Rachel

:For alternate uses see Rachel (disambiguation)

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In the Book of Genesis, Rachel (רָחֵל "Ewe", also "innocence and gentility of a lamb" and may mean "Lamb of God". Standard Hebrew Raḥel, Tiberian Hebrew Rāḫēl, Rāḥēl) is the second and favorite wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She is the younger sister of Leah, Jacob's first wife, and both are daughters of Laban.

Related Topics:
Book of Genesis - Standard Hebrew - Tiberian Hebrew - Jacob - Joseph - Benjamin - Leah - Laban

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Jacob intended to marry her, not Leah, but was tricked by Laban. Jacob accepted this and persevered, working another seven years for Laban to procure his chosen bride as well (see Genesis 29). Then, unable to conceive for many years while her elder sister bore Jacob four sons, she offered her handmaid Bilhah to her husband as was the custom, and named the two sons she bore, indicating they were to be her heirs. But finally, after Leah produced another two sons and a daughter, and Leah's handmaid Zilpah another two sons, Rachel herself bore two sons, dying as a result of the difficult birth of the second.

Related Topics:
Bilhah - Zilpah

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Rachel's Tomb, located between Bethlehem and the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, is an important religious site for Jewish women, especially those with fertility problems.

Related Topics:
Rachel's Tomb - Bethlehem - Jerusalem - Gilo - Jew

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In Jeremiah 31:15 the prophet speaks of 'Rachel weeping for her children' (KJV):

Related Topics:
Jeremiah - KJV

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• This is interpreted in Judaism as Rachel crying for her descendants' sufferings and exiles following the destruction of the First Temple in ancient Jerusalem.
• Judaism does not record any "slaughter" of "Hebrew babies" at that time, as Judaism's Torah teaches in the book of Exodus that it was the Egyptian Pharaoh who issued a decree that Hebrew male infants be drowned during the time of the birth of Moses, the true redeemer of the Jews.