Matthew Henry Commentary Genesis 35:16-20

"And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was still some distance to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; for now thou shalt have another son. And it came to pass, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath (the same is Beth-lehem). And Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave: the same is the Pillar of Rachel`s grave unto this day." — Genesis 35:16-20 (ASV)

Rachel had passionately said, Give me children, or else I die; and now that she had children, she died! The death of the body is but the departure of the soul to the world of spirits. When shall we learn that it is God alone who really knows what is best for His people, and that in all worldly affairs the safest path for the Christian is to say from the heart, It is the Lord, let Him do what seems good to Him.

Here alone is our safety and our comfort, to know no will but His. Her dying lips called her newborn son Ben-oni, the son of my sorrow; and many a son proves to be the heaviness of her who bore him. Children are indeed the sorrow of their mothers; they should, therefore, when they grow up, strive to be their joy and so, if possible, make them some amends.

But Jacob, because he did not want to renew the sorrowful remembrance of the mother's death every time he called his son, changed his name to Benjamin, the son of my right hand: that is, very dear to me; the support of my age, like the staff in my right hand.