Book of the Covenant (30:1-31:40) 437are attested throughout the world, some appearing in German fairy tales
(Gunkel 1921: 90; R. C. Thompson 1908: 20-21; Gaster 1969: 605-6). In the
Mesopotamian city laments, it is the goddess who weeps over a city's destruc-
tion, the loss of life, and the dispersement of people (Kramer 1982: 141; 1983;
Dobbs-Allsopp 1993: 75-90). In Lamentations, a personified Jerusalem does
the weeping (Lam l:l6). The present verse is quoted in Matt 2:18, where
Rachel weeps once again over Herod's slaughter of the infants at the time Jesus
was born.
If we assume that the present oracle originally had Northern Israel in focus
and was spoken early in Jeremiah's career, then Rachel must be weeping over
the people exiled to Assyria when Northern Israel was destroyed in 722 B.C.
(KimQ.i; Calvin; Peake; Volz; Rudolph; Weiser; Holladay; Jones). But if the
oracle postdates the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (Giese-
brecht; Lindars 1979: 53), then Rachel is weeping for all of Jacob's children who
were carried into exile. In 586 the connection with Ramah would be particularly
fitting, since Ramah at that time was a holding area for exile-bound Judahites,
one of whom was Jeremiah before his release (40: l; Genesis Rabbah 82:10).
The location of Rachel's tomb, assuming it is relevant to the portrayal here,
poses yet another problem. The site presently venerated is located at the north-
ern edge of Bethlehem, on the west side of the modern Jerusalem-Bethlehem
road. This site has the support of Eusebius, Jerome, and other early Christian
writers, and at least since the fourth century A.D. a monument there has
marked the spot. The present structure dates to Crusader times. This site is also
supported by Matt 2:18, which, in spite of locating Rachel's weeping at Ra-
mah, makes its application to a slaughter occurring in and around Bethlehem.
Jewish tradition (e.g., Midrash Genesis Rabbah 82:10) recognized a location
problem early, noting that the tomb is placed within the border of Benjamin
(bigbUl binyamin) in 1 Sam 10:2, but in other biblical references it is put on
the way to Ephrath, i.e., Bethlehem (Gen 35:19; 48:7). The latter is in Judah
(Mic 5: l [Eng 5:2]). Most modern scholars believe the tomb was located farther
north in Benjaminite territory ( 1 Sam l 0:2), probably in the vicinity of Ramah.
Among other things, it is pointed out that "Ephrath" may not be the "Eph-
rathah" in which Bethlehem was located (Ruth 4: 11; Mic 5: 1 [Eng 5 :2]), which
would make the glosses in Gen 35:19 and 48:7 incorrect (Volz; Rudolph;
Hyatt). Supporting a more northerly location are also five ancient monuments
discovered at Qubur Bene-Isra!n, which is near er-Ram and I:Iizmeh (Macalis-
ter 1912: 81-82; Lombardi 1970; 1971). The view is then widely held that
Rachel's tomb was originally in the vicinity of Ramah and that the site in
Bethlehem developed later as a result of the glosses in Gen 35:19 and 48: 7,
confusing Ephrath with Ephrathah. Tsevat ( 1962) has argued with less success
for a location of the tomb at Kiriath-jearim (cf. 1 Chr 2:50). For a discussion
of Rachel's lament in the Targum and in Jewish interpretation generally,
where it has a prominent place in the New Year's celebration, see Zatelli 1991
and Dresner 1994: 149-73. On Rachel's portrayal in music and the arts, see
EncJud 13: 1490-91.