REBECCA. - Daughter of Bethuel, niece of Nahor (Gen. 22:23) and wife of Isaac (Hebr. Ribhqāh). According to the prayer made to God by Eliezer (v.), she courteously offered him a drink, gave water to his camels and invited him as a guest among her people; when asked to be Isaac's wife, she gladly consented, leaving Mesopotamia (Gen. 24:10-67). After twenty years of barrenness she gave birth to the twins Esau and Jacob (ibid. 25:19-26; cf. Rom. 9:10).

At Gerar, Yahweh providentially protected her from the Philistines (Gen. 26:6-11). She suggested and directed her beloved Jacob to obtain his father's blessing by stealth, and then, removing him from Esau's anger, sent him to Haran to Laban his brother (ibid. 27). She probably did not see Jacob's return (cf. ibid. 35:27); she was buried at Hebron in the family tomb (ibid. 49:31).

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: H. Bauer, Was bedeutet Rebeha?, in Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenl. Gesellschaft, 67 (1913), p. 344; J. Chaine, Le livre de la Génèse, Paris 1948, pp. 276, 284, 286, 302.

Francesco Spadafora

@incollection{ec10_rebecca, author = {Spadafora, Francesco}, title = {Rebecca}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {X}, pages = {601}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/rebecca} }

One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.

About this entry