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.
Parallel translations
- WEB As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin.
- KJV And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.
- BSB And with her last breath—for she was dying—she named him Ben-oni. But his father called him Benjamin.
- NASB And it came about, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
- NLT Rachel was about to die, but with her last breath she named the baby Ben-oni (which means “son of my sorrow”). The baby’s father, however, called him Benjamin (which means “son of my right hand”).
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Dying, Rachel names her son Benoni, 'son of my sorrow,' but Jacob names him Benjamin, 'son of the right hand.'
Overview
With her last breath Rachel names the child for her grief, but Jacob renames him Benjamin, a name of strength and favor. The contrast between the two names captures both the sorrow of her death and hope for the child's future. Benjamin becomes the twelfth son, completing the sons who father the tribes of Israel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Luke 23:46Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Having said this, he breathed his last.
- Luke 12:20“But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared — whose will they be?’
- Acts 7:59They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”
- 1 Chr 4:9Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother named him Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him with sorrow.”
- 1 Sam 4:20–21About the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Don’t be afraid; for you have given birth to a son.” But she didn’t answer, neither did she regard it.
- Gen 30:1When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I will die.”
- Gen 44:27–31Your servant, my father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons:
- Ps 16:10For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.
- Exod 12:7They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two door posts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it.
- Ps 80:17Let your hand be on the man of your right hand, on the son of man whom you made strong for yourself.
- Lam 2:12They ask their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” when they swoon as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul is poured out into their mothers’ bosom.
- Gen 42:4But Jacob didn’t send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers; for he said, “Lest perhaps harm happen to him.”
- Gen 42:38He said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm happens to him along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”
- Gen 43:14May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 35:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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