⁹When Jacob came back from Northwest Mesopotamia, God appeared to him again and blessed him. ¹⁰God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called Jacob any longer. Your new name will be Israel.” So he called him Israel. ¹¹God said to him, “I am God Almighty. Have many children and grow in number as a nation. You will be the ancestor of many nations and kings. ¹²The same land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you and your descendants.” ¹³Then God left him. ¹⁴Jacob set up a stone on edge in that place where God had talked to him, and he poured a drink offering and olive oil on it to make it special for God. ¹⁵And Jacob named the place Bethel.

Rachel Dies Giving Birth

¹⁶Jacob and his group left Bethel. Before they came to Ephrath, Rachel began giving birth to her baby, ¹⁷but she was having much trouble. When Rachel’s nurse saw this, she said, “Don’t be afraid, Rachel. You are giving birth to another son.” ¹⁸Rachel gave birth to the son, but she herself died. As she lay dying, she named the boy Son of My Suffering, but Jacob called him Benjamin. ⁿ

¹⁹Rachel was buried on the road to Ephrath, a district of Bethlehem,

Read in Logos

Genesis 35:10: And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel.

Footnotes

nBenjamin This name means “right-hand son” or “favorite son.”