Bible Strands
Genesis 35:19
So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records this event immediately after Rachel names her newborn son Ben-oni and Jacob overrides the name to Benjamin. It occurs during Jacob’s journey back to Bethel following his reunion with Esau.
The words — The Hebrew וַתָּמָת (va.tāmat) translates literally as “and she died,” while וַתִּקָּבֵר (va.tiqqāḇēr) means “and she was buried.” These verbs frame the narrative’s focus on Rachel’s death and interment.
The thread — The location Ephrathah is explicitly identified as Bethlehem in Genesis 48:7 and later named in Micah 5:2 as the prophesied birthplace of a ruler. These references anchor the geographical note in later Israelite history and Messianic expectation.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of Rachel’s death as a concrete historical event preceding Jacob’s pillar monument. Readers must note how the geographical clarification of Ephrath as Bethlehem establishes a site later tied to Davidic and Messianic lineage.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Beth–lehem.
Cross-references
- Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.
- Genesis 48:7 Now as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way in the land of Canaan, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).
- Ruth 1:2 The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah, and they entered the land of Moab and settled there.
- Ruth 4:11 “We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.
- Matthew 2:6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’”
- Matthew 2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem,
- Joshua 19:15 It also included Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem. There were twelve cities, along with their villages.
- Micah 6:2 Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:
- Matthew 2:16 When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.