Jacob's wives gave names to their children according to the circumstances of their birth. In this passage, Rachel went through a lot of pain while giving birth to her second son. In fact, this birth caused took her life. So before she died, she named her son Benoni meaning 'Son of my pain'. Thankfully his father would have none of it and changed his name to Benjamin meaning 'Son of my right hand'.
Childbirth, amongst other things, is an emotional experience. The emotions may even be fueled by circumstances surrounding the occasion, or events leading up to it. God paid special attention to names, several times in scripture he changed people's names to align with their mission or their destiny. We as parents have a duty to do so as well. Let us think carefully when given names and not hesitate to make changes where required.
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