Genesis 35:16

And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
journeyed	וַיִּסְעוּ֙ vai.yis.'U	H5265	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Beth-el	מִבֵּ֣ית mi.Beit	H1008	Beth-El · preposition + proper noun, a place name
but	ע֥וֹד od	H5750	properly · cardinal number, masculine singular absolute
little	כִּבְרַת kiv.rat-	H3530	properly · noun, common feminine singular construct
way	הָאָ֖רֶץ ha.'A.retz	H776	the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
come	לָב֣וֹא la.Vo'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Ephrath	אֶפְרָ֑תָה 'ef.Ra.tah	H672	Ephrath · proper noun, a place name
Rachel	רָחֵ֖ל ra.Chel	H7354	Rachel · proper noun, a woman's name
travailed	וַתֵּ֥לֶד va.Te.led	H3205	to bear young · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
hard	וַתְּקַ֥שׁ va.te.Kash	H7185	properly · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
labour	בְּלִדְתָּֽהּ be.lid.Tah	H3205	to bear young · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Micah 5:2 But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be…
Genesis 48:7 And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto…
Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire sha…
Genesis 35:19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem.
Ruth 1:2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-…
2 Kings 5:19 And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.
1 Chronicles 2:19 And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took unto him Ephrath, which bare him Hur.
Psalms 132:6 Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 35:16-20

We have here the story of the death of Rachel, the beloved wife of Jacob. 1. She fell in travail by the way, not able to reach to Bethlehem, the next town, though they were near it; so suddenly does pain sometimes come upon a woman in travail, which she cannot escape, or put off. We may suppose Jacob had soon a tent up, convenient enough for her reception. 2. Her pains were violent. She had hard labour, harder than usual: this was the effect of sin, Gen 3:16. Note, Human life begins with sorrow, and the roses of its joy are surrounded with thorns. 3. The midwife encouraged her, Gen 35:17. No doubt she had her midwife with her, ready at hand, yet that would not secure her. Rachel had said, wh…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 35:16

BIRTH OF BENJAMIN--DEATH OF RACHEL, &c. (Gen 35:16-27) And they journeyed from Beth-el--There can be no doubt that much enjoyment was experienced at Beth-el, and that in the religious observances solemnized, as well as in the vivid recollections of the glorious vision seen there, the affections of the patriarch were powerfully animated and that he left the place a better and more devoted servant of God. When the solemnities were over, Jacob, with his family, pursued a route directly southward, and they reached Ephrath, when they were plunged into mourning by the death of Rachel, who sank in childbirth, leaving a posthumous son [Gen 35:18]. A very affecting death, considering how ardently t…

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Adam Clarke on Genesis 35:16

There was but a little way to come to Ephrath - The word כברת kibrath, translated here a little way, has greatly perplexed commentators. It occurs only here, in Gen 48:7, and Kg2 5:19; and it seems to have been some sort of measure applied to land, as we say a mile, an acre, a rood, a perch; but what the exact quantity of the kibrath was cannot be ascertained. Ephrath, called also Bethlehem, and Bethlehem Ephrata, was the birthplace of our blessed Redeemer. See its meaning Mat 2:6 (note).

The Church Fathers

(Verse 16.) And it came to pass, while he was approaching Chabratha in the land of Canaan, to come to Ephratha, Rachel gave birth to the Hebrew word () Chabratha, in the following, where Jacob speaks to Joseph: But when I came from Mesopotamia in Syria, your mother Rachel died in the land of Canaan, on the way to Hippodrome, to come to Ephrata (Gen. 48): I do not know what they wanted, the Septuagint interpreters translated Hippodrome: and immediately there, where it is said in Hebrew: And they buried her on the way to Ephrata, this is Bethlehem (Gen. 35:19), again the Septuagint put Hippodrome instead of Ephrata: since surely if Chabratha is Hippodrome, Ephrata cannot be Hippodrome. But Aquila translated it this way: And it came to pass καθ᾽ ὁδον τῆς γῆς, that is, in the journey of the earth, when he entered into Ephratah. But it is better if it is translated, in the chosen time of the earth, when he entered into Ephratha. Moreover, it signifies the springtime, when all things burst into flower, and the chosen time of the year: or when those passing by along the way pluck and choose from the nearby fields whatever comes to hand, enticed by various flowers. Indeed, Ephrata and Bethlehem are two names for the same city, with similar meanings. For they both translate to 'fruitful' and 'house of bread', respectively. This is because of the bread that is said to have come down from heaven (John 6).
— Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Benjamin — Son of my right hand. (1.) The younger son of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 35:18). His birth took place at Ephrath, on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, at a short distance from the latter place. His…
Bethlehem — House of bread. (1.) A city in the “hill country” of Judah. It was originally called Ephrath (Gen. 35:16, 19; 48:7; Ruth 4:11). It was also called Beth-lehem Ephratah (Micah 5:2), Beth-lehem-judah (1…
Ephratah — Fruitful. (1.) The second wife of Caleb, the son of Hezron, mother of Hur, and grandmother of Caleb, who was one of those that were sent to spy the land (1 Chr. 2:19, 50). (2.) The ancient name of…
Ephratah, Or Ephrath — (fruitful).
Bethlehem · .Rachel dies and is buried at — .Rachel dies and is buried at
Ephratah · .The ancient name of Beth-lehem- — .The ancient name of Beth-lehem-
Rachel · .Benjamin — .Benjamin

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 35:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 35:16-20

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 35:16

Adam Clarke on Genesis 35:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 35:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 35:16-20

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 35:16

Adam Clarke on Genesis 35:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Genesis 35:16

John Calvin on Genesis 35:16

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 35:16-20

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 35:16-20

Rashi on Genesis 35:16