Rebekah

Matriarch

Wife of Isaac, and mother of Esau and Jacob. She was the daughter of Bethuel, and the sister of Laban.

About Rebekah

Daughter of Bethuel and the wife of the patriarch Isaac. Her name, which means “well fed” or “choice,” appears 31 times in Genesis (primarily in chs 24–27) and once in Romans 9:10.

Rebekah’s father was Bethuel, who in turn was the son of Milcah and Nahor, Abraham’s brother (Gn 22:20–23). Abraham was her great-uncle and eventually, of course, her father-in-law. Laban, the father of Leah and Rachel, was her brother. Thus her son Jacob married his two cousins, who were sisters.

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Family Relationships

Parents
Bethuel
Partner
Isaac
Half-sibling
Laban
Children 2
Esau, Israel
Nieces & Nephews 2
Rachel, Leah
Uncles 11
Uz (Genesis 22:21), Buz, Kemuel, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, Maacah
Cousin
Aram (Genesis 22:21)

Key References

Genesis 24:15

Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.

Genesis 24:58

They called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?” “I will go,” she replied.

Genesis 25:22

But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD,

Genesis 49:31

There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah.

All Scripture References (30)

Genesis (29)
Genesis 22:23

And Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor.

Genesis 24:15

Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.

Genesis 24:29

Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he rushed out to the man at the spring.

Genesis 24:30

As soon as he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and heard Rebekah’s words, “The man said this to me,” he went and found the man standing by the camels near the spring.

Genesis 24:45

And before I had finished praying in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

Genesis 24:51

Rebekah is here before you. Take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, just as the LORD has decreed.”

Genesis 24:53

Then he brought out jewels of silver and gold, and articles of clothing, and he gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother.

Genesis 24:58

They called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?” “I will go,” she replied.

Genesis 24:59

So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men.

Genesis 24:60

And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands upon thousands. May your offspring possess the gates of their enemies.”

Genesis 24:61

Then Rebekah and her servant girls got ready, mounted the camels, and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

Genesis 24:64

And when Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac, she got down from her camel

Genesis 24:67

And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah as his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death.

Genesis 25:20

and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.

Genesis 25:21

Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.

Genesis 25:28

Because Isaac had a taste for wild game, he loved Esau; but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Genesis 26:7

But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.”

Genesis 26:8

When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

Genesis 26:35

And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Genesis 27:5

Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau went into the field to hunt game and bring it back,

Genesis 27:6

Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau,

Genesis 27:11

Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am smooth-skinned.

Genesis 27:15

And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob.

Genesis 27:42

When the words of her older son Esau were relayed to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you.

Genesis 27:46

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?”

Genesis 28:5

So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Genesis 29:12

He told Rachel that he was Rebekah’s son, a relative of her father, and she ran and told her father.

Genesis 35:8

Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bachuth.

Genesis 49:31

There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah.

Romans (1)
Romans 9:10

Not only that, but Rebecca’s children were conceived by one man, our father Isaac.