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Chroniclers didn't need to include women in a genealogy, but the author of Matthew's Gospel included 4 such women.
He lists: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba. Of these four, only Bathsheba was Jewish. However, all four are united by
another factor---their biblical stories involved sexual scandal.
Tamar played the harlot to gain a son; Rahab, of course, was a prostitute; Ruth initiated a seduction; Bathsheba was,
for a time, mistress to the king. Not exactly the line-up we expect.
We know from Ruth's story that Boaz was a wealthy and prominent man in his community. We also know he was an honorable
man.
Rahab apparently (I say apparently because an entirely different scenario is possible) play a role in Boaz's father's
life. Did this prostitute become the wife of a wealthy community leader, as some women went from the depths of prostitution
to nobility in the 1700s?
Women with admirable character, include:
Noah's wife, Mary (mother of Jesus), Esther, Abigail (wife of Nabal and King David), Abishag, Anna, Deborah, Dorcas, Elisabeth,
Eunice, Euodias, Hannah, Joanna, Lois, Lydia of Thyatira, Mary, Milcah, and Phebe
MRS. NOAH:
Who was Mrs. Noah? This woman a nobody? She must have been one of the greatest women who ever lived. It matters not that
her name wasn't recorded. She impacted the world's history for ever.
Mrs. Noah is undoubtedly one of the most significant women in Bible history yet we have no record of her name. She is
merely referred to as NOAH'S wife the five times she is mentioned What was she like? How did she live? the woman most responsible
for the survival of the human race. A woman of courage and determination. A woman of purity, a farmer, a shipbuilder, a zookeeper,
a faithful helper, a woman of God.
Mrs. Noah was not a nobody, but rather a real somebody fulfilling her feminine role. She obeyed God by submitting to her
husband's leadership. Noah, being a righteous man would not have abused his position or corrupted it into tyranny.
She faithfully helped Noah during several hundred years of farming up to 120 years of boat-building, more than a year
of zoo-keeping (under divine guidance) on an enormous houseboat, then during a few hundred years of farming with a side-line
in wine-making. She also supported him in his preaching ministry.
Nobody without faith could have done what she did. How otherwise could she have backed her husband in building a large
ocean-going vessel to escape a flood when she had never even seen rain?
Without faith how could she have raised three sons with hammering in her ears as a constant reminder of the coming doom?
Without faith how could she have stepped on the Ark and left nearly everything behind? She must have believed that God
could and would save them as He had promised. She was probably aware that her husband was destined for a special service to
God when she married him. AMECH had named Noah from a word meaning 'rest' because God had revealed to him that this son would
bring rest to God's people.
Crucial to Mrs. Noah's faith was the fact that her eyes had to be fixed on the world to come after the Flood. She lived
and raised her family for more than half her life in a world she knew was doomed for destruction.
She had to teach Shem, Ham and Japheth to live differently from their friends and to prepare themselves for this future
world. She couldn't allow herself or her family to become too attached to the temporary trappings around them.
"Close Family"
She must have fostered a very close family life. They had to be close because they had to move further and further away
from the beliefs and practices of the people around them. They also had to prepare for a time when there wouldn't be anyone
else. During the long years of working and waiting she and Noah did have the support of believing members of their wider family
circle.
There was paternal grandfather Lamech (not to be confused with the Lamech of Methuselah who died five years before the
Flood and was great grandfather of (the oldest man who ever lived 969 years) who survived till the year of the Flood. God
had mercy on them in their old age and didn't put them through the ordeal. Nor did he put babies or children or adolescents
through it; he timed the arrival of offspring to fit in with His sovereign plan. Four married couples went through it; the
senior pair to manage and the other three to multiply.
There must have been a sense in which Mrs. Noah was free from the bondage of other people's opinions, free to obey God
no matter what. She was the only believing female of her generation to board the Ark.
There were only three in the next generation, the young women who became her son's wives. Were they brought to faith by
her husband's preaching and her prayers?
They were to have an absolutely crucial place in human history. From their descendants all the nations of the earth originated.
"A Woman of Courage"
What courage and determination she must have possessed to sustain her lonely position; to face the destruction of everything
she knew. What spiritual strength would have been necessary to endure the hostility and ridicule.
Nothing but sheer steel could have weathered the cries of those drowning. Great grace must have been granted for her to
be shut in with seven others and many thousands of animals for more than a year.
Only uncommon courage could face what she first viewed from the mountains of Ararat where the Ark lodged: the totally
transformed world with its fossil reminders of death and destruction.
How did she do it? She did it by being a godly wife and mother. She was married to a 'savior', Noah, who was used of God
to save believers from physical death in the Flood and therefore the world's population from extinction. Her oldest son, Shem,
was the ancestor of the Jews. From this nation came Jesus, the incarnate Creator and Savior.
Rahab - The Prostitue
Can you imagine having your worst sin recorded into the Bible? .. Rahab, the prostitute earned unique praise for her
faith, and a place in the lineage of Christ.
We first meet Rahab in Joshua 2:1:
The book of Joshua introduces us to one of the most amazing and thought provoking women of the Old Testament. Certainly
the faith this one women revealed demonstrates the potential we all have; yet she also reminds us to not judge--how many of
us would expect a great act of faith from a hooker?
How many of us would not only have walked by her house, but crossed to the other-side of the street so as not to be contaminated.
Yet, God blessed this women by putting her in the lineage of Christ. God's blessings come in surprising packages.
Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, 'Go, view the land, especially Jericho.' So
they went, and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there.
Here we learn three things:
1. Rahab is a prostitute
2.she lives in Jericho
3. and that the spies go to a prostitutes house while on the job.
I've seen many "Bible Story" pictures showing Rahab demurely dressed, standing in the foyer of a cheery little
cottage, a cozy fire warming the room and sweet little flowers to enliven the room.
Unfortunately, from what we know of prostitution realities then and now, that scene is misleading. Instead we should envision
a small cramped area--a place of outcasts.
This isn't a woman dressed in Sunday best, but for a Saturday night special. Only by facing the reality of Rahab's life,
can we truly learn from her.
Her society would have rejected her. Her career would have exposed her to dirty, possibly diseased men who sought to use
her for one purpose only. However, her story doesn't end here, and we have other questions to consider.
Why did these men go to a prostitute's house when they were supposed to be viewing the land? What exactly could they spy
on there? The Bible doesn't indicate there were others in the house to "eavesdrop on", so why were they there?
The Bible doesn't tell us, though the most obvious answer is usually dismissed. Sometimes we like to think this was just
an inn, and the two men were just renting a room.
This wasn't an inn, though we could possibly believe they were just renting a room. But while that is an interesting question,
the Bible really has something to teach us in this story.
The king of Jericho was told, Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land. Then the king of Jericho
sent orders to Rahab, Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come only to search out
the whole land. But the woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, 'True, the men came to me, but I did not know
where they came from. And when it was time to close the gate at dark, the men went out.
Where the men went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you can overtake them. She had, however, brought them up to
the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof. Rahab betrayed her own people.
The Israelites were seeking to take Jericho, and Rahab had the opportunity to stop them, but she didn't. Rahab found herself
in a position many teachers claim never happens--she had to decide between God's plan and the plans of earthly authority.
Yet, this section reminds us of something else, as well. We tend to expect women to be either entirely good, or entirely
bad. The church accepts the foibles of man, while either denying women have foibles or seeing the foibles of women as a sign
of ungodliness.
Much like Jacob and his divining rod, Rahab proves she is a cracked vessel even as she operates in great faith. She steps
out in faith--and lies to do it.
Certainly, the Lord isn't instructing us in situational ethics, rather, the Word demonstrates that women are human too.
We are capable of great acts of faith, just like men. Equally, we are capable of great acts of error, just like men.
This passage also offers and interesting mirror to other more famous "intruder" stories in the Bible.
In Genesis Lot offers his two daughters for the sexual use of a crowd in place of his visitors. Later in Judges the Levite
will thrust is wife out of the door into the hands of a rapine mob.
Yet, when Rahab, a woman, a lowly prostitute faces this same challenge, she responses differently. When the crowd comes
to her door, she uses her brain to solve the problem; the men in similar stories resort to sacrificing the "least of
these" in their midst.
I've often wondered how many times I've been Lot instead of Rahab--how many times have I sacrificed the ones I should
have protected?
Before they went to sleep, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men: 'I know that the Lord has given you the
land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you.
For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did
to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
As soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no courage left in any of us because of you. The Lord your God
is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below.
Finally we learn why Rahab betrayed her people.
he heard what the Lord had done and believed. Too many times we hear what the Lord has done and refuse to believe, or
worse we believe but refuse to act on that belief.
Rahab believed and acted, even though acting put her life on the line.
We often talk about stepping out in faith, but many times that step has little meaning because the drop is small. An abyss
awaited Rahab with her first step-the life of a traitor would be short indeed, especially the life of a traitorous harlot.
'Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you, swear to me by the Lord that you in turn will deal kindly with my family.
Give me a sign of good faith that you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them,
and deliver our lives from death.'
Rahab has faith not only in what God has done, and can do, but in faith of what He will do. She has faith that He will
spare her family.
Yet, if we think about Rahab's life, her faith shines even brighter. She is an outcast, a prostitute. Rejected by society,
she still trusts that the Lord will not reject her. Abandoned by her family (we assume) to a life of prostitution, she trust
that the Lord will not abandon her.
The men said to her, 'Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully
with you when the Lord gives us the land.'
Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the outer side of the city wall and she resided
within the wall itself. She said to them, 'Go toward the hill country, so that the pursuers may not come upon you.
Hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned; then afterward you may go your way.' The men said
to her, 'We will be released from this oath that you have made us swear to you if we invade the land and you do not tie this
crimson cord in the window through which you let us down, and you do not gather into your house your father and mother, your
brothers, and all your family.
If any of you go out of the doors of your house into the street, they shall be responsible for their own death, and we
shall be innocent; but if a hand is laid upon any who are with you in the house, we shall bear the responsibility for their
death.
But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be released from this oath that you made us swear to you.' She said,
'According to your words, so be it.' She sent them away and they departed. Then she tied the crimson cord in the window.
By this point, Rahab has already expressed faith: she acknowledged God and that God could and world act in her life. But
there was more to be done.
Faith alone isn't good enough, though we Protestants like to think so. Faith must produce action. As the Book of James
tells us, "faith without works is dead."
The two spies explain to Rahab that she must act--she must not betray them and she must put the scarlet cord in the window.
Failure to act, despite her claim of faith, will result in her destruction. Faithfully (pun intended) Rahab ties the cord
and awaits the results.
The city and all that is in it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who
are with her in her house shall live because she hid the messengers we sent.
Rahab's faith and action prove to save not only herself but her entire family.
We have this same opportunity today, in many forms. Stepping out in faith can never be easy-if it were it wouldn't be
faith. But by walking in faith we open the door for the Holy Spirit to work not only in our lives, but in the lives of loved
ones.
Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, 'Go into the prostitute's house, and bring the woman out of
it and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.' So the young men who had been spies went in and brought Rahab out, along
with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all who belonged to her they brought all her kindred out and set them outside
the camp of Israel.
They burned down the city, and everything in it; only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, they put
into the treasury of the house of the Lord. But Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, Joshua
spared.
Her family has lived in Israel ever since. For she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
This first New Testament reference to Rahab shows just how richly God blessed Rahab.
By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in
peace..
You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified
by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? For just as the body without the spirit is dead,
so faith without works is also dead.
James reminds that faith can't be just words--or even sincere emotion. If we say we have faith and do nothing based on
that faith, then our faith is worthless. For us Protestants this seems to contradict "justification by faith"; however,
in my view (which I suppose counts for little) it doesn't. For me, faith and works have the same relationship as our love
of God and our love of our brothers and sisters. I can think I love God with all my heart, but if I don't love my brothers
and sisters I do not truly love God. Yet when I love God, by the very fact of loving God I love my brothers and sisters. The
same, I can think I have all the faith in the world, but if I don't "do" something, I truly do not have faith.
More Women
abigail
Meaning: father (i.e., "leader") of the dance, or "of joy."
This was the name of two biblical women:
1. The sister of David, and wife of Jether an Ishmaelite (1 Chr. 2:16,17). She was the mother of Amasa (2 Sam. 17:25).
2. The wife of the Nabal, who lived in the district of Carmel (1 Sam. 25:3).
She showed great prudence and delicate management at a critical period of her husband's life. She was beautiful and "a
woman of good understanding."
After Nabal's death she became the wife of David (1 Sam. 25:14-42), and was his companion in all his future fortunes (1
Sam. 27:3; 30:5; 2 Sam. 2:2). By her, David had a son called Chileab (2 Sam. 3:3), elsewhere called Daniel (1 Chr. 3:1).
Deborah
Meaning: a bee
This was the name of two biblical women;
1. Deborah was a judge and prophetess, the "wife" of Lapidoth. Jabin, the king of Hazor, had for twenty years
held Israel in degrading subjection. The spirit of patriotism seemed crushed out of the nation. In this emergency, Deborah
roused the people from their lethargy.
Her fame spread far and wide. She became a "mother in Israel" (Judg. 4:6, 14; 5:7), and "the children
of Israel came up to her for judgment" as she sat in her tent under the palm tree "between Ramah and Bethel."
Preparations were everywhere made by her direction for the great effort to throw off the yoke of bondage.
She summoned Barak from Kadesh to take the command of 10,000 men of Zebulun and Naphtali, and lead them to Mount Tabor
on the plain of Esdraelon at its northeast end.
With his aid she organized this army. She gave the signal for attack, and the Hebrew host rushed down impetuously upon
the army of Jabin, which was commanded by Sisera, and gained a great and decisive victory.
The Canaanitish army almost wholly perished. That was a great and ever-memorable day in Israel.
In Judges 5 is given the grand triumphal ode, the "song of Deborah," which she wrote in grateful commemoration
of
Eunice
Meaning: happily conquering
The mother of Timothy, a believing Jewess, but married to a Greek (Acts 16:1) She trained her son from his childhood in
the knowledge of the Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:15). She was distinguished by her "unfeigned faith."
Euodias (Euodia)
Meaning: a good journey
A female member of the church at Philippi
She was one who labored much with Paul in the gospel. He exhorts her to be of one mind with Syntyche (Phil. 4:2). From
this it seems they had been at variance with each other.
Hannah
Meaning: favor, grace
This was the name of one of the wives of Elkanah the Levite, and the mother of Samuel (1 Sam. 1; 2).
Her home was at Ramathaim-zophim, whence she was wont every year to go to Shiloh, where the tabernacle had been pitched
by Joshua, to attend the offering of sacrifices there according to the law (Ex. 23:15; 34:18; Deut. 16:16), probably at the
feast of the Passover (compare Ex. 13:10).
On occasion of one of these "yearly" visits, being grieved by reason of Peninnah's conduct toward her, she went
forth alone, and kneeling before the Lord at the sanctuary she prayed inaudibly. Eli the high priest, who sat at the entrance
to the holy place, observed her, and misunderstanding her character he harshly condemned her conduct (1 Sam. 1:14-16).
After hearing her explanation he retracted his injurious charge and said to her, "Go in peace: and the God of Israel
grant thee thy petition."
Perhaps the story of the wife of Manoah was not unknown to her. Thereafter Elkanah and his family retired to their quiet
home, and there, before another Passover, Hannah gave birth to a son, whom, in grateful memory of the Lord's goodness, she
called Samuel, i.e., "heard of God."
After the child was weaned (probably in his third year) she brought him to Shiloh into the house of the Lord, and said
to Eli the aged priest, "Oh my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord.
For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: therefore I also have granted him
to the Lord; as long as he liveth he is granted to the Lord" (1 Sam. 1:27-28, R.V.).
Her gladness of heart then found vent in that remarkable prophetic song (2:1-10; compare Luke 1:46-55) which contains
the first designation of the Messiah under that name (1 Sam. 2:10, "Annointed" = "Messiah"). And so Samuel
and his parents parted.
He was left at Shiloh to minister "before the Lord." And each year, when they came up to Shiloh, Hannah brought
to her absent child "a little coat" (Hebrew: meil, a term used to denote the "robe" of the ephod worn
by the high priest, Ex. 28:31), a priestly robe, a long upper tunic (1 Chr. 15:27), in which to minister in the tabernacle
(1 Sam. 2:19; 15:27; Job 2:12).
"And the child Samuel grew before the Lord." After Samuel, Hannah had three sons and two daughters.
Mary
Hebrew: Miriam.
Mary was the name of six women of the Bible, including the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, the sister of Lazarus, the
wife of Cleopas, the mother of John Mark, and a Christian in Rome.
1. Mary, mother of Jesus
2. Mary the wife of Cleopas is mentioned (John 19:25) as standing at the cross in company with Mary of Magdala and Mary
the mother of Jesus. By comparing Matt. 27:56 and Mark 15:40, we find that this Mary and "Mary the mother of James the
little" are one and the same person, and that she was the sister of our Lord's mother. She was that "other Mary"
who was present with Mary of Magdala at the burial of our Lord (Matt. 27:61; Mark 15:47); and she was one of those who went
early in the morning of the first day of the week to anoint the body, and thus became one of the first witnesses of the resurrection
(Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1).
3. Mary Magdalene, i.e., Mary of Magdala,A town on the western shore of the Lake of Tiberias.
She is for the first time noticed in Luke 8:3 as one of the women who "ministered to Christ of their substance."
Their motive was that of gratitude for deliverances he had wrought for them. Out of Mary were cast seven demons.
Gratitude to her great Deliverer prompted her to become his follower.
These women accompanied him also on his last journey to Jerusalem (Matt. 27:55; Mark 15:41; Luke 23:55). They stood near
the cross. There Mary remained till all was over, and the body was taken down and laid in Joseph's tomb.
Again, in the earliest dawn of the first day of the week she, with Salome and Mary the mother of James (Matt. 28:1; Mark
16:2), came to the sepulchre [tomb], bringing with them sweet spices, that they might anoint the body of Jesus.
They found the sepulchre empty, but saw the "vision of angels" (Matt. 28:5). She hastens to tell Peter and John,
who were probably living together at this time (John 20:1,2), and again immediately returns to the sepulchre.
There she lingers thoughtfully, weeping at the door of the tomb. The risen Lord appears to her, but at first she knows
him not. His utterance of her name "Mary" recalls her to consciousness, and she utters the joyful, reverent cry,
"Rabboni." She would fain cling to him, but he forbids her, saying, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended
to my Father."
This is the last record regarding Mary of Magdala, who now returned to Jerusalem.
The idea that this Mary was "the woman who was a sinner," or that she was unchaste, is altogether groundless.
4. Mary the sister of Lazarus is brought to our notice in connection with the visits of our Lord to Bethany.
She is contrasted with her sister Martha, who was "cumbered about many things" while Jesus was their guest,
while Mary had chosen "the good part."
Her character also appears in connection with the death of her brother (John 11:20, 31,33).
On the occasion of our Lord's last visit to Bethany, Mary brought "a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly,
and anointed the feet of Jesus" as he reclined at table in the house of one Simon, who had been a leper (Matt. 26:6;
Mark 14:3; John 12:2,3).
This was an evidence of her overflowing love to the Lord. Nothing is known of her subsequent history.
It would appear from this act of Mary's, and from the circumstance that they possessed a family vault (11:38), and that
a large number of Jews from Jerusalem came to condole with them on the death of Lazarus (11:19), that this family at Bethany
belonged to the wealthier class of the people.
5. Mary the mother of John Mark was one of the earliest of our Lord's disciples. She was the sister of Barnabas (Col.4:10),
and joined with him in disposing of their land and giving the proceeds of the sale into the treasury of the Church (Acts 4:37;
12:12). Her house in Jerusalem was the common meeting-place for the disciples there.
6. A Christian at Rome who treated Paul with special kindness (Rom. 16:6).
Ruth
Meaning: a friend
a Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, whose father, Elimelech, had settled in the land of Moab
On the death of Elimelech and Mahlon, Naomi came with Ruth, her daughter-in-law, who refused to leave her, to Bethlehem,
the old home from which Elimelech had migrated. here she had a rich relative, Boaz, to whom Ruth was eventually married. She
became the mother of Obed, the grandfather of David.
Thus Ruth, a Gentile, is among the maternal progenitors of our Lord (Matt. 1:5).
The story of "the gleaner Ruth illustrates the friendly relations between the good Boaz and his reapers, the Jewish
land system, the method of transferring property from one person to another, the working of the Mosaic law for the relief
of distressed and ruined families;
but, above all, handing down the unselfishness, the brave love, the unshaken trustfulness of her who, though not of the
chosen race, was, like the Canaanitess Tamar (Gen. 38:29; Matt. 1:3) and the Canaanitess Rahab (Matt. 1:5), privileged to
become the ancestress of David, and so of 'great David's greater Son'" (Ruth 4:18-22).
Martha
Meaning: bitterness
The sister of Lazarus and Mary, and probably the eldest of the family, who all resided at Bethany (Luke 10:38,40,41; John
11:1-39)
From the residence being called "her house," some have supposed that she was a widow, and that her brother and
sister lodged with her.She seems to have been of an anxious, bustling spirit, anxious to be helpful in providing the best
things for the Master's use, in contrast to the quiet earnestness of Mary, who was more concerned to avail herself of the
opportunity of sitting at his feet and learning of him.
Afterwards at a supper given to Christ and his disciples in her house "Martha served." Nothing further is known
of her.
"Mary and Martha are representatives of two orders of human character. One was absorbed, preoccupied, abstracted;
the other was concentrated and single-hearted.
Her own world was the all of Martha; Christ was the first thought with Mary.
To Martha life was 'a succession of particular businesses;' to Mary life 'was rather the flow of one spirit.' Martha was
Petrine, Mary was Johannine. The one was a well-meaning, bustling busybody; the other was a reverent disciple, a wistful listener."
Paul had such a picture as that of Martha in his mind when he spoke of serving the Lord "without distraction"
(1 Cor. 7:35).
Sarah (Sara)
Meaning: princess
Her original name was Sarai (Genesis 11:29).
She was the wife and at the same time the half-sister of Abraham (Gen. 11:29; 20:12).
The name "Sarah" name was given to her at the time that it was announced to Abraham that she should be the mother
of the promised child (Genesis 17:15).
Her story is from her marriage identified with that of the patriarch till the time of her death.
Her death, at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven years (the only instance in Scripture where the age of a woman is
recorded), was the occasion of Abraham's purchasing the cave of Machpelah as a family burying-place.
In the allegory of Gal. 4:22-31, she is the type of the "Jerusalem which is above." She is also mentioned as
Sara in Hebrews 11:11 among the Old Testament worthies, who "all died in faith."
Rebekah (Rebecca)
Meaning: captivating; a rope with a noose used for firmly tying something; a tie rope for animals
"Rebecca" is the spelling used in the New Testament. mother of twins Esau and Jacob; daughter of Bethuel; wife
of Isaac (son of Abraham) (Gen. 22:23; 24:67)
Rebekah's father was Abraham's nephew, Bethuel, son of Nahor. Therefore, she was the granddaughter of Abraham's brother.
She originally lived in Mesopotamia. Abraham wanted his son Isaac to have a wife from Abraham's homeland, not from their
new home among the Canaanites.
Although her husband Isaac did not specifically choose her for his wife, he did accept her and love her (Genesis 24:67).
Like her mother-in-law (Sarah), Rebekah remained childless for many years (Genesis 25:19-28).
However, Rebekah eventually became the mother of two major peoples: the Israelites, through her son Jacob, and the Edomites,
through Esau.
Rebekah was apparently beautiful, for when Isaac later moved his family to the Philistine city of Gerar (to escape a famine),
he was fearful that her beauty would tempt the Philistines to kill him to take his wife.
For safety, he pretended that she was his sister. Rebekah went along with the deception (Genesis 26:1-11). Earlier, Isaac's
father and mother had used the same ploy for the same reason (see Genesis 20:1-18.)
Many years later, Rebekah encouraged the deception of her elderly husband Isaac to obtain his official blessing on Jacob,
the second born of her twins.
The lie was successful, but resulted in Jacob fleeing to Mesopotamia to survive the wrath of his more powerful brother
Esau. She never saw Jacob again.
"The circumstances under which Abraham's "steward" found her at the "city of Nahor," in Padan-aram,
are narrated in Gen. 24-27.
'She can hardly be regarded as an amiable woman.
When we first see her she is ready to leave her father's house for ever at an hour's notice; and her future life showed
not only a full share of her brother Laban's duplicity, but the grave fault of partiality in her relations to her children,
and a strong will, which soon controlled the gentler nature of her husband.'
The time and circumstances of her death are not recorded, but it is said that she was buried in the cave of Machpelah
(Gen. 49:31)"
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