Genesis 35:16-20

"And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was still some distance to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor. And it came to pass that when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not, for thou shalt have another son. And it came to pass, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem). And Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave: the same is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.

"Journeyed from Bethel ..." Was Jacob in violation of God's command to "dwell" in Bethel? Since God did not specify how long he was to dwell there, and since Jacob had already built the altar and fulfilled his vow, as commanded, it would appear that he was not in violation of God's will by this journey.

"Ephrath ..." We should be thankful for the ASV parenthesis, the same is Bethlehem, as it saves us from all kinds of allegations about contradictions and various sources. Bethlehem was the same as Ephrath; and sometimes, the names were even used together, as in Micah 5:2, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephrath." There is no reasonable ground whatever for denying the traditional site of Rachel's grave near Bethlehem. It is significant that the sacred author here used both names interchangeably; and if he did so with regard to a city, why should it be supposed that the use of various names for God must always signify different writers, or sources, the same being an altogether unproveable and unreasonable proposition. Moses certainly knew many names for God, and no one can disprove the fact that he might have used such names interchangeably, just for variety, a device that is continually used by every critic on earth.

Note another thing. Nothing may be decided by the fact of the mother or the father naming the child. Here both Rachel and Jacob named Benjamin! We can identify with Jacob who did not desire that his twelfth son should bear such a sorrowful name as, "Son of My Sorrow." One cannot forget the rash prayer of Rachel who had cried, "Give me children, or I die." (Genesis 30:1). God answered her prayer, and she died!

"Benjamin ..." usually said to mean "Son of My Right Hand," may, however, have had another meaning. Certainly, the Samaritan Version gives it as "Son of Days," meaning "Son of My Old Age."[24] Another comment on this, worthy of attention, is that of William Whiston, famed translator of the works of Josephus, as follows: "The commonly explained meaning of Benjamin, son of my right hand, makes no sense at all, and seems to be a gross modern error only. Both the Testament of Benjamin and Philo de Nominum Mutatione explain the name not as `son of my right hand' but as `son of days'."[25] Whatever the true meaning might be, "Son of Days" certainly makes more sense. J. R. Dummelow also recognized and reported this alternative meaning.[26]

"The same is the Pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day ..." Such an expression always calls for claims favoring a late date for Genesis; but as Keil said, "This remark does not necessarily point to a post-Mosaic period, but could easily have been written even ten or twenty years after the event."[27] Therefore, we must reject the speculation of Francisco that, "It is quite unlikely that Moses, born in Egypt, knew of the location of Rachel's tomb."[28] Our reply to this is that it is far more likely that Moses knew the grave of his famous ancestor than that Francisco has any valid information whatever about what Moses either knew or did not know.