Rachel
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(ewe) (Gen. 29:6, 28 and elsewhere)—the younger daughter of Laban and the second wife of the patriarch Jacob. She first appears when Jacob visits his uncle Laban in Mesopotamia. Genesis recounts with patriarchal simplicity Jacob’s meeting with Rachel, his abiding love for her, Laban’s deceit in giving him the elder sister Leah first, and Jacob’s fidelity in serving a second seven years for Rachel.