Rebecca

This article is about the biblical matriarch, for other uses of the word Rebecca, see Rebecca (disambiguation).

Rebekah (Rebecca or Rivkah) (Hebrew: רִבְקָה, Modern: Rivqa, Tiberian: Riḇqāh) is the wife of Isaac. The news of Rebekah's birth is told to her great-uncle, Abraham, after Abraham returns from Akeidat Yitzḥaq (or Yitzkhaq) (the Binding of Isaac), the episode in which he was told by God to bring Isaac as a sacrifice on a mountain. Rebekah is the daughter of Bethuel and the granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham's brother. Rebekah's brother is Laban, who will later become the father-in-law of Rebekah's son, Jacob.

Deceiving Isaac

When Isaac is old and blind, he decides to bestow his blessing on his firstborn son, Esau. He sends Esau out to the field to trap and cook for him a piece of savory game, so that he will eat and drink and be in a happy state of mind when he blessed him. (Note: Some sages say he wanted to give Esau the mitzva, i.e. meritorious obeying of God's Commandment, of honoring his father.) Rebekah overhears this exchange and realizes that Jacob is more deserving of the blessing, based on the prophecy she received before the twins' birth. She orders Jacob to bring her two goats from the flock, and cooks them in the way Isaac likes. When Jacob protests that his father will recognize the deception as soon as he feels him—since Esau is a hairy man and Jacob is smooth-skinned—Rebekah lays the goatskins on his arms and on the smooth of his neck to simulate hairy skin, and dresses Jacob in Esau's clothes which Esau keeps in his mother's house. Thus disguised, Jacob goes in to his father and succeeds in receiving his blessing.

When Esau returns from the hunt to receive his blessing and discovers the deception, 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 convinces Isaac to send Jacob away by telling him that she despairs of him marrying a local girl from the idol-worshipping families of Canaan (as Esau has done).

Death and burial

Jacob is away from home for 22 years. As he is returning to Canaan with his large family, servants, and possessions, Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, dies and is buried at a place that Jacob calls Alon Bachot (אלון בוכות), "Tree of Weepings" (Genesis 35:8). According to the Midrash, the plural form of the word "weeping" indicates a double sorrow, implying that Rebecca also died at this time. Her death is covered up, however, for varying reasons:

1. Neither Isaac, Esau, or Jacob are present at the burial, so Rebecca is buried by her neighbors, which is somewhat of an embarrassment.
2. 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.
3. 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.

According to tradition, Rebecca is buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.