Rachel was the favorite of
Biblical patriarch Jacob's two
wives as well as the mother of
Joseph and
Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the
tribes of Israel. The name "Rachel" is from an unused root meaning: "to journey as a ewe that is a good traveller." Rachel was the daughter of
Laban and the younger sister of
Leah, Jacob's first wife. Rachel was a niece of
Rebekah (Jacob's mother), Laban being Rebekah's brother, making Jacob her first cousin.