Genesis 35
35
Jacob Returns to Bethel
1God said to Jacob, “Arise, go at once to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” # 35:1 Jacob fulfilled the vow he had made to God thirty years previously. See Gen. 28:20–22.
2So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, # 35:2 Those “with him” included the captives he took at Shechem. “Get rid of every foreign god you have, purify yourselves, and change your clothes. # 35:2 Our old clothes symbolize the old life that must be laid aside as we put on Christ (see Isa. 64:6; Rev. 3:18). To change our garments is to change our manner of life and put on a new man (see Rom. 13:14). 3Then come with me; let us go up to Bethel. I will build an altar there to God who answered my prayer when I was in distress # 35:3 See Ps. 20:1. and whose presence has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4Then they surrendered all the foreign gods they had as well as their earrings. # 35:4 Most scholars consider these earrings to have been religious objects, perhaps amulets or magical charms. Jacob buried them under the oak tree near Shechem.
5As they made their way to Bethel, a tremendous fear of God fell upon all the cities around them, and no one dared pursue them. 6Jacob and all the people who were with him arrived in the land of Canaan at Luz, # 35:6 Luz means “departure” or “almond tree.” now known as Bethel. 7He built an altar there and named it El-Bethel, # 35:7 That is, “God of the House of God.” because it was the place that God had unveiled himself when Jacob was running from his brother. 8During that time, Rebekah’s nurse Deborah died. They buried her under an oak tree near # 35:8 Or “below.” Bethel, and they named the place Weeping Oak. # 35:8 Or “Allon-Bacuth.”
9After Jacob returned from Paddan-Aram, God appeared to him once again # 35:9 “Once again” may refer to either Jacob’s earlier encounter with God at Mahanaim (see Gen. 32:1–2) or the one at Penuel (see Gen. 32:29–30), but more likely it refers to a new experience. God revealed himself many times to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he will reveal himself to this generation also. and blessed him, 10saying, “Your name was once Jacob, but no longer. Your new name is Israel!” # 35:10 See Gen. 32:28. God named him Israel 11and said to him, “I am the God who is more than enough. # 35:11 Or “El Shaddai.” Some translate El Shaddai as “Almighty God” or “Sovereign God.” However, in this context, God blessed Jacob and gave him the power of life and multiplication. See Gen. 17:1–4; 28:3. See also T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69–72; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” Journal of Biblical Studies, 54 (1935): 173–210. Go and have many children, and they will multiply. A nation and a gathering of many nations will come from you; and you will be the ancestor of kings. 12I will give you the land which I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, and after you are gone, to your descendants.”
13Then God ascended # 35:13 Or “Elohim ascended from upon him.” into heaven from the place where he had spoken to him. 14Jacob set up a stone pillar to memorialize the place where he had met # 35:14 Or “where God had spoken to him [Jacob].” with God. He poured over it a drink offering # 35:14 Literally “he poured a pouring.” One may assume that it was a drink offering of wine. Jacob poured an offering once again over the pillar at Bethel, the House of God, as he had in Gen. 28. See Ex. 29:40–41; Num. 6:17; 15:1–5; 28:7–10; 2 Sam. 23:16. The drink offering was a unique offering that was offered by a priest in gratitude for the firstfruits of harvest (see Lev. 23:10–13). Often, it was poured out upon other offerings. Jacob himself was the drink offering that was poured out to God. The pillar becomes a picture of the victorious life (see Rev. 3:12). and anointed the pillar with oil. 15Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
Rachel Dies in Childbirth
16From Bethel, they journeyed on, and as they were approaching Ephrath, Rachel went into very hard and painful labor. 17As she was having great difficulty in giving birth, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you’re having another son!” 18With her dying breath, Rachel said, “His name is Son of My Sorrow,” # 35:18 Or, in Hebrew, “Ben-oni,” which means “son of my sorrow” or possibly “son of my strength.” but his father called him Son of My Right Hand. # 35:18 Or, in Hebrew, “Ben-yamin” [Benjamin], which means “son of my right hand” or possibly “son of the south.” In the entire universe, there is only one Son that is both the “Son of Sorrow” and the “Son of the Right Hand”! Jesus is his name! Christ is a wonderful person with these two aspects to his name. Isa. 53:3 describes him as the “man of deep sorrows,” and Acts 2:33 tells us that “God exalted him to his right hand.” His mother Mary, like Rachel, experienced pain as Simeon prophesied: “a painful sword will one day pierce your inner being” (Luke 2:34–35). When her Son was raised from the dead, he rose to be at God’s right hand (see Eph. 1:20). 19Rachel died and was buried on the road to Ephrath (now Bethlehem). # 35:19 See Gen. 48:7. 20Jacob set up a pillar to mark her burial site, and it is known as The Marker of Rachel’s Tomb to this day. # 35:20 This was the fourth pillar Jacob set up. The first was at Bethel to symbolize the end of his fleshly self-confidence, which was replaced with a new revelation of God and his faithfulness (see Gen. 28:5, 10–22). The second was a pillar at Mizpah to symbolize that God was watching over Jacob and could be trusted (see Gen. 31:49). The third was at Bethel as a pillar of his confidence in the Living God (see Gen. 35:1–15). 21Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. # 35:21 Or “Watchtower of the Flock.” This was the place where shepherds watched over the sacred flocks meant for temple sacrifice and where the Passover lamb was selected. Migdal Eder is mentioned in Mic. 4:8 as the possible birthplace of Jesus, Israel’s Messiah. See also Mic. 5:2. 22While Israel was living in that land, Reuben went and slept with Bilhah, # 35:22 Why would Reuben have slept with Rachel’s servant girl, his father’s concubine? Since Rachel had been Jacob’s favorite wife before her death, Reuben hoped that by having sex with Bilhah, he would prevent her from taking Rachel’s place. Reuben wanted his mother Leah to be the favored wife of Jacob and take over the leadership of his clan. That this episode happened immediately following Rachel’s death seems to imply that this was at least part of Reuben’s motivation for lying with Bilhah. his father’s concubine, and Israel found out.
Jacob had twelve sons.
23Leah’s sons were Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
24Rachel’s sons were Joseph and Benjamin.
25The sons of Rachel’s maidservant Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali.
26The sons of Leah’s maidservant Zilpah were Gad and Asher.
These were the sons of Jacob born to him in Paddan-Aram.
The Death of Isaac
27Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had lived as foreigners. 28Isaac was one hundred and eighty when he breathed his last and died. # 35:28 Isaac died years after Joseph was sold into Egypt as a slave. Isaac lived the longest of all the patriarchs. 29He died an old man and had lived a full life when he joined his ancestors. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him there.
Currently Selected:
Genesis 35: TPT
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Passion Translation® is a registered trademark of Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc.
Copyright © 2020 Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc.
Learn More About The Passion TranslationGenesis 35
35
Bethel Revisited. 1#Jacob returns to Bethel and founds the sanctuary, an event that forms a “bookend” to the first visit to Bethel in 28:10–22. To enter the Lord’s sanctuary, one must purify oneself and get rid of all signs of allegiance to other gods (Jos 24:23; Jgs 10:16). Jacob also seems to initiate the custom of making a pilgrimage to Bethel (see Ps 122:1 and Is 2:3, 5). God said to Jacob: Go up now to Bethel. Settle there and build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.#Gn 28:12–13. 2So Jacob told his household and all who were with him: “Get rid of the foreign gods#Foreign gods: divine images, including those of household deities (see note on 31:19), that Jacob’s people brought with them from Paddan-aram. among you; then purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3Let us now go up to Bethel so that I might build an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4They gave Jacob all the foreign gods in their possession and also the rings they had in their ears#Rings…their ears: the earrings may have belonged to the gods because earrings were often placed on statues. and Jacob buried them under the oak that is near Shechem. 5Then, as they set out, a great terror fell upon the surrounding towns, so that no one pursued the sons of Jacob.
6Thus Jacob and all the people who were with him arrived in Luz (now Bethel) in the land of Canaan.#Gn 28:19; Jos 18:13; Jgs 1:22–23. 7There he built an altar and called the place El-Bethel,#El-Bethel: probably to be translated “the god of Bethel.” This is one of several titles of God in Genesis that begin with El (= God), e.g., El Olam (21:33), El Elyon (14:18), El the God of Israel (33:20), El Roi (16:13), and El Shaddai. Most of these (except El Shaddai) are tied to specific Israelite shrines. for it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.#Gn 28:12–13.
8Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died. She was buried under the oak below Bethel, and so it was named Allon-bacuth.#Allon-bacuth: the Hebrew name means “oak of weeping.”
9On Jacob’s arrival from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. 10God said to him:
Your name is Jacob.
You will no longer be named Jacob,
but Israel will be your name.#1 Kgs 18:31; 2 Kgs 17:34.
So he was named Israel. 11Then God said to him: I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply. A nation, indeed an assembly of nations, will stem from you, and kings will issue from your loins. 12The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you; and to your descendants after you I will give the land.#Ex 32:13; Heb 11:9.
13Then God departed from him. 14In the place where God had spoken with him, Jacob set up a sacred pillar, a stone pillar, and upon it he made a libation and poured out oil.#Gn 28:18; 31:45. 15Jacob named the place where God spoke to him Bethel.
Jacob’s Family. 16Then they departed from Bethel; but while they still had some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel went into labor and suffered great distress. 17When her labor was most intense, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for now you have another son.” 18With her last breath—for she was at the point of death—she named him Ben-oni;#Ben-oni: means either “son of my vigor” or, more likely in the context, “son of affliction.” Benjamin: “son of the right hand,” meaning a son who is his father’s help and support. but his father named him Benjamin. 19Thus Rachel died; and she was buried on the road to Ephrath (now Bethlehem).#Bethlehem: the gloss comes from a later tradition that identified the site with Bethlehem, also called Ephrath or Ephratha (Jos 15:59; Ru 4:11; Mi 5:1). But Rachel’s grave was actually near Ramah (Jer 31:15), a few miles north of Jerusalem, in the territory of Benjamin (1 Sm 10:2). #Gn 48:7; 1 Sm 10:2; Mi 5:1. 20Jacob set up a sacred pillar on her grave, and the same pillar marks Rachel’s grave to this day.
21Israel moved on and pitched his tent beyond Migdal-eder. 22While Israel was encamped in that region, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine. When Israel heard of it, he was greatly offended.#The genealogy in vv. 23–29 is prefaced by a notice about Reuben’s sleeping with Bilhah, his father’s concubine. Such an act is a serious challenge to the authority of the father (cf. 2 Sm 3:7 and 16:21). In his final testament in chap. 49, Jacob cites this act of Reuben as the reason for Reuben’s loss of the authority he had as firstborn son (49:4). Reuben’s act is one more instance of strife in the family and of discord between father and son. #Gn 49:4; 1 Chr 5:1.
The sons of Jacob were now twelve. 23The sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; 24#Benjamin is here said to have been born in Paddan-aram, apparently because all twelve sons of Jacob are considered as a unit. the sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin; 25the sons of Rachel’s maidservant Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali; 26the sons of Leah’s maidservant Zilpah: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
27Jacob went home to his father Isaac at Mamre, in Kiriath-arba (now Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had resided. 28The length of Isaac’s life was one hundred and eighty years; 29then he breathed his last. He died as an old man and was gathered to his people. After a full life, his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc