Rachel had how many children

Or they may have been primarily religious images, intended to invoke the protection of the ancestors. In either case, possession of the teraphim was the prerogative of the head of household. Laban would never have given them to her, and he comes looking for them. The reader knows what Jacob does not—that Rachel has taken the gods and is now in danger, not only from her father, but also from the oath. Laban must not find the gods; Rachel, a trickster like her father, her aunt Rebekah , and her husband, thinks of a stratagem.

She places the gods under her seat and declines to rise because she is menstruating Gen — Her womanhood perhaps disqualifies her from receiving the teraphim legitimately, so she uses her womanhood to prevent Laban from taking them away once she has taken them illegitimately.

More tragically, in a sad irony, the very womanhood that has helped her trick Laban thwarts her daring and her ambition in a way that has plagued women through the ages. Finally fertile, she dies bearing her second child, Benjamin. Jacob buries her where she died, in her own tomb Gen ; and not in the ancestral tomb at Machpelah.

There is one more twist to the story. Rachel, who died young, becomes an image of tragic womanhood. Her tomb remained as a landmark see 1 Sam and a testimony to her. After Ephraim and Benjamin were exiled by the Assyrians, Rachel was remembered as the classic mother who mourns and intercedes for her children.

More than a hundred years after the exile of the North, Jeremiah had a vision of Rachel still mourning, still grieving for her lost children.

Moreover, he realized that her mourning served as an effective intercession, for God promised to reward her efforts and return her children Jer — Greenberg, Moshe. Niditch, Susan. San Francisco: Pardes, Ilana. Countertraditions in the Bible: A Feminist Approach. Cambridge, MA: Spanier, Ktziah. Have an update or correction? Let us know.

Episode E. Lockhart's New Jewish Superhero. Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. Jewish Women's Archive. Learn more. Rachel: Bible by Tikva Frymer-Kensky. In Brief. Efforts to Bear Children. Plan to Trick Jacob. Meyers, Carol, General Editor. Women in Scripture. English Revised Version These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen. The total was International Standard Version These were all the sons of Rachel, who were born for Jacob—fourteen in all.

Literal Standard Version These [are] sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; all the persons [are] fourteen. World English Bible These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen. Young's Literal Translation These are sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; all the persons are fourteen.

Additional Translations Genesis The son of Dan: Hushim. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers.