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Rachel died by me; or, beside me; near me, before mine eyes, I seeing, but not being able to help her in her extremity; which makes the remembrance of it more grievous to me. This story he here mentions, partly because the sight of Joseph and his children brought his beloved Rachel to his remembrance; partly to give the reason of this action of his to the rest of his children, which was not only because Rachel was his first rightful wife by designation and contract, and therefore the right of the first-born was truly Joseph’s; but because by her early death he was cut off from all hopes of having more children by her, and therefore it was but fit he should supply that defect by adopting Joseph’s children.
I buried her there, not out of disrespect to her, whose person was, and memory yet is, precious and honourable to me, but either because dying in childbed they could not keep her till they came to the burying-place of the patriarchs at Hebron, Gen_23:19, especially when they were tied to the slow motion of the flocks and herds; or because I would not bury her in the common burying-place with heathens and idolaters, in the city of Ephrath. By which he tacitly implies, that he would not have Joseph joined with the Egyptians in burial.