Charles Davidson: Rachel Weeping at Bethlehem

“Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor. . . . As her soul was departing . . . she named him Benoni; but his father named him Benjamin. So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave . . . the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day.” —Genesis 35:16–20

“Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, ‘Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them. . . .’ Then pharaoh commanded all his people, ‘Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.’” —Exodus 1:8–10a, 22

“In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea . . . When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or younger . . . Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more.’” —Matthew 2:16–18 (Jeremiah 31:15)

“Did the dead in their kingdom have eyes for seeing? . . . Would Abraham see Rachel’s eyes and know she was Rachel he was seeing? Did the dead have speech? Was there any remembering among them?” —Frederick Buechner, The Son of Laughter, p. 192

~

Oh, my dear, dear children!
Such wretched grief is this
That stirs within my bones
Entombed among these stones.

Through all of Israel and Palestine
I weep for you by day and cry for you by night.

Where Jacob tricked his father Isaac
And stole his brother’s blessing
Then strove with God who struck his hip
Which left him walking limp.

Through all of Israel and Palestine
I weep for you by day and cry for you by night.

Where Shechem plundered Dinah
Then her brothers took revenge
And deranged old King Herod
Massacred the holy innocents.

Through all of Israel and Palestine
I weep for you by day and cry for you by night.

Where I in harsh labor pains
Gave birth to my precious Benoni
Son of my sorrow, babe of my distress
Whom sadly I left motherless.

Through all of Israel and Palestine
I weep for you by day and cry for you by night.

Where futile feuds and fatal wars
Sweep across this Promised Land
And cactus sheds its tears
Upon the sun-scorched desert sand.

Through all of Israel and Palestine
I weep for you by day and cry for you by night.

Where wrenched and wracked your bodies lie
Beneath the holy sphere your spirits seek for rest
I pray my cries to reach your ears
My eyes to see your eyes in heavenly light.

Through all of Israel and Palestine
I weep for you by day and cry for you by night.

Where shepherds keep watch below
And angels stand guard above
Mary gives birth to her beloved son
Who is Yeshua, God’s deliverance.

~

Charles Davidson is a retired Presbyterian minister and psychotherapist who currently lives in Kentucky. His many publications include Bone Dead, and Rising: Vincent Van Gogh and the Self Before God (Cascade Books, 2011).

Poem and collation copyright 2023 Charles Davidson. All Rights Reserved
Biblical verses from the New Revised Standard Version, 1991, Oxford University Press