Rachel weeping for her children

[Kem]

In Matthew 2:16-18 we read the account of Herod slaughtering the young boys in Bethlehem in attempt to kill the Lord Jesus and in verse 18 it is said that Rachel was weeping for her children. Rachael's children were Joseph and Benjamin and the Lord Jesus was descended from Judah who was Leah's son. Bethlehem was in the land of Judah. Why then do we read that Rachael was weeping for her children rather than Leah? Just a curious question.

 

[Kaatje]

In Matthew 2:16-18 we read the account of Herod slaughtering the young boys in Bethlehem in attempt to kill the Lord Jesus and in verse 18 it is said that Rachel was weeping for her children. Rachael's children were Joseph and Benjamin and the Lord Jesus was descended from Judah who was Leah's son. Bethlehem was in the land of Judah. Why then do we read that Rachael was weeping for her children rather than Leah? Just a curious question.

After Joseph was born, Rachel became pregnant again. The birth was a difficult one, and, soon after her son was born, Rachel died. Before she passed away, she named him Ben-Oni, which meant “son of my trouble”; Jacob, however, changed the boy’s name to Benjamin, meaning “son of my right hand” (Genesis 35:18). Rachel was buried near Bethlehem (known at that time as Ephrath), and Jacob marked her grave with a large pillar (verse 20).
Rachel is mentioned later in a passage of lament: “This is what the LORD says: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more’” (Jeremiah 31:15). Ramah was a city in the territory of Benjamin, Rachel’s son. The prophet pictures Rachel as weeping over the fate of the Hebrew exiles.
In the New Testament, Matthew applies Jeremiah’s words to the weeping in Bethlehem when Herod massacred the children there after the birth of Christ (Matthew 2:17–18).

From: Who was Rachel in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

 

[Kem]

Thanks Erica. Still not completely sure why the passage refers to Rachel rather than Leah but I guess I partially understand....a little .....maybe.

 

[Kaatje]

Thanks Erica. Still not completely sure why the passage refers to Rachel rather than Leah but I guess I partially understand....a little .....maybe.

Maybe because Leah had a wealth of children?
She had 8.
6 birthed by herself an 2 by her handmaiden.

 

[mattfivefour]

I believe it is because Rachel, being the wife that Jacob truly loved --not Leah the wife he was tricked into taking-- is considered in Jewish tradition, after Rebecca, as the mother of the nation. Just as on the patriarchal side, Israel historically venerated Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (and still do);.on the matriarchal side they venerated Sara, Rebecca and Rachel.

Jeremiah 31:15 was given at a time when the Jews were being marched into captivity and says that Rachel was weeping over her children in Ramah. Why Ramah? Because it was from there that the Babylonians were marching them into captivity and it was also there that Rachel died in childbirth (of Benjamin). But she was on the road from Bethel to Bethlehem when she died and her face was toward the destination where her beloved was taking her. And as she died she wept over the son who took her life. She named him Ben-oni, which means son of my sorrow or pain. Later, Jacob renamed him Ben-jamin, which means son of my right (hand).

Both events taking place near the same place, Jeremiah takes the original significant event and uses it to symbolize the mourning over the latter event-- the Babylonian victory and the resulting Jewish captivity. But God takes it and uses it prophetically to refer to the mass murder.of the baby boys in Bethlehem...the destination to which Rachel was looking when she wept and died. It's as though, even long after her death, Rachel in eternity is still looking to that city and mourning for the dead babies of the nation that sprang from the loins of her beloved.

Does that help at all?

 

[Kem]

Does that help at all?

Yes, thank you it does. The fact that Rachael is considered as a mother along with Sara and Rebecca is probably the best explanation that clarifies it for me. Much appreciated!