Genesis 35:16 (WEB)
They traveled from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labor.
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Genesis 35:16 (KJV)
And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
Key words
- וַתְּקַשׁ בְּלִדְתָּהּvatteqash belidtah · Hebrew
- 'she had hard labour' — literally, 'it was hard in her giving birth.' Rachel's second birth is the birth of sorrow.
- אֶפְרָתEphrath · Hebrew
- the old name of Bethlehem (v. 19; Micah 5:2 'Bethlehem Ephratah').
Why it matters
Rachel goes into hard labour on the road to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem, and will die bringing forth her second son. Pitre builds the New Rachel typology from this scene: a beloved mother whose sorrowful labour near Bethlehem gives birth to a beloved son. Mary, the mother of the child born in Bethlehem, will likewise bear a second son through the sorrow of the cross.
Fathers and councils · 2
“…wrestling with the angel at the brook Jabbok, he began to limp, because the great muscle of his thigh was withered, he at once gained the name of Israel.Then the wife whom he once loved, and for whom he had served, was slain by the son of sorrow near Bethlehem which was destined to be the birthplace of our Lord,…” — editor's note: Gen. xxxv. 16, 20.
Read the whole comment“Thus she suffered much as Rachel suffered, although instead of bringing forth like her a son of pangs and of the right hand, the heir she had longed for was no other than her husband.” — editor's note: Gen. xxxv. 16.
Read the whole comment