(有黑体字修改）（创35）拉结： 一位伟大的母亲 Rachel: A Great Mother (Genesis 35)(Revised in boldface)
(ChatGPT translation from Chinese, edited by Mijiale, 中文在后面）
Genesis 35:16
“They set out from Bethel, and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty.”
This Torah portion, Vayishlach (“He sent”), Genesis 32:3–36:43, recounts the death of Rachel during the difficult labor of her second son, Benjamin.
Rachel is one of the third-generation matriarchs of Israel. She was the beloved wife of Jacob (also known as Israel), the third-generation patriarch. Jacob had two wives and two concubines, but Rachel was the one he loved and intended to marry. Jacob worked for seven years to marry her, considering the time as nothing due to his deep love for her. However, after being deceived by his father-in-law Laban, who married Leah to him first, Jacob worked an additional seven years for Rachel and married her a week after Leah.
Though Rachel married seven days later and was younger, she was the recognized main wife, acknowledged by the other children of Jacob’s wives and concubines (Genesis 44:27). The Bible also often lists Rachel’s name before Leah’s, including in the blessing in Ruth 4:11.
Rachel’s name means “ewe” (a female sheep), and before marriage, she tended her father’s sheep.
While Rachel was beautiful, she initially faced infertility. From these aspects, she inherited the “matriarchal tradition” of being a beautiful yet barren wife, like her mother-in-law Rebekah and grandmother-in-law Sarah. Interestingly, these matriarchs never lived to meet each other during their lifetimes.
Although Rachel was born into an idol-worshiping family, she did not hold such beliefs. When fleeing her father’s household, she stole his idols and sat on them, claiming she was menstruating. This act demonstrated her disdain for her father’s idols.
Rachel’s spiritual understanding, however, was not perfect. She blamed her husband for her infertility rather than recognizing that it was God who had closed her womb. At one point, she expressed that she would prefer death over childlessness. She gave her maidservant to Jacob to bear children on her behalf.
Later, God enabled Rachel to bear two sons: Joseph and Benjamin. Tragically, Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin, but her descendants became three tribes of Israel. Her firstborn, Joseph, rose to prominence as the viceroy of Egypt, saving Jacob’s family and the world of his time from famine. Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh became two of the twelve tribes of Israel. Among Joseph’s descendants were Joshua, the leader who brought Israel to conquer the Promised Land.
Rachel’s second son, Benjamin, survived and his lineage endures to this day. Notable descendants include King Saul, Queen Esther, Mordecai (who played key roles in the survival of Israel and established the holidays of Purim), and the Apostle Paul (a critical figure in spreading Christianity to the Gentiles and author of many New Testament letters).
Rachel and her sons’ names remain popular today. Joseph is sometimes rendered as “Joe” (notably the first name of U.S. President Joe Biden), and Benjamin sometimes as “Ben” (e.g., Benjamin Franklin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu).
Symbolism in Rachel’s Life
Rachel’s life foreshadows aspects of Christ. She gave her life to bear children who would complete the twelve tribes that symbolize God’s chosen people. Then in Jeremiah 31:15-17, Rachel is portrayed as weeping for her exiled children, an image of intercessory grief. Similarly, Christ sacrificed His life to make believers children of God and now intercedes for His followers from heaven (Romans 8:34). Intriguingly, this is taught by Paul, Rachel’s descendant (Romans 11:1).
Lessons from Rachel’s Example
In our time, what aspects of Rachel can we learn from? She risked her life to bear children for her husband—whether this was a traditional virtue at that time, I’m not sure. From a faith perspective, however, her greatest legacy lies in her sacrifice to give birth to God’s people, completing the twelfth tribe of Israel, which led to her early death. Jewish tradition holds that the matriarchs were prophets and knew that Jacob was destined by the Creator to father twelve tribes. Therefore, when Rachel gave birth to her first son, Joseph (Jacob’s eleventh son), she named him Joseph, meaning “to add,” expressing her hope to bear Jacob a twelfth son. Source: Rashi on Genesis 30:25.
Today, to bear God’s people for the Lord means more than just physically giving birth and teaching one’s children; it also involves spreading the Gospel to gain spiritual children for God. This was the mission of Rachel’s descendant, the Apostle Paul. Paul, though single and without physical children, pioneered the mission of preaching to the Gentiles, bringing countless spiritual children to the Lord. To date, the number of Christians worldwide exceeds several billion. Source: Wikipedia on Christian denominations by membership.
（创35）拉结： 一位伟大的母亲
创35:16 “他 们 从 伯 特 利 起 行 ， 离 以 法 他 还 有 一 段 路 程 ， 拉 结 临 产 甚 是 艰 难 。”
本读经进度vayishlach“打发” 创世记32:3-36:43 ，记载了拉结在生次子便雅悯时难产去世。
拉结是以色列人的第三代母系祖先之一。她是第三代父系祖先雅各（又名以色列）的正妻。雅各有二妻二妾，但拉结是雅各所爱的，是他本来就想娶的妻子。雅各为娶她花了七年劳动的收入。因 为 深 爱 拉 结 ，雅各 就 看 这 七 年 如 同 几 天 。后来因为岳父骗雅各，把拉结的姐姐利亚先嫁给了他，雅各过了七天才又娶了拉结。为此雅各又多付了七年的劳动。
拉结虽然晚嫁了七天，又年轻，但她是正妻，这一点雅各其他妻妾的儿子们也承认（创44:27），而且圣经里提到姐妹俩也把妹妹的名字列在前面（路得记4:11）。
拉结名字的意思是母羊，她结婚前曾经为父亲放羊。
拉结是美女，但一开始不能生育。出这两个角度看来，她是以色列母系祖先的正统继承者（婆婆传婆婆的体系：婆婆利百加和婆婆的婆婆撒拉都是起初不生育的美女），而且这几代的婆媳去世前相互都没见过面。
拉结虽然出生于拜偶像的家庭，但是她不迷信。她曾经把父亲的偶像偷出来，坐在上面，说自己来例假了，这说明她看不起父亲的偶像。
拉结的属灵知识并不完美，她不生育时曾经怪自己的丈夫，而没有认识到是造物主不让她生育。她曾经表达过不生育宁愿死的心情。她还把自己的女仆人给丈夫作妾，为自己生孩子。
后来造物主眷顾拉结，她生了两个孩子，约瑟，和便雅悯。但拉结在生便雅悯时难产去世。拉结的长子约瑟后来成为埃及宰相，救雅各全家和当时的全世界脱离饥荒。约瑟的后裔约书亚是以色列的领袖，带以色列人征战得到了应许之地。
拉结的儿子们成了以色列的三个支派，其中她的长子约瑟的两个儿子成为以法莲玛纳西两支派。她去世前所生的小儿子便雅悯的后裔，到现在还存留, 曾经出过以色利的第一个君王扫罗，和波斯帝国的王后以斯帖，宰相末底改，（主使用他们拯救过以色利人，并设立了节日普尔日）， 和使徒保罗 （主使用他向外邦传道，并写了新约中的很多书信）。
拉结和她的儿子们的名字现在是西方很流行的名字，拉结又叫蕾秋，约瑟又叫乔，是美国总统拜登的名字），便雅悯又叫本杰明或本，是富兰克林的名字，也是以色列总理内坦亚胡的名字。
拉结的某些方面预表基督。拉结是为了与以色列生育后代而不顾性命，最后在生育时去世，而耶利米书32:15-17预言拉结为被流放的后裔哭泣代祷。类似于此，新约记载基督为了让世人成为造物主的儿女而牺牲自己，他复活升天后在造物主的右边为基督徒们代祷(罗马书8:34），巧的是这相关的新约经文也是通过拉结的肉身后裔保罗所写（罗马书11:1）。
在今天，拉结有什么方面我们可以学习的吗？她不顾性命为了丈夫生儿育女，这在当时是不是一种传统美德，我并不确定，但从信仰方面看，最伟大的地方是她是为了生育主的子民，以色利的第十二支派，而早逝的。犹太人传说母系祖先们是先知，她们知道雅各会造物主生育十二支派。所以拉结在生长子约瑟（雅各第十一子）就为他起名增添（约瑟有增添的意思），希望能再为雅各生第十二个儿子。https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Genesis.30.25?lang=bi
我们今天，为主生育主的子民，除了肉体的子女要生育，要教导，还有要通过传道，为主得到属灵的子女。这就是拉结的后裔保罗所做的事，他单身，没有肉身的子女，但他开启了外邦传道，为主得了很多属灵的儿女，迄今已经超过几十亿。
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations_by_number_of_members