Rachel

Rachel was the younger daughter of Laban and the beloved wife of Jacob, mother of Joseph and Benjamin. Jacob labored fourteen years for the right to marry her, having been deceived into first marrying her older sister Leah (Genesis 29). Long barren while Leah bore children, Rachel eventually conceived and gave birth to Joseph, the favored son whose story dominates the final third of Genesis. She died in childbirth delivering Benjamin near Bethlehem and was buried along the road to Ephrath (Genesis 35:16–20). Jeremiah's image of 'Rachel weeping for her children' (Jeremiah 31:15; cited in Matthew 2:18) commemorates her as a symbol of maternal grief over Israel's exile.