Genesis 35:16

_AND THEY JOURNEYED FROM BETHEL; AND THERE WAS BUT A LITTLE WAY TO COME TO EPHRATH: AND RACHEL TRAVAILED, AND SHE HAD HARD LABOUR._ They journeyed from Beth-el. There can be no doubt that much enjoyment was experienced at Beth-el; and that in the religious observances solemnized, as well as in the vivid recollections of the glorious vision seen there, the affections of the patriarch were powerfully animated, and that he left the place a better and more devoted servant of God. When the solemnities were over, Jacob, with his family, pursued a route directly southward; and they had reached Ephrath, when they were plunged into mourning by the death of Rachel, who sank in child-birth, leaving a posthumous son. THERE WAS BUT A LITTLE WAY TO COME TO EPHRATH: AND RACHEL TRAVAILED, х_ KIBRAT_ (H3530) _ HAA'AARETS_ (H776)] - a piece of ground or way. T

16._And they journeyed from Beth-el_. We have seen how severe a wound the defilement of his daughter inflicted on holy Jacob, and with what terror the cruel deed of his two sons had inspired him. Various trials are now blended together, by which he is heavily afflicted throughout his old age; until, on his departure into Egypt, he receives new joy at the sight of his son Joseph. But even this was a most grievous temptation, to be exiled from the promised land even to his death. The death of his beloved wife is next related; and soon after follows the incestuous intercourse of his firstborn with his wife Bilhah. A little later, Isaac his father dies; then his son Joseph is snatched away, whom he supposes to have been torn in pieces by wild beasts. While he is almost consumed with perpetual mourning, a famine arises, so that he is compelled to seek food from Egypt. There another of his son...

16-20 Rachel had passionately said, Give me children, or else I die; and now that she had children, she died! The death of the body is but the departure of the soul to the world of spirits. When shall we learn that it is God alone who really knows what is best for his people, and that in all worldly affairs the safest path for the Christian is to say from the heart, It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good. Here alone is our safety and our comfort, to know no will but his. Her dying lips called her newborn son Ben-oni, the son of my sorrow; and many a son proves to be the heaviness of her that bare him. Children are enough the sorrow of their mothers; they should, therefore, when they grow up, study to be their joy, and so, if possible, to make them some amends. But Jacob, because he would not renew the sorrowful remembrance of the mother's death every time he called his son, ch...

Verse Genesis 35:16. _THERE WAS BUT A LITTLE WAY TO COME TO EPHRATH_] The word כברת _kibrath_, translated here _a little way_, has greatly perplexed commentators. It occurs only here, in Genesis 48:7, and 2 Kings 5:19; and it seems to have been some sort of _measure_ applied to land, as we say a _mile_, an _acre_, a _rood_, a _perch_; but what the exact quantity of the _kibrath_ was cannot be ascertained. _Ephrath_, called also _Bethlehem_, and _Bethlehem_ _Ephrata_, was the birthplace of our blessed Redeemer. See its meaning Matthew 2:6....

- The Death of Isaac 8. דברה _d__e__borâh_, Deborah, “bee.” בּכוּת אלּון _'alôn_-_bākût_, Allon-bakuth, “oak of weeping.” 16. כברה _kı̂brâh_, “length stretch.” A certain but unknown distance, a stadium or furlong (Josephus) a hippodrome (Septuagint) which was somewhat longer, a mile (Kimchi). אפרת _'ephrâth_, Ephrath, “fruitful or ashy.” 18. בן־אוני _ben_-_'ônı̂y_, Ben-oni, “son of my pain.” בנימין _bı̂nyāmı̂yn_, Binjamin, “

EXPOSITION GENESIS 35:16 AND THEY JOURNEYED—not in opposition to the Divine commandment (Genesis 35:1), which did not enjoin a permanent settlement at Bethel, but in accordance probably with his own desire, if not also Heaven's counsel, to proceed to Mamre to visit Isaac—FROM BETHEL (southwards in the direction of Hebron); AND THERE WAS BUT A LITTLE WAY (literally, _there was yet a space of land; _probably a few furlongs (Murphy), about four English miles (Gerlach). The Vulgate translates, "in the spring-time," and the LXX. render, ἐγένετο δὲ ἡνίκα ἤγγισεν εἰς χαβραθὰ_, _both of which are misunderstandings of the original—TO COME TO EPHRATH:—Fruitful; the ancient

AND THEY JOURNEYED FROM BETHEL,.... Jacob and his family; how long they stayed there is not certain, some say four months z; hence they removed towards Bethlehem, which was twelve miles from Bethel a, in their way to Hebron: AND THERE WAS BUT A LITTLE WAY TO COME TO EPHRATH; or Bethlehem, as it was also called, Genesis 35:19; a mile off of it, according to the Targums of Onkelos and Jerusalem; or about a mile, as Saadiah Gaon; for it was not a precise exact mile, but something less than a mile, as Ben Melech observes; and so Benjamin of Tudela, who was on the spot, says b, that Rachel's grave is about half a mile from Bethlehem. Ben Gersom thinks the word here used signifies cultivated land, and that the sense is, that there were only fields, vineyards, and gardens to go through to the city, see...

CHAPTER 35 JACOB AT BETHEL AND THREE DEATHS _ 1. The divine commandment (Genesis 35:1)_ 2. The defilement put away (Genesis 35:2) 3. The journey to Bethel and the altar (Genesis 35:5) 4. Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, dies (Genesis 35:8) 5. God appears to Jacob (Genesis 35:9) 6. Benoni-Benjamin and Rachel's death (Genesis 35:16) 7. The twelve sons of Jacob ...

GENESIS 35:16 A. RACHEL DIES AT THE BIRTH OF BENJAMIN. Genesis 35:16 is assigned by some to J and by some to E. There is no decisive reason for either. Genesis 35:21_ a_ is from J. The use of Israel as Jacob's name is characteristic of J. The pathetic story of Rachel's death is often explained to mean that, when the tribe of Benjamin was formed in Palestine after the Conquest, the earlier tribe of Rachel was broken up. This may be correct, but is very uncertain. Ephrath is identified in Genesis 35:19; Genesis 48:7 with Bethlehem. Th

_some way_ The word in the Heb. denotes a measure of distance. What it was, however, cannot be determined. It is found in Genesis 48:7 and 2 Kings 5:19. LXX renders as a proper name _Chabratha_. _to Ephrath_ The name of a place otherwise unknown, in Benjamite territory, south of Bethel: not Bethlehem (Micah 5:2); see Genesis 35:19....