1Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to #Gen. 28:19; 31:13Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, #Gen. 28:13who appeared to you #Gen. 27:43when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”

2And Jacob said to his #Gen. 18:19; Josh. 24:15household and to all who were with him, “Put away #Gen. 31:19, 30, 34; Josh. 24:2, 14, 23the foreign gods that are among you, #Ex. 19:10, 14; Lev. 13:6purify yourselves, and change your garments. 3Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, #Gen. 32:7, 24; Ps. 107:6who answered me in the day of my distress #Gen. 28:15, 20; 31:3, 42and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” 4So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the #Hos. 2:13earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under #Josh. 24:26; Judg. 9:6the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

5And they journeyed, and #Ex. 15:16; 23:27; (Deut. 2:25; 11:25); Josh. 2:9; 1 Sam. 14:15the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6So Jacob came to #Gen. 28:19, 22; 48:3Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 7And he #Gen. 33:20; 35:3; Eccl. 5:4built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because #Gen. 28:13there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

8Now #Gen. 24:59Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth.

9Then #Josh. 5:13; Dan. 10:5God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and #Gen. 32:29; Hos. 12:4blessed him. 10And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; #Gen. 17:5your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, #Gen. 32:28but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. 11Also God said to him: #Gen. 17:1; 28:3; 48:3, 4; Ex. 6:3“I am God Almighty. #Gen. 9:1, 7Be fruitful and multiply; #Gen. 17:5, 6, 16; 28:3; 48:4a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. 12The #Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 26:3, 4; 28:13; 48:4; Ex. 32:13land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.” 13Then God #Gen. 17:22; 18:33went up from him in the place where He talked with him. 14So Jacob #Gen. 28:18, 19; 31:45set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. 15And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, #Gen. 28:19Bethel.

Death of Rachel

16Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. 17Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; #Gen. 30:24; 1 Sam. 4:20you will have this son also.” 18And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19So #Gen. 48:7Rachel died and was buried on the way to #Ruth 1:2; 4:11; Mic. 5:2; Matt. 2:6Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave #1 Sam. 10:2to this day.

21Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond #Mic. 4:8the tower of Eder. 22And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and #Gen. 49:4; 1 Chr. 5:1lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it.

Jacob’s Twelve Sons

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: 23the sons of Leah were #Gen. 29:31–35; 30:18–20; 46:8; Ex. 1:1–4Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; 24the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin; 25the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali; 26and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.

Death of Isaac

27Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at #Gen. 13:18; 18:1; 23:19Mamre, or #Josh. 14:15Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt. 28Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. 29So Isaac breathed his last and died, and #Gen. 15:15; 25:8; 49:33was gathered to his people, being old and full of days. And #Gen. 25:9; 49:31his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

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Genesis 35

1Then God told Jacob, “Get ready to go to Bethel and live there. Build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were running away from your brother Esau.”#35:1. See 28:11 and on. 2So Jacob told his family and everyone who was with him, “Get rid of the pagan idols you have with you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3We have to get ready and go to Bethel so I can build an altar to God who answered me in my time of trouble. He has been with me wherever I went.”

4They handed over to Jacob all the pagan idols they had, as well as their earrings,#35:4. “Earrings”: some commentators believe that these earrings also had some religious associations. and he buried them under the oak tree at Shechem. 5As they left on their journey, the terror of God spread over all the surrounding towns, so nobody tried to retaliate against Jacob's sons.

6Jacob and everyone with him arrived at Luz (also known as Bethel) in the country of Canaan. 7He built an altar there and called the place El-Bethel,#35:7. “El-Bethel”: meaning “the God of Bethel.” Bethel in turn means “the house of God” (see 28:19). because that was where God had appeared to him when he was running away from his brother Esau.

8Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under the oak near Bethel. So it was named “the oak of weeping.”

9God appeared to Jacob again and blessed him after his return from Paddan-aram. 10God told him, “Jacob will not be your name any longer. Instead of Jacob your name will be Israel.” So God called him Israel.

11Then God said, “I am God Almighty! Reproduce, increase, and you will become a nation—in fact a group of nations—and kings will be among your descendants. 12I will give to you and to your descendants the land I also gave to Abraham and Isaac.” 13Then God left the place where he had been speaking to Jacob. 14Afterwards Jacob set up a stone pillar where God had spoken with him. He poured out a drink offering on it, and also olive oil. 15Jacob called the place Bethel, because he had spoken with God there.

16Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor and had great difficulty giving birth. 17When she was in the worst birth-pains, the midwife told her, “Don't give up—you have another son!” 18But she was dying, and with her last breath she named him Benoni.#35:18. “Benoni” means “son of my suffering.” But his father named him Benjamin.#35:18. “Benjamin” means “son of my right hand.” The right hand was considered more favorable. 19Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (also known as Bethlehem). 20Jacob set up a stone memorial over Rachel's grave, and it's still there to this day.

21Israel#35:21. “Israel”: referring of course to Jacob after his name change. moved on and camped beyond the watch tower at Eder. 22During the time he was living there, Reuben went and slept with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel found out about it.#35:22. The Septuagint adds, “and it was very distressing to him.”

These were the twelve sons of Jacob:

23The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

24The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

25The sons of Rachel's personal maid Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.

26The sons of Leah's personal maid Zilpah: Gad and Asher.

These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him while in Paddan-aram.

27Jacob returned home to his father Isaac at Mamre, near Kiriath-arba (also known as Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had lived. 28Isaac lived to be 180 29when he breathed his last and died at an old age. He had lived a full life, and now he joined his forefathers in death. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com

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Genesis 35

Genesis 35