Where was Rachel buried?

Originally Posted by BigJohn

Apparently, Rachel's sepulcher or whatever it was, was visible for some time. It would be interesting to me as to what it looked like and what became of it.

Thank you John for bringing that subject up. I have never applied my mind to what the tomb of Rachel looked like or what may have happened to it, but now I will.

But for now, let us see where the scriptures reveal Rachel's tomb to be, as to the erroneous Locations given by the Christian theologians

Genesis 35: 21; And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond Migdal-eder.

In the Hebrew language, the name is “Migdal Eder.” Migdal means “tower” and Eder means “flock or fish”. In the Genesis passage, Migdal Eder (also spelled Edar) is referring to the location where Jacob pitched his tent after he buried his wife Rachel who had died in childbirth, on their way to Bethlehem in the land of Zebulun, which is correct. But according to the Christian belief, Migdal Eder is on the road between Bethlehem and the city of Jerusalem, which is less than 5 miles away.

The towers in the shepherds’ fields of Bethlehem of Judea were usually two-story stone watchtowers. On the top story, a ‘priestly shepherd’ would stand watching over the flock to make certain that the sheep were not being harmed, vigilant to protect them from their natural enemies, the robber, the wolf, the bear and the lion.

The sheep raised in the shepherds’ fields of the Bethlehem in Judea, were specifically destined for Temple sacrifice. These sheep had to be without blemish and unspotted in order to qualify to be used for the Passover sacrifice. Bethlehem’s shepherds’ fields were the holding pens for the hundreds of sacrificial lambs.

There was no Passover festival in the seventeenth century, the days of Jacob’s return from the house of Laban, and therefore no need for any one year old unblemished sacrificial lambs, and no need for a priestly shepherd in a tower to keep watch over the sacrificial Lambs.

Jacob died seventeen years after entering Egypt, which is 198 years before the Israelites who had lived there for 215 years, were saved by the blood of the first sacrificial lambs, on the first day of Passover that has ever been held, when the angel of death ‘Passed Over’ the land of Egypt, killing all the firstborn males who were not protected by the blood of the lamb.

Ancient Magdala in Migdal Israel, the birth place of Mary Magdalene, is a small, sleepy town on the northwest shores of the Sea of Galilee, and the Migdal tower, beyond which Jacob pitched his tent was not the towers in the shepherds’ fields of Bethlehem of Judea, but IMO, the "Tower of the Fishes"), and is believed to have referred to towers used for drying fish caught in the Sea of Galilee.

PBU you John.

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by sky123

No idea A, it's not something I have thought about nor intend to
I am interested in Archaeology though so if you find out let me know please....

Since you are interested in Archeology, you might enjoy a FREE online MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) course on www.coursera.org entitled "The Bible's Prehistory, Purpose, and Political Future". It is offered by the Department of Jewish Studies at Emory University. I completed the part of the course that constructs the history of Israel and the Jewish people primarily from archeology (80%) with fill-ins from the Bible (20%). You can enroll for free and just view the videos of interest to you.

Here is a link to the course:

https://www.coursera.org/learn/bible-history?

The syllabus indicated: The aim of the biblical authors was to create a nation, and they sought to realize this goal via a shared text, which includes stories and songs, wisdom and laws.

Of particular interest to you might be the second module. In that part: "We then turn our attention to the biblical writings as we deconstruct and reconstruct the text in order to discover what drives the biblical project. By engaging the text critically, we begin to see how the biblical authors creatively combined sources to create a pan-Israelite history." Among other things, it does address the patriarchs and Exodus.


Need I say more? Enjoy. The class is heavily archeologically-oriented.

Continuing on from post #11.

Peter and Andrew, the fishermen from Bethsaida on the eastern side of the Jordan in the territory of Herod Philip, later moved their families to Capernaum, the reason for their move is believed to have been that they needed their fish processed (Air dried or salted) and the principle (If not the only) fish factory on the Sea of Galilee was at Magdala in the same territory as Capernaum.

It was in the town of Capernaum that Jesus met Levi a tax collector who was sitting in his office in the customs house (Mark 2:14.) where fishermen from Bethsaida had to pay a tax in order to bring their catch across the border, and by moving to the territory of Herod Antipas they were able to avoid this tax.

Jesus chose his first four disciples from this area, who were all fishermen, Peter and Andrew, plus his nephews, James and John, the sons of his sister Salome the wife of Zebedee. James the nephew of Jesus should not be confused with James the younger of Mary’s three biological sons who was sired by Alphaeus/Cleophas and who died in 62/69 A.D., whereas James the son of Zebedee and the nephew of Jesus, died at the hands of Herod Agrippa, who himself died in 41- 44 A.D., some 20 years before the death of James the brother of the Lord.

Matthew 20: 20-21; Then the wife of Zebedee (Who is believed to be Salome the eldest daughter of Mary) came to Jesus with her two sons, bowed before him, and asked him a favour.

“What do you want?” Jesus asked her. She answered, “Promise me that these two sons of mine will sit at your right and your left when you are King.”

John, who was surnamed MARK, the beloved disciple to who Jesus entrusted the care of his Mother, was the grandson of Mary, and the grave sites of John and Mary, can still be visited in the town of Ephesus.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by The Anointed

EXCERPT

There was no Passover festival in the seventeenth century, the days of Jacob’s return from the house of Laban, and therefore no need for any one year old unblemished sacrificial lambs, and no need for a priestly shepherd in a tower to keep watch over the sacrificial Lambs.

Nice comment. I wonder if anybody will ask why they weren't celebrating Passover.

Originally Posted by BigJohn

Nice comment. I wonder if anybody will ask why they weren't celebrating Passover.

Rachel died when Jacob was 102, the first Passover festival was created by God 243 years after Rachel was buried on the road to Bethlehem of Galilee, when the angel of death Passed over Egypt killing the first born males who were not protected by the Pascal Lambs.

If anybody were to ask why they weren't celebrating Passover in the days that Rachel died, they would have to be totally ignorant to the scriptures.

PBU you John.

[sky]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

Need I say more? Enjoy. The class is heavily archeologically-oriented.

Thanks SW, I did join a few years ago and really enjoyed it. There's another one focused on The Bible but I can't remember the Title, I might look through the Catalogue and recommend it as you have, thank you