well; thank God my wife and her sister intervened with the appropriate legal
documents in the nick of time to take custody of their father's body before
the step-daughter got away with her nefarious scheme. My father-in-law
certainly deserved better than just discarding his ashes somewhere out in
the desert. He was a pipeline engineer with the US Army on the Ledo Road
(a.k.a. Stilwell Road) in the China/Burma/India theater in the second world
war. As of this writing, his remains were safely stored back East awaiting a
proper burial in the family's cemetery; where his real kin can come and visit
him on occasion.
†. Gen 35:20 . . Over her grave Jacob set up a pillar; it is the pillar at
Rachel's grave to this day.
The pillar was probably just a pile of rocks, like a cairn. The phrase "to this
day" indicates the day of the writer rather than the day upon which
somebody in our own day might read this passage.
By the time of 1Sam 10:2-- roughly 1020 BC --Rachel's Tomb was a famous
landmark. The traditional site, presently so-called, lies about four miles
south of Jerusalem, and one mile north of Bethlehem. The current small,
square shaped, domed structure isn't the original, but a relatively late
monument. In 1841, the "tomb" was renovated, and in 1948 taken over by
Jordanian invaders. Jews were barred from visiting it, and the area was
converted into a Muslim cemetery; which was eventually liberated by Israelis
in 1967.
Cont.
/
