Difference between revisions of "Rebekah" - New World Encyclopedia
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Rebekah was instrumental in Jacob's winning, by deception, the blessing of his father Isaac. She also wisely saved Jacob from the wrath of his brother [[Esau]], by advising Jacob to flee to her brother Laban when Esau sought Jacob's death. | Rebekah was instrumental in Jacob's winning, by deception, the blessing of his father Isaac. She also wisely saved Jacob from the wrath of his brother [[Esau]], by advising Jacob to flee to her brother Laban when Esau sought Jacob's death. | ||
==Marriage to Isaac== | ==Marriage to Isaac== | ||
| − | Rebekah's story begins with [[Abraham]]'s search for a suitable wife for his son Isaac. | + | Rebekah's story begins with [[Abraham]]'s search for a suitable wife for his son Isaac. Living without relatives in [[Canaan]], the aging [[patriarch]] sends his trusted servant [[Eliezer]] to the town of [[Nahor]] in northwest [[Mesopotamia]] with this mission. When Eliezer and his traveling companions arrive at the outskirts of town, Eliezer makes his camels kneel beside the well where the young women come to draw water for their families. Then he prays to God; |
| − | + | :May it be that when I say to a girl, "Please let down your jar that I may have a drink," and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too'—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. (Genesis 24:14). | |
| + | |||
| + | Rebekah responds perfectly, proving to Eliezer that he has found a bride worthy of [[Isaac]]. She also happens to be a member of Abraham's clan, the daughter of his nephew Bethuel. Eliezer gives her rich gifts of jewelry and clothing and asks for hospitality from her family. Rebekah accepts the gifts, allowing Eliezer to place a gold ring in her nose and bracelets on her arms. She then goes to inform her family of his request. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Rebekah's brother Laban welcomes [[Eliezer]] and, hearing his story of God's seeming confirmation of Eliezer's prayer, agrees that Rebekah may wed Isaac. Rebekah's family prepares a rich gift to accompany her, but they are not so eager to allow her to depart immediately, insisting that their guest remain a few at least 10 days. Eliezer is anxious to depart, and when Rebekah herself is consulted, she agrees to leave immediately. So her relatives bless her and send her on her way. Their blessing became traditional in Jewish tradition and is still bestowed on brides in religious Jewish weddings today: | ||
| + | |||
| + | :Our sister, may you increase | ||
| + | :to thousands upon thousands; | ||
| + | :may your offspring possess | ||
| + | :the gates of their enemies." (Genesis 24:60) | ||
| + | |||
| + | After the long journey back to Canaan—Isaac is then living in the [[Negev]]—Rebekah first glimpses him from afar, as he stands in the field praying. She immediately dismounts from her camel and modestly covers her face with a veil. The two immediately take to each other. Isaac, marries her, honoring her by brining her into his mother [[Sarah]]'s tent. The Bible adds, significantly, that "he loved her." (Gen. 24:67) | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
==Motherhood== | ==Motherhood== | ||
| − | + | Despite Isaac's affection, like several other important biblical women, Rebekah remains infertile for many years. Finally, after 20 years of marriage, Isaac's prayers are answered when she conceives. However, her pregnany is exceeding difficult due to the child(ren) struggling in her womb. She travels to an unspecified place to inquire of [[Yahweh|God]] to discover "why this is happening to me." (Gen. 25:21) She is told that she is bearing twins who represent opposing nations, and that "the elder shall serve the younger." | |
| − | At the birth, the first child to emerge from the womb is ruddy and hairy | + | |
| − | As the twins grow up, their differences are apparent. Jacob | + | At the birth, the first child to emerge from the womb is ruddy and hairy. He is named [[Esau]], (from the [[Hebrew]] word for "rough"). The second child emerges grasping his brother's heel, as if to pull him back and assert his own right to be born first. He is named [[Jacob]] (from the Hebrew word for "heel"). |
| − | When a [[famine]] strikes [[Canaan]], Isaac | + | As the twins grow up, their differences are apparent. Jacob becomes "a dweller in tents" (a herdsman and also one who follows the family tradition) and Esau becomes "a man of the fields" (probably a farmer) but also an avid hunter who roamed away from the family dwellings. Rebekah favors Jacob, while Isaac's favorite is Esau. |
| − | == | + | |
| − | + | ==Rebekah in Gerar== | |
| − | When Esau returns | + | |
| + | When a [[famine]] strikes [[Canaan]], Rebekah follows [[Isaac]] to the land of [[Gerar]]. Isaac fearing he will be killed on Rebekah's account, tells the [[Philistine]]s who live there that his beautiful Rebekah is actually his sister. Much like her predecessor [[Sarah]], the wife of [[Abraham]], Rebekah acts the part, "for a long time." One day, however, the king, [[Abimelech]], look down through his window and sees Isaac making love to Rebekah. (Genesis 26:8) He chastizes Isaac for his deception, saying, "One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us." | ||
| + | |||
| + | Abimelech then provides Isaac with legal protection so that Rebekah and Isaac may live openly as husband and wife. The couple prospers immensely, and Isaac become rich with herds and slaves. It is not clear whether Esau and Jacob are with them at this point, since they are adults and are not mentioned. Eventually, Isaac becomes so powerful that the Philistine grow dangerously envious, and Abimelech orders the couple to leave. They travel to Beersheba, where they settle and later make a treaty of peace with Abimelech. | ||
| + | |||
| + | At this point, Esau, being 40 years of age, marries. Rebekah and Issac, however, are very displeased with his choice, for he marries two Hittite women instead of following his parents example and marrying within the clan. (Gen. 26:34) | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Winning the blessing for Jacob== | ||
| + | Nevertheless, when Isaac is old and blind, he decides to bestow his blessing on Esau. He sends Esau out to the field to kill and cook for him a piece of savory game, before blessing him. Rebekah overhears this exchange and, believing that Jacob is more deserving of the blessing, conspires with Jacob abtain the blessing by deception. When Jacob fears Isaac's curse, she declares herself fully responsible for any guilt, saying: "My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say." | ||
| + | |||
| + | She commands him to bring her two goats from the flock, and she then cooks them in the way Isaac likes. To protect Jacob from being discovered, Rebekah lays goatskins on his arms and neck to simulate Esau's hairy skin, and dresses Jacob in Esau's clothes. Jacob then goes in to his father and succeeds in receiving his blessing. | ||
| + | |||
| + | When Esau returns and the plot is uncovered, Isaac nevertheless refuses to withdraw his blessing from Esau. Because Isaac had previously purchased Esau's birthright from him, Esau feels not only cheated but virtually disinherited. He vows in his heart to kill Jacob. Rebekah prophetically perceives his murderous intentions and orders Jacob to travel to her brother [[Laban]]'s house until Esau's anger subsides. She also influences Isaac to cooperated in this plan, by telling him that she despairs of Jacob's marrying a non-Hebrew girl as Esau did. (Gen 27:46) | ||
| + | |||
==Death and burial== | ==Death and burial== | ||
| − | + | Rebekah's death is not recorded in the Bible. She is not present, and may already be dead when Jacob returns 21 years later, a very wealthy man, to reconcile with Esau. However [[Deborah]], Rebekah's, dies and is buried at a place that Jacob calls ''Alon Bachot'' (Weekping Oak) near [[Bethel]]. (Genesis 35:8) On the other hand Jacob and Esau are both present at the burial of Isaac. | |
| + | According to one rabbinical tradition (see below), Rebekah is buried in the [[Cave of the Patriarchs]] in [[Hebron]]. However, others believe she simply died while Jacob was in exile in Haran, during a period in which the narrative does not deal with events back in [[Canaan]]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Rabbinical tradition== | ||
| + | According to the [[Midrash]], the evil Bethuel even tries to poison Eliezer's drink, but the loyal servant refuses to eat or drink anything until he finishes telling his story. An angel switches the drinks on the table, so that Bethuel drinks from the poisoned cup instead, and dies. (His absence is inferred from the fact that in Genesis 24:50, both Laban and Bethuel speak with their visitor, but when Eliezer finishes talking and brings out gifts, "he gave tasty delicacies to her brother and mother" [Genesis 24:53].) Most commentators explain that she alighted quickly in order to present herself in a modest fashion. The act of veiling herself also hints to the Jewish wedding custom called ''[[bedecken]]'', in which the groom veils the bride before the ceremony. According to the [[Midrash]], the three special miracles which characterized Sarah's tent, and which disappeared with her death, reappear with the entrance of Rebekah: a lamp burns from the eve of [[Shabbat]] to the eve of Shabbat, there is a blessing in the dough, and a cloud (signifying the Divine Presence) hovers over the tent. | ||
| + | |||
| + | According to the [[Midrash]], the plural form of the word "weeping" indicates a double sorrow, implying that Rebekah also died at this time. Her death is covered up, however, for varying reasons: | ||
# Neither Isaac, Esau, or Jacob are present at the burial, so Rebekah is buried by her neighbors, which is somewhat of an embarrassment. | # Neither Isaac, Esau, or Jacob are present at the burial, so Rebekah is buried by her neighbors, which is somewhat of an embarrassment. | ||
# Esau is present at the burial, but Jacob isn't, which reflects badly on Jacob's inability to perform this last [[mitzvah]] of honoring his mother. | # Esau is present at the burial, but Jacob isn't, which reflects badly on Jacob's inability to perform this last [[mitzvah]] of honoring his mother. | ||
# Rebekah is buried quickly and without eulogies, for it would be a disgrace to publicize that she was the mother of a wicked person like Esau. | # Rebekah is buried quickly and without eulogies, for it would be a disgrace to publicize that she was the mother of a wicked person like Esau. | ||
| − | + | ||
| + | --- | ||
| + | The Rabbis disagree as to the age of Rebekah at the time of her marriage to Isaac. The statement of the Seder 'Olam Rabbah (i.) and Gen. R. (lvii. 1) that Abraham was informed of Rebekah's birth when he ascended Mount Moriah for the 'Aḳedah, is interpreted by some as meaning that Rebekah was born at that time, and that consequently she was only three years old at the time of her marriage. Other rabbis, however, conclude from calculations that she was fourteen years old, and that therefore she was born eleven years before the 'Aḳedah, both numbers being found in different manuscripts of the Seder 'Olam Rabbah (comp. Tos. to Yeb. 61b). The "Sefer ha-Yashar" (section "Ḥayye Sarah," p. 38a, Leghorn, 1870) gives Rebekah's age at her marriage as ten years. | ||
| + | |||
| + | From the fact that when Rebekah went down to the well the water rose toward her (Gen. R. lx. 6) Eliezer immediately recognized that she was the maiden chosen by God as lsaac's wife. The miracles which had been wrought through the virtue of Sarah and which had ceased after the latter's death, recommenced through the virtue of Rebekah (Gen. R. lx. 15) when she was taken by Isaac into his tent (Gen. xxiv. 67). | ||
| + | |||
| + | Rebekah joined Isaac in prayer to God for a child, they having prostrated themselves opposite each other. Isaac prayed that the children he was destined to have might be borne by the righteous Rebekah, the latter that she might have children by Isaac only. Isaac's prayer alone was answered (comp. Gen. xxv. 21), because he was a righteous man, and the son of a righteous man, while Rebekah's whole family was wicked (Yeb. 64a; Gen. R. lxiii. 5). It is said that Rebekah, when suffering from her pregnancy (comp. Gen. xxv. 22), went from door to door, asking the women whether they had ever experienced the like. The answer she received (ib. xxv. 23) came, according to R. Eleazar b. Simcon, directly from God; R. Ḥama b. Ḥanina declares that God spoke through an angel, and R. Eleazar b. Pedat that the answer was delivered through Shem, the son of Noah, into whose bet ha-midrash Rebekah had gone to inquire (Gen. R. lxiii. 6-8). She should have borne twelve sons, fathers of twelve tribes, but through the birth of Esau she became barren again (Pesiḳ. iii. 23b; Gen. R. lxiii. 6-7). Rebekah was a prophetess; therefore she knew that Esau intended to slay Jacob after Isaac's death, and the words "Why should I be deprived also of you both in one day" (Gen. xxvii. 45) are interpreted as being her prophecy to this effect (Soṭah 13a; Gen. R. lxvii. 9). | ||
| + | |||
| + | The Rabbis agree that Rebekah died at the age of 133 years (Sifre, Deut. 357; Midr. Tadshe, in Epstein. "Mi-Ḳadmoniyyot ha-Yehudim," p. xxii.; "Sefer ha-Yashar," section "Wayishlaḥ," p. 56b). Her death occurred while Jacob was on his way back to his parents' home; and it was coincident withthat of Deborah (comp. Gen. xxxv. 8). Her decease is not mentioned because Jacob not having yet arrived, Esau was the only son present to attend to her burial. Moreover, the ceremony was performed at night out of shame that her coffin should be followed by a son like Esau (Pesiḳ. l.c.; Midr. Agadah on Gen. l.c.). According to the Book of Jubilees (xxxi. 8-11, 48), Jacob, when he arrived home, found his mother alive; and she afterward accompanied him to Beth-el to accomplish his vow (comp. Gen. xxviii. 19-20). She died at the age of 155, five years before Isaac's death (Jubilees, xxxv. 1, 41), this determining that her age when she married was twenty years.E. C. M | ||
| + | [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=146&letter=R&search=rebekah rebekah] | ||
| + | |||
==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
*[http://www.whistlemytune.com/rebekah The TNL approved namelisting for the name Rebekah] | *[http://www.whistlemytune.com/rebekah The TNL approved namelisting for the name Rebekah] | ||
Revision as of 05:57, 6 April 2007
Rebekah (Rebecca or Rivkah—רִבְקָה "Captivating", also "Snare") was the wife of the patriarch Isaac and mother of Jacob and Esau in the Bible. She was the daughter of Bethuel and the granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham's brother. She was also the sister ofLaban, who later become the father-in-law of Jacob.
Rebekah was instrumental in Jacob's winning, by deception, the blessing of his father Isaac. She also wisely saved Jacob from the wrath of his brother Esau, by advising Jacob to flee to her brother Laban when Esau sought Jacob's death.
Marriage to Isaac
Rebekah's story begins with Abraham's search for a suitable wife for his son Isaac. Living without relatives in Canaan, the aging patriarch sends his trusted servant Eliezer to the town of Nahor in northwest Mesopotamia with this mission. When Eliezer and his traveling companions arrive at the outskirts of town, Eliezer makes his camels kneel beside the well where the young women come to draw water for their families. Then he prays to God;
- May it be that when I say to a girl, "Please let down your jar that I may have a drink," and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too'—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. (Genesis 24:14).
Rebekah responds perfectly, proving to Eliezer that he has found a bride worthy of Isaac. She also happens to be a member of Abraham's clan, the daughter of his nephew Bethuel. Eliezer gives her rich gifts of jewelry and clothing and asks for hospitality from her family. Rebekah accepts the gifts, allowing Eliezer to place a gold ring in her nose and bracelets on her arms. She then goes to inform her family of his request.
Rebekah's brother Laban welcomes Eliezer and, hearing his story of God's seeming confirmation of Eliezer's prayer, agrees that Rebekah may wed Isaac. Rebekah's family prepares a rich gift to accompany her, but they are not so eager to allow her to depart immediately, insisting that their guest remain a few at least 10 days. Eliezer is anxious to depart, and when Rebekah herself is consulted, she agrees to leave immediately. So her relatives bless her and send her on her way. Their blessing became traditional in Jewish tradition and is still bestowed on brides in religious Jewish weddings today:
- Our sister, may you increase
- to thousands upon thousands;
- may your offspring possess
- the gates of their enemies." (Genesis 24:60)
After the long journey back to Canaan—Isaac is then living in the Negev—Rebekah first glimpses him from afar, as he stands in the field praying. She immediately dismounts from her camel and modestly covers her face with a veil. The two immediately take to each other. Isaac, marries her, honoring her by brining her into his mother Sarah's tent. The Bible adds, significantly, that "he loved her." (Gen. 24:67)
Motherhood
Despite Isaac's affection, like several other important biblical women, Rebekah remains infertile for many years. Finally, after 20 years of marriage, Isaac's prayers are answered when she conceives. However, her pregnany is exceeding difficult due to the child(ren) struggling in her womb. She travels to an unspecified place to inquire of God to discover "why this is happening to me." (Gen. 25:21) She is told that she is bearing twins who represent opposing nations, and that "the elder shall serve the younger."
At the birth, the first child to emerge from the womb is ruddy and hairy. He is named Esau, (from the Hebrew word for "rough"). The second child emerges grasping his brother's heel, as if to pull him back and assert his own right to be born first. He is named Jacob (from the Hebrew word for "heel"). As the twins grow up, their differences are apparent. Jacob becomes "a dweller in tents" (a herdsman and also one who follows the family tradition) and Esau becomes "a man of the fields" (probably a farmer) but also an avid hunter who roamed away from the family dwellings. Rebekah favors Jacob, while Isaac's favorite is Esau.
Rebekah in Gerar
When a famine strikes Canaan, Rebekah follows Isaac to the land of Gerar. Isaac fearing he will be killed on Rebekah's account, tells the Philistines who live there that his beautiful Rebekah is actually his sister. Much like her predecessor Sarah, the wife of Abraham, Rebekah acts the part, "for a long time." One day, however, the king, Abimelech, look down through his window and sees Isaac making love to Rebekah. (Genesis 26:8) He chastizes Isaac for his deception, saying, "One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us."
Abimelech then provides Isaac with legal protection so that Rebekah and Isaac may live openly as husband and wife. The couple prospers immensely, and Isaac become rich with herds and slaves. It is not clear whether Esau and Jacob are with them at this point, since they are adults and are not mentioned. Eventually, Isaac becomes so powerful that the Philistine grow dangerously envious, and Abimelech orders the couple to leave. They travel to Beersheba, where they settle and later make a treaty of peace with Abimelech.
At this point, Esau, being 40 years of age, marries. Rebekah and Issac, however, are very displeased with his choice, for he marries two Hittite women instead of following his parents example and marrying within the clan. (Gen. 26:34)
Winning the blessing for Jacob
Nevertheless, when Isaac is old and blind, he decides to bestow his blessing on Esau. He sends Esau out to the field to kill and cook for him a piece of savory game, before blessing him. Rebekah overhears this exchange and, believing that Jacob is more deserving of the blessing, conspires with Jacob abtain the blessing by deception. When Jacob fears Isaac's curse, she declares herself fully responsible for any guilt, saying: "My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say."
She commands him to bring her two goats from the flock, and she then cooks them in the way Isaac likes. To protect Jacob from being discovered, Rebekah lays goatskins on his arms and neck to simulate Esau's hairy skin, and dresses Jacob in Esau's clothes. Jacob then goes in to his father and succeeds in receiving his blessing.
When Esau returns and the plot is uncovered, Isaac nevertheless refuses to withdraw his blessing from Esau. Because Isaac had previously purchased Esau's birthright from him, Esau feels not only cheated but virtually disinherited. He vows in his heart to kill Jacob. Rebekah prophetically perceives his murderous intentions and orders Jacob to travel to her brother Laban's house until Esau's anger subsides. She also influences Isaac to cooperated in this plan, by telling him that she despairs of Jacob's marrying a non-Hebrew girl as Esau did. (Gen 27:46)
Death and burial
Rebekah's death is not recorded in the Bible. She is not present, and may already be dead when Jacob returns 21 years later, a very wealthy man, to reconcile with Esau. However Deborah, Rebekah's, dies and is buried at a place that Jacob calls Alon Bachot (Weekping Oak) near Bethel. (Genesis 35:8) On the other hand Jacob and Esau are both present at the burial of Isaac. According to one rabbinical tradition (see below), Rebekah is buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. However, others believe she simply died while Jacob was in exile in Haran, during a period in which the narrative does not deal with events back in Canaan.
Rabbinical tradition
According to the Midrash, the evil Bethuel even tries to poison Eliezer's drink, but the loyal servant refuses to eat or drink anything until he finishes telling his story. An angel switches the drinks on the table, so that Bethuel drinks from the poisoned cup instead, and dies. (His absence is inferred from the fact that in Genesis 24:50, both Laban and Bethuel speak with their visitor, but when Eliezer finishes talking and brings out gifts, "he gave tasty delicacies to her brother and mother" [Genesis 24:53].) Most commentators explain that she alighted quickly in order to present herself in a modest fashion. The act of veiling herself also hints to the Jewish wedding custom called bedecken, in which the groom veils the bride before the ceremony. According to the Midrash, the three special miracles which characterized Sarah's tent, and which disappeared with her death, reappear with the entrance of Rebekah: a lamp burns from the eve of Shabbat to the eve of Shabbat, there is a blessing in the dough, and a cloud (signifying the Divine Presence) hovers over the tent.
According to the Midrash, the plural form of the word "weeping" indicates a double sorrow, implying that Rebekah also died at this time. Her death is covered up, however, for varying reasons:
- Neither Isaac, Esau, or Jacob are present at the burial, so Rebekah is buried by her neighbors, which is somewhat of an embarrassment.
- Esau is present at the burial, but Jacob isn't, which reflects badly on Jacob's inability to perform this last mitzvah of honoring his mother.
- Rebekah is buried quickly and without eulogies, for it would be a disgrace to publicize that she was the mother of a wicked person like Esau.
--- The Rabbis disagree as to the age of Rebekah at the time of her marriage to Isaac. The statement of the Seder 'Olam Rabbah (i.) and Gen. R. (lvii. 1) that Abraham was informed of Rebekah's birth when he ascended Mount Moriah for the 'Aḳedah, is interpreted by some as meaning that Rebekah was born at that time, and that consequently she was only three years old at the time of her marriage. Other rabbis, however, conclude from calculations that she was fourteen years old, and that therefore she was born eleven years before the 'Aḳedah, both numbers being found in different manuscripts of the Seder 'Olam Rabbah (comp. Tos. to Yeb. 61b). The "Sefer ha-Yashar" (section "Ḥayye Sarah," p. 38a, Leghorn, 1870) gives Rebekah's age at her marriage as ten years.
From the fact that when Rebekah went down to the well the water rose toward her (Gen. R. lx. 6) Eliezer immediately recognized that she was the maiden chosen by God as lsaac's wife. The miracles which had been wrought through the virtue of Sarah and which had ceased after the latter's death, recommenced through the virtue of Rebekah (Gen. R. lx. 15) when she was taken by Isaac into his tent (Gen. xxiv. 67).
Rebekah joined Isaac in prayer to God for a child, they having prostrated themselves opposite each other. Isaac prayed that the children he was destined to have might be borne by the righteous Rebekah, the latter that she might have children by Isaac only. Isaac's prayer alone was answered (comp. Gen. xxv. 21), because he was a righteous man, and the son of a righteous man, while Rebekah's whole family was wicked (Yeb. 64a; Gen. R. lxiii. 5). It is said that Rebekah, when suffering from her pregnancy (comp. Gen. xxv. 22), went from door to door, asking the women whether they had ever experienced the like. The answer she received (ib. xxv. 23) came, according to R. Eleazar b. Simcon, directly from God; R. Ḥama b. Ḥanina declares that God spoke through an angel, and R. Eleazar b. Pedat that the answer was delivered through Shem, the son of Noah, into whose bet ha-midrash Rebekah had gone to inquire (Gen. R. lxiii. 6-8). She should have borne twelve sons, fathers of twelve tribes, but through the birth of Esau she became barren again (Pesiḳ. iii. 23b; Gen. R. lxiii. 6-7). Rebekah was a prophetess; therefore she knew that Esau intended to slay Jacob after Isaac's death, and the words "Why should I be deprived also of you both in one day" (Gen. xxvii. 45) are interpreted as being her prophecy to this effect (Soṭah 13a; Gen. R. lxvii. 9).
The Rabbis agree that Rebekah died at the age of 133 years (Sifre, Deut. 357; Midr. Tadshe, in Epstein. "Mi-Ḳadmoniyyot ha-Yehudim," p. xxii.; "Sefer ha-Yashar," section "Wayishlaḥ," p. 56b). Her death occurred while Jacob was on his way back to his parents' home; and it was coincident withthat of Deborah (comp. Gen. xxxv. 8). Her decease is not mentioned because Jacob not having yet arrived, Esau was the only son present to attend to her burial. Moreover, the ceremony was performed at night out of shame that her coffin should be followed by a son like Esau (Pesiḳ. l.c.; Midr. Agadah on Gen. l.c.). According to the Book of Jubilees (xxxi. 8-11, 48), Jacob, when he arrived home, found his mother alive; and she afterward accompanied him to Beth-el to accomplish his vow (comp. Gen. xxviii. 19-20). She died at the age of 155, five years before Isaac's death (Jubilees, xxxv. 1, 41), this determining that her age when she married was twenty years.E. C. M rebekah
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