Jeremiah 31:15, speaks of 'Rachel weeping for her children' ( KJV). After the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin were exiled by the Assyrians, Rachel was remembered as the classic mother who mourns and intercedes for her children.The rabbis comment that Esther's ability to remain silent in the palace of Ahasuerus, resisting the king's pressure to reveal her ancestry, was inherited from her ancestor Rachel, who remained silent even when Laban brought out Leah to marry Jacob. The designation of ish yemini refers to his membership in the Tribe of Benjamin ( ben yamin, son of the right). The Book of Esther details Mordecai's lineage as "Mordecai the son of Yair, the son of Shimi, the son of Kish, a man of the right ( ish yemini)" (Esther 2:5). Mordecai, the hero of the Book of Esther, and Queen Esther herself, were descendants of Rachel through her son Benjamin.Rachel weeping for her children, 14th-century fresco from Marko's Monastery Laban left her alone, and the idols were not discovered. Laban proceeded to search the tents of Jacob and his wives, but when he came to Rachel's tent, she told her father, "Let not my lord be angered that I cannot rise up before you, for the way of women is upon me" ( Genesis 31:35). Not knowing that the idols were in his wife's possession, Jacob pronounced a curse on whoever had them: "With whoever you will find your gods, he will not live" ( Genesis 31:32). Laban had neglected to give his daughters their inheritance ( Genesis 31:14–16). Indeed, Rachel had taken her father's idols, hidden them inside her camel's seat cushion, and sat upon them. Laban pursued him and accused him of stealing his idols. Fearing that Laban would deter him, he fled with his two wives, Leah and Rachel, and twelve children without informing his father-in-law. įresco by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo of Rachel sitting on the idols (1726–1728)Īfter Joseph's birth, Jacob decided to return to the land of Canaan with his family. This role is exemplified in the Biblical story of Joseph, who prepared the way in Egypt for his family's exile there.
Rachel's son Joseph was destined to be the leader of Israel's tribes between exile and nationhood. After Leah conceived again, Rachel was finally blessed with a son, Joseph, who would become Jacob's favorite child. According to some commentaries, Bilhah and Zilpah were half-sisters of Leah and Rachel. Leah responded by offering her handmaid Zilpah to Jacob, and named and raised the two sons ( Gad and Asher) that Zilpah bore. Bilhah gave birth to two sons that Rachel named and raised ( Dan and Naphtali). Rachel became jealous of Leah and gave Jacob her maidservant, Bilhah, to be a surrogate mother for her. According to biblical scholar Tikva Frymer-Kensky, "The infertility of the matriarchs has two effects: it heightens the drama of the birth of the eventual son, marking Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph as special and it emphasizes that pregnancy is an act of God." Rachel, like Sarah and Rebekah, remained unable to conceive. When God "saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb" (Genesis 29:31), and she gave birth to four sons. He assured Jacob that after his wedding week was finished, he could take Rachel as a wife as well, and work another seven years as payment for her. Later Jacob confronted Laban, who excused his own deception by insisting that the older sister should marry first. Whereas "Rachel was lovely in form and beautiful", "Leah had tender eyes". On the night of the wedding, the bride was veiled and Jacob did not notice that Leah, Rachel's older sister, had been substituted for Rachel.
Rebekah had sent him there to be safe from his angry twin brother, Esau.ĭuring Jacob's stay, he fell in love with Rachel and agreed to work seven years for Laban in return for her hand in marriage. Jacob had traveled a great distance to find Laban. She was the second daughter of Laban, Rebekah's brother, making Jacob her first cousin. Rachel is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in Genesis 29 when Jacob happens upon her as she is about to water her father's flock. Rachel and Jacob at the Well by James Tissot (c.
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