Salt and Light Blog

“Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, ‘Do not fear; you will have this son also.’ And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.” (Genesis 35:16-20)

If Jacob and Rachel were living in the 21st Century and had the wonders of science at their disposal, it is not too far-fetched to imagine that doctors may have predicted Rachel’s death. Doctors may have been able to warn the couple that if the baby was allowed to come to term that Jacob’s beloved Rachel would most likely die in childbirth.

(more…)