Genesis 35
35
Jacob Returns to Bethel
1Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, dwell there, and there make an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
2#Ge 18:19; 31:19So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3#Ge 31:3; 31:42Let us arise and go up to Bethel, and there I will make an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4#Jos 24:25–26; Jdg 9:6So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their possession and all their earrings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem. 5#Ex 23:27As they traveled, the terror of God was on the cities that were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
6#Ge 28:19So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 7#Ge 28:13; 35:1There he built an altar and called the place El Bethel, because God had appeared to him there when he fled from his brother.
8#Ge 24:59Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried beneath Bethel under the oak. So it was called Allon Bakuth.
9#Ge 12:7; 18:1God appeared to Jacob again when he came out of Paddan Aram and blessed him. 10#Ge 17:5; 17:15God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be called Jacob any more, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel.
11#Ge 17:1; 17:16; Ex 6:3God said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will come from you, and kings shall come forth from you. 12#Ge 12:7; 28:13The land that I gave Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, and to your descendants after you I will give the land.” 13#Ge 17:22; 18:33Then God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him.
14#Ge 28:18–19Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it too. 15#Ge 28:19So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac
1Ch 2:1–2
16#Mic 5:2; Ge 48:7They journeyed from Bethel, and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had a difficult labor. 17#Ge 30:24When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear. You will have this son also.” 18As her soul was departing (for she died), she called his name Ben-Oni, but his father called him Benjamin.
19#Mic 5:2; Ge 48:7; Ru 1:2Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. 20#1Sa 10:2Jacob set a pillar on her grave. It is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.
21#Mic 4:8Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. 22#1Ch 5:1; Lev 18:8When Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.
Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:
23#Ge 29:32–35; 30:18–20The sons of Leah were
Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn,
and Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Zebulun.
24#Ge 30:22–24The sons of Rachel were
Joseph and Benjamin.
25And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were
Dan and Naphtali.
26And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were
Gad and Asher.
These are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Paddan Aram.
27#Ge 13:18; 18:1Jacob came back to Isaac his father in Mamre of Kiriath Arba (which is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. 28#Ge 25:7Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. 29#Ge 15:15; 49:33And Isaac breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Military Bible Association
Genesis 35
35
Jacob returns to Bethel
1God told Jacob, “Return to Bethel, where I appeared to you when you were running from your brother Esau. Make your home there and build an altar for me.”#Gn 28.11-17.
2Jacob said to his family and to everyone else who was travelling with him:
Get rid of your foreign gods! Then make yourselves acceptable to worship God and put on clean clothes. 3Afterwards, we'll go to Bethel. I will build an altar there for God, who answered my prayers when I was in trouble and who has always been at my side.
4So everyone gave Jacob their idols and their earrings,#35.4 earrings: These would have had symbols of foreign gods on them. and he buried them under the oak tree near Shechem.
5While Jacob and his family were travelling through Canaan, God terrified the people in the towns so much that no one dared bother them. 6Finally, they reached Bethel, also known as Luz. 7Jacob built an altar there and called it “God of Bethel”, because that was the place where God had appeared to him when he was running from Esau. 8While they were there, Rebekah's personal servant Deborah#35.8 Deborah: See 24.59 and the note there. died. They buried her under an oak tree and called it “Weeping Oak”.
God blesses Jacob at Bethel
9-11After Jacob came back to the land of Canaan, God appeared to him again. This time he gave Jacob a new name and blessed him by saying:#Gn 32.28.#Gn 17.4-8.
I am God All-Powerful, and from now on your name will be Israel#35.9-11 Israel: See the note at 32.28. instead of Jacob. You will have many children. Your descendants will become nations, and some of the men in your family will even be kings. 12I will give you the land that I promised Abraham and Isaac, and it will belong to your family for ever.
13After God had gone, 14Jacob set up a large rock, so that he would remember what had happened there. Then he poured wine and olive oil on the rock to show that it was dedicated to God,#Gn 28.18,19. 15and he named the place Bethel.#35.15 Bethel: See the note at 28.19.
Benjamin is born
16Jacob and his family had left Bethel and were still a long way from Ephrath, when the time came for Rachel's baby to be born. 17She was having a rough time, but the woman who was helping her said, “Don't worry! It's a boy.” 18Rachel was at the point of death, and just before dying, she said, “I'll name him Benoni.”#35.18 Benoni: In Hebrew “Benoni” means “Son of my Sorrow”. But Jacob called him Benjamin.#35.18 Benjamin: In Hebrew “Benjamin” can mean “Son at my Right Side” (the place of power).
19Rachel was buried beside the road to Ephrath, which is also called Bethlehem. 20Jacob set up a tombstone over her grave, and it is still there. 21Jacob, also known as Israel, travelled to the south of Eder Tower, where he set up camp.
22During their time there, Jacob's eldest son Reuben slept with Bilhah, who was one of Jacob's other wives.#35.22 other wives: See the note at 22.24. Bilhah had been Rachel's servant woman (see 29.28-30). And Jacob found out about it.#Gn 49.4.
Jacob's twelve sons
23-26Jacob had twelve sons while living in northern Syria.#35.23-26 northern Syria: See the note at 24.10. His firstborn Reuben was the son of Leah, who later gave birth to Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Leah's servant Zilpah had two sons: Gad and Asher.
Jacob and his wife Rachel had Joseph and Benjamin. Rachel's servant woman Bilhah had two more sons: Dan and Naphtali.
Isaac dies
27Jacob went to his father Isaac at Hebron, also called Mamre or Kiriath-Arba, where Isaac's father Abraham had lived as a foreigner.#Gn 13.18. 28-29Isaac died at the ripe old age of one hundred and eighty, then his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012