Genesis 35:18 (WEB)
As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin.
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Genesis 35:18 (KJV)
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.
Key words
- בְּצֵאת נַפְשָׁהּbetset nafshah · Hebrew
- 'as her soul was departing.' Nefesh is soul or life-breath; the Septuagint has psychē (ψυχή), the same word Simeon uses when he tells Mary a sword will pierce her soul (Luke 2:35).
- בֶּן־אוֹנִיBen-oni · Hebrew
- 'son of my sorrow.' The Septuagint translates it 'son of my pain' (υἱὸς ὀδύνης μου).
- בִּנְיָמִיןBinyamin · Hebrew
- 'Benjamin,' 'son of the right hand' — the father renames the child of sorrow as the son of honour.
Why it matters
Rachel's soul departs as she names her second son 'son of my sorrow.' Pitre pairs this with Luke 2:35, where a sword will pierce Mary's soul: at the cross Mary undergoes a kind of death of the soul and, in that sorrow, receives a second son — the beloved disciple. As Benjamin was 'the beloved of the LORD' (Deuteronomy 33:12), the disciple whom Jesus loved is the new Benjamin, born of the New Rachel's grief.