Person Old Testament
Deborah
Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under an oak below Bethel. Mentioned once in Scripture, at Genesis 35:8.
Why it matters. Rebekah's nurse, buried near Bethel
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Deborah
Deborah is mentioned briefly in Gen.35.8 as the nurse of Rebekah, the wife of Isaac. The context of this passage is Jacob's return to Bethel, where he had previously encountered God in a dream (Gen.28.10-22).
As Israel (or 'Jacob') and his household journeyed to Bethel, Deborah died and was buried under an oak tree below Bethel. The oak tree was then called Allon-bacuth, which means "Oak of Weeping," indicating the mourning that took place at her burial site.
The mention of Deborah's death and burial at this point in the narrative suggests that she had been with Jacob's family for a long time, likely since Rebekah's marriage to Isaac.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
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Appears in Scripture
Named in 1 verse across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.
Genesis (1 verse)