Genesis 35:18

_AND IT CAME TO PASS, AS HER SOUL WAS IN DEPARTING, (FOR SHE DIED) THAT SHE CALLED HIS NAME BENONI: BUT HIS FATHER CALLED HIM BENJAMIN._ Ben-oni - i:e., son of my sorrow. The dying mother gave this name to her child, significant of her circumstances; but Jacob changed it into Benjamin. This is thought by some to have been originally Benjamim, 'a son of days' - i:e., of old age. But with its present ending it means 'son of the right hand' - i:e., particularly dear and precious, or, according to some, 'good fortune.'...

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 35:18. _AS HER SOUL WAS IN DEPARTING_] Is not this a proof that there is an immortal spirit in man, which can exist _separate_ from and independent of the body? Of Rachel's death it is said, בצאת נפשה _betseth naphshah, in the going away of her soul_; her _body_ did not go away, therefore her soul and body must have been distinct. If her _breath_ only had been in tended, נשמה _neshamah_ or רוח _ruach_ would have rather been used, as the first means _breath_, the latter _breath_ or _spirit_ indifferently. _SHE CALLED HIS NAME BEN-ONI_] בן אני _the Son of my sorrow or_ _affliction_, because of the _hard labour_ she had in bringing him into the world; _but his father called him Benjamin_, בנימין the _son of my right hand_, i.e., the son peculiarly dear to me. _So_ m

- 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 IT CAME TO PASS, AS HER SOUL WAS IN DEPARTING, FOR SHE DIED,.... In childbirth; she had most passionately desired children, without which she could not live with ease and peace of mind, and now she dies by having one; see Genesis 30:1; and by this account of her death it appears, that death is the separation and disunion of soul and body; that at death the soul departs from the body; that the soul does not die with it, but goes elsewhere, and lives in a separate state, and never dies; it goes into another world, a world of spirits, even unto God that gave it, Ecclesiastes 12:7: THAT SHE CALLED HIS NAME BENONI; which signifies "the son of my sorrow", having borne and brought him forth in sorrow, and now about to leave him as soon as born, which might increase her sorrow; or "th

BENJAMIN That is, Son of my right hand. Benjamin, "son of sorrow" to his mother, but "son of my right hand" to his father, becomes thus a double type of Christ. As Ben-oni He was the suffering One because of whom a sword pierced His mother's heart (Luke 2:35) as Benjamin, head of the warrior tribe (Genesis 49:27) firmly joined to Judah the kingly tribe; (Genesis 49:8); (1 Kings 12:21) he becomes a type of the victorious One. It is noteworthy that Benjamin was especially honoured among the Gentiles (Genesis 45:22). So manifold are

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

(J). Birth of Benjamin and Death of Rachel "The meaning of the statement that Rachel died when Benjamin was born is that the formation of the new tribe Benjamin broke up the old tribe Rachel" (Bennett). But it would be a mistake to attempt to distinguish too closely the personal and tribal elements in the narrative. Events in personal life may be recorded for their symbolical significance. The story of Jacob, as distinct from that of Joseph, closes with Rachel's death....