There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
Genesis 48:7 (KJV)
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 Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.
Since death is not the end of life, I think the: when, how, and where of our burial has at least some significance. I find it interesting that Jacob’s wives, Leah and Rachel, have such different yet significant endings.
Rachel, the favored of Jacob and his first love, was the first to pass from this life.
Jacob was barely back into the Promised Land when she died. Circumstances dictated that he was able to get her to the “family plot.” He and she were young enough that it is possible such things didn’t matter to them. Those things would matter in his later years. While she died, giving birth to Benjamin, and way before they would have expected, it was no surprise to God. God had her placed in what is the most important city in the Promised Land. It wasn’t the home of one of her own children’s heritage, but she is credited with the place.[1]
Leah was the product of her father’s deception.
Not being Jacob’s first love, she fought to have the affection of her husband. It is much through her influence that Jacob had the number of children he had. The twelve tribes of Israel are, in many respects, because of Leah’s desire to be loved by her husband. In the end, she is the one whose body lies next to Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and most importantly, next to her husband, Jacob. His final request was not that he should be buried in Bethlehem, next to Rachel but in the field of Ephron, next to Leah.
[1] Jeremiah 31:15 (KJV)
Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
Matthew 2:18 (KJV)
In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
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