On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Rachel cook article is about the biblical figure. William Dyce – The meeting of Jacob and Rachel. Rachel is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in Genesis 29 when Jacob happens upon her as she is about to water her father’s flock.

She was the second daughter of Laban, Rebekah’s brother, making Jacob her first cousin. During Jacob’s stay, he fell in love with Rachel and agreed to work seven years for Laban in return for her hand in marriage. On the night of the wedding, the bride was veiled and Jacob did not notice that Leah, Rachel’s older sister, had been substituted for Rachel. Whereas “Rachel was lovely in form and beautiful”, “Leah had tender eyes”. Rachel, like Sarah and Rebekah, remained unable to conceive. Rachel became jealous of Leah and gave Jacob her maidservant, Bilhah, to be a surrogate mother for her.

Rachel’s son Joseph was destined to be the leader of Israel’s tribes between exile and nationhood. This role is exemplified in the Biblical story of Joseph, who prepared the way in Egypt for his family’s exile there. After Joseph’s birth, Jacob decided to return to the land of Canaan with his family. Fearing that Laban would deter him, he fled with his two wives, Leah and Rachel, and twelve children without informing his father-in-law.

Laban pursued him and accused him of stealing his idols. Laban left her alone, and the idols were not discovered. Near Ephrath, Rachel went into a difficult labor with her second son, Benjamin. The midwife told her in the middle of the birth that her child was a boy. Rachel’s tomb “at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. Mordecai, the hero of the Book of Esther, and Queen Esther herself, were descendants of Rachel through her son Benjamin.

After the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin were exiled by the Assyrians, Rachel was remembered as the classic mother who mourns and intercedes for her children. Some translations say that it may have meant blue or light colored eyes. Some say that Leah spent most of her time weeping and praying to God to change her destined mate. Thus the Torah describes her eyes as “soft” from weeping. Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. The Legends of the Jews, Volume I, Chapter VI: Jacob, at sacred-texts. Kever Rachel Trip Breaks Barriers” by Israel National News Staff at israelnationalnews.