Genesis 35:16-22

Genesis 35:16-22

[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.  [17] And it came to pass, when she was in hard  labour,  said  unto her, Fear  not; thou shalt have this son  also. [18] And it came to pass, as her soul  was in departing,  (for she died  ) that she called  his name  Benoni:  but his father  called  him Benjamin.  [19] And Rachel  died,  and was buried  in the way  to Ephrath,  which is Bethlehem.  [20] And Jacob  set  a pillar  upon her grave:  that is the pillar  of Rachel's  grave  unto this day.  [21] And Israel  journeyed,  and spread  his tent  beyond  of Edar.  [22] And it came to pass, when Israel  dwelt  in that land,  that Reuben  and lay  with Bilhah  his father's  concubine:  and Israel  heard  it. Now the sons  of Jacob  were twelve: 

What does Genesis 35:16-22 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Ben-oni means "son of my pain ( Genesis 35:18)." For Rachel, Benjamin"s birth was a fatally painful experience. However the birth of his twelfth son mollified Jacob"s sorrow over Rachel"s death. He named his son Benjamin meaning "Son of my good fortune." [1] Oni in Hebrew can mean either "trouble" or "wealth." This is the only son that Jacob named, which suggests his renewed leadership of the family, at least over Rachel"s sons. Benjamin was born on land that later became part of his tribe"s allotment. His birth there gave him title to it.
Jacob buried Rachel near Ephrath, an older name for Bethlehem (house of bread; Genesis 35:19-20). Both Bethlehem and Kiriath Jeraim became known as Ephrath(a) because the clan of Ephrath settled in both places (cf. 1 Chronicles 2:50).
The opening section of the Isaac toledot ( Genesis 25:19-26) contained the record of two births: Esau"s and Jacob"s. Its closing section ( Genesis 35:16-29) documented two deaths: Deborah"s and Rachel"s. Ironically Rachel, who had cried in desperation to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die" ( Genesis 30:1), died giving birth to a child.
The tower of Eder ("Migdal-eder") was simply a watchtower built to help shepherds protect their flocks from robbers ( Genesis 35:21; cf. 2 Kings 18:8; 2 Chronicles 26:10; 2 Chronicles 27:4). Since the time of Jerome, the early church father who lived in Bethlehem, tradition has held that this Eder lay very close to Bethlehem.
A concubine was sometimes a slave with whom her owner had sexual relations. She enjoyed some of the privileges of a wife, and people sometimes called her a wife in patriarchal times, but she was not a wife in the full sense of the term.
Reuben may have wanted to prevent Rachel"s maid from succeeding Rachel as his father"s favorite wife. He probably resented the fact that Jacob did not honor his mother. [2] Reuben"s act constituted a claim against (a challenge to) his father as well as being an immoral act (cf. Deuteronomy 22:30; 2 Samuel 16:21-22; 1 Kings 2:13-25). In the ancient Near East a man who wanted to assert his superiority over another man might do so by having sexual relations with that man"s wife or concubine (cf. 2 Samuel 16:21-22). Ancient Near Easterners regarded this act of physical domination as an evidence of personal superiority.
"Taking the concubine of one"s predecessor was a perverted way of claiming to be the new lord of the bride." [3]
Reuben"s Acts , therefore, manifested rebellion against Jacob"s authority as well as unbridled lust. It resulted in his losing the birthright. Judah obtained the right to rule as head of the family, and Levi got the right to be the family priest eventually. The double portion of his father"s inheritance went to Joseph who realized it through his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (cf. 1 Chronicles 5:1-2).
"At an early stage in the narrative Reuben had played some small part in the all too brief restoration to his mother of her conjugal rights (Gen. XXX:14 ff.), but now, at the end of the Jacob narrative, it is by his agency that the supplanter is well and truly supplanted." [4]
As at Shechem, Jacob appears to have reacted passively. Moses wrote that he heard of Reuben"s Acts , but not that he did anything about it.