The Name “Rachel” I agree with Isaac Fried thatRachel’s father Laban, as a blood descendant of Abraham’s father Terah, likely was[like Abraham himself] a native speaker of a west Semitic language that was avery close forerunner of Biblical Hebrew. Moreover, Rachel, unlike Esau [whose namemakes no sense in west Semitic], ends up living [and dying] in Canaan. Accordingly, we should expect that the name“Rachel”/RXL will have as one of its intended etymologies a Hebrew etymology. But it’s not the conventional Hebrew etymologythat we have all been taught. The conventional scholarlyview of this name is that RXL [“Rachel”] means “Ewe”, being one and the same asthe Hebrew common word RXL for “ewe”. But although the letters match, please note that Rachel does not actlike a “ewe”! On the contrary, Rachel toher credit is aggressive and assertive to a fault, rather than beingpassive and meek like a “ewe”. [Nor, forthat matter, does her sister Leah act like a “cow”. How can scholars think that Rachel and Leahare like “cattle”? Not.] A woman whose name is “Ewe” would not beexpected to talk like this: “And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel enviedher sister; and [Rachel] said untoJacob, Give me children, or else I die.” Genesis 30: 1. Moreover, we should givegreat weight to Isaac Fried’s good advice to “Look for theophorics”, since mostnames in the ancient world indeed used a theophoric. Attested names for women in the ancient worlddo not include “Ewe” or “Cow”, for heaven’s sake. And if these Biblical names were made up byan early Hebrew, rather than being historically-attested names, then how canscholars ask us to believe that an early Hebrew made up names meaning “ewe” and“cow” for two women who in no way are treated like “cattle” in the Patriarchalnarratives? Not. Consider now the followingproposed new west Semitic/Hebrew analysis of RXL [“Rachel”]: RXL = RX -L = RX - )L Per Isaac Fried’s sageadvice to look for a theophoric, we suddenly see that it’s right there, hidingin plain sight as it were: -L in finalposition is short for -)L, meaning “El” or “God”. In final position, -L isoften recognized as being short for )L [“El”]. See for example Gary A. Rendsburg (1982) http://jewishstudies.rutgers.edu/component/docman/doc_view/50-semitic-przl-brzl-brdl-iron?Itemid=158, who sees the 3-letter root of“iron”/BRZL as being BRZ, to which -L is added, being short for -)L, indicatingthat this metal is exceptionally strong/god-like. Likewise, he sees kerem/KRM “vineyard” asbecoming karmel/KRML “choice vineyard” with the addition of a final -L, which isshort for -)L, indicating that this vineyard is particularlyfine/god-like. As to proper names, theBiblical name )$BL at Genesis 46: 21 is sometimes viewed [for example byGesenius] as being short for )$B-)L, meaning “Opinion of God”. [The alternative would be to view BL as beinga shortened form of “Baal”, so that )$ - BL would then mean “Man of Baal”; but it seems unlikely that the pagan god Baalwould be openly honored in this Hebrew name.] If -L is short for -)L andreferences El or God in Rachel’s name, then what does RX - L : RX -)L[“Rachel”] mean? RX is the root of the wordfor “millstones” in Hebrew. Adding thesingular ending would be RXH, and the attested plural at Exodus 11: 5 is RXYM,with the root in both cases being simply RX. The meaning of RX - )Lis: “Millstone of God”. That name could have apositive meaning, implying that Rachel will properly do whatever God asks herto do. A pair of millstones is neededfor grinding wheat to be able to make bread, and bread is a necessity of life. Yet RX actually means “to pulverize”, sothere is a possibly negative implication here that Rachel may end up being“pulverized”/RX or “ground down”/RX in accordance with the Will of “God”/El/)L: RX -)L. In fact, Rachel dies in childbirth, Rachel is not buried in the place ofhonor at the Patriarchs’ Hebron [even though all the other Patriarchs andMatriarchs are], and most importantly of all, neither of Rachel’s sons ends upbeing selected by her husband Jacob/“Israel” to be his rightful successor,which great honor instead ends up [per Genesis 49: 8-10] going to Judah, who isa son of Rachel’s sister Leah. Finally, consider in thisconnection Rachel’s poignant words as she is dying in childbirth: “And it came to pass, as her soul was indeparting, (for she died) that she [Rachel] called his name Benoni [‘son of mysorrow’]….” Genesis 35: 18. A womannamed RX -L was “ground down”/RX per the inscrutable Will of God/El/-)L/-L, tothe point that the last words of RX -L/RX -)L were “son of my sorrow”. Thus this proposed west Semitic/Hebrewmeaning of the name RX -L deftly foreshadows Rachel’s sad end. It cannot be overemphasizedthat Rachel is not a “ewe”. As such, hername is not to be understood as intending to signify the single Hebrew common wordRXL [even though the letters are the same], but rather is intended to berecognized as being [in west Semitic/Hebrew] two Hebrew words, including atheophoric: RX -L : RX - )L : “Millstoneof God”. Rachel’s traumatic life storyis deftly foreshadowed by the intended Hebrew etymology and meaning of hername: RX -L. Jim Stinehart Evanston, Illinois
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