The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
Jacob Returns to Bethel
Genesis 35:1–15 — Jacob Returns to Bethel. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
1Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’ĕ·lō·hîm way·yō·mer ’el- ya·‘ă·qōḇ qūm ‘ă·lêh ḇêṯ- ’êl wə·šeḇ- šām wa·‘ă·śêh- miz·bê·aḥ šām lā·’êl han·nir·’eh ’ê·le·ḵā bə·ḇå̄·rə·ḥă·ḵå̄ mip·pə·nê ’ā·ḥî·ḵā ‘ê·śāw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-God (’ĕ·lō·hîm) said (way·yō·mer) to Jacob (Ya·‘ă·qōḇ), Arise (qūm), go-up (‘ă·lêh) to-Bethel (Bêṯ-’Êl), and-dwell (wə·šeḇ) there (šām); and-make (wa·‘ă·śêh) there an-altar (miz·bê·aḥ) to-the-El (lā-’êl) the-one-appearing (han·nir·’eh) to-you (’ê·le·ḵā) in-your-fleeing (bə·ḇå̄·rə·ḥă·ḵå̄) from-the-face-of (mip·pə·nê) your-brother (’ā·ḥî·ḵā) Esau (‘Ê·śāw).”
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Thirty years at least had passed since Jacob’s vow; ten or twenty since his return. He is in no haste to fulfil it, but has settled down at Shechem and bought land there, and seems to have forgotten all about BethelMaclaren names the moral nerve of the episode: a vow long deferred. The dates are his estimate.
This was a word in season to comfort his disquieted mind, and direct him to a safer placeBenson reads the command as mercy after the carnage at Shechem, not rebuke alone.
as many as God loves, he will remind of neglected duties, one way or other, by conscience or by providences. When we have vowed a vow to God, it is best not to defer the payment of it; yet better late than never
God is ever at hand to comfort his people in their troublesThe Geneva gloss (a) on the verse — terse and pastoral.
2So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ya·‘ă·qōḇ way·yō·mer ’el- bê·ṯōw wə·’el kāl- ’ă·šer ‘im·mōw hā·si·rū ’eṯ- han·nê·ḵār ’ĕ·lō·hê ’ă·šer bə·ṯō·ḵə·ḵem wə·hiṭ·ṭa·hă·rū wə·ha·ḥă·lî·p̄ū śim·lō·ṯê·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-Jacob (Ya·‘ă·qōḇ) said (way·yō·mer) to his-house (bê·ṯōw) and-to all (kāl) who (’ă·šer) were-with-him (‘im·mōw): Put-away (hā·si·rū) the-foreign (han·nê·ḵār) gods (’ĕ·lō·hê) that (’ă·šer) are-in-your-midst (bə·ṯō·ḵə·ḵem), and-purify-yourselves (wə·hiṭ·ṭa·hă·rū), and-change (wə·ha·ḥă·lî·p̄ū) your-garments (śim·lō·ṯê·ḵem).”
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This is evidently a mistranslation; the Hebrew אלהי הנכר means, not the strange gods that are among you, but the gods of the stranger that is among youBenson on the construct chain — a translation point the BSB still smooths over.
The object, then, of this reformation was not merely to raise Jacob’s own family to a higher spiritual state, but also to initiate the many heathen belonging to their households into the true religion
The presence of the gods of the foreigner was displeasing in the sight of the God of Israel. Cf. Joshua 24:23 , “Now therefore put away the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord, the God of Israel”; words which were also spoken at ShechemCambridge notices that Joshua's covenant-renewal language at Shechem echoes Jacob's — the same place, the same charge.
Be clean; cleanse yourselves by outward and ritual washing, as Exodus 19:10 ,14 , which even then was in use; and especially by purging your hearts as well as hands from these idols
3Then let us arise and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to God, who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·nā·qū·māh wə·na·‘ă·leh bêṯ- ’êl wə·’e·‘ĕ·śeh- miz·bê·aḥ šām lā·’êl hā·‘ō·neh ’ō·ṯî bə·yō·wm ṣā·rā·ṯî way·hî ‘im·mā·ḏî bad·de·reḵ ’ă·šer hā·lā·ḵə·tî
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-let-us-arise (wə·nā·qū·māh) and-go-up (wə·na·‘ă·leh) to-Bethel (Bêṯ-’Êl); and-I-will-make (wə·’e·‘ĕ·śeh) there (šām) an-altar (miz·bê·aḥ) to-the-El (lā·’êl) the-one-answering-me (hā·‘ō·neh ’ō·ṯî) in-the-day (bə·yō·wm) of-my-distress (ṣā·rā·ṯî), and-he-was (way·hî) with-me (‘im·mā·ḏî) in-the-way (bad·de·reḵ) that (’ă·šer) I-walked (hā·lā·ḵə·tî).”
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He considers God’s gracious promise then made to him, and the assurance of his favour toward him, and care of him, impressed by God upon his mind, as an answer to his prayers, although he had then seen no successBenson on what it means that God "answered" before any visible deliverance.
in the day of my distress ] Cf. Psalm 20:1 , “The Lord answer thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob set thee up on high.”Cambridge links Jacob's phrase to the answering-God of Psalm 20 — a thematic echo, not a quotation.
who answered me in the day of my distress; on account of his brother Esau, from whose wrath he fled: and was with me in the way which I went; from his father's house to Padanaram; in which journey he was alone and destitute, and exposed to many difficulties and dangers, but God was with him
4So they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and all their earrings, and Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yit·tə·nū ’el- ya·‘ă·qōḇ ’êṯ kāl- ’ă·šer bə·yā·ḏām wə·’eṯ- han·nê·ḵār ’ĕ·lō·hê han·nə·zā·mîm ’ă·šer bə·’ā·zə·nê·hem ya·‘ă·qōḇ way·yiṭ·mōn ’ō·ṯām ta·ḥaṯ hā·’ê·lāh ’ă·šer ‘im- šə·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-they-gave (way·yit·tə·nū) to Jacob (Ya·‘ă·qōḇ) all (kāl) the-foreign (han·nê·ḵār) gods (’ĕ·lō·hê) that were in-their-hand (bə·yā·ḏām), and the-earrings (han·nə·zā·mîm) that were in-their-ears (bə·’ā·zə·nê·hem); and-Jacob buried (way·yiṭ·mōn) them under (ta·ḥaṯ) the-terebinth (hā·’ê·lāh) that was near (‘im) Shechem (Šə·ḵem).”
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Earrings seem to have been worn not so much for ornament as for superstitious purposes, being regarded as talismans or amulets. Hence it was from their earrings that Aaron made the golden calfEllicott on why the "earrings" belong with the idols, not the jewelry.
The oak being deemed a consecrated tree, to bury them at its root was to deposit them in a place where no bold hand would venture to disturb the ground
Jacob hid them under a certain oak, though not known to his family which it wasPoole: the burial place was deliberately kept secret, so the idols could never be recovered.
Those idols seem not to be made of anything valuable, perhaps of wood or stone, for had they been of gold or silver, Jacob would doubtless have melted them, and converted them to other uses, and not have buried them under groundGill reasons from the burial (rather than melting) to the cheap material of the idols.
5As they set out, a terror from God fell over the surrounding cities, so that they did not pursue Jacob’s sons.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yis·sā·‘ū ḥit·taṯ ’ĕ·lō·hîm way·hî ‘al- ’ă·šer sə·ḇî·ḇō·ṯê·hem he·‘ā·rîm wə·lō rā·ḏə·p̄ū ’a·ḥă·rê ya·‘ă·qōḇ bə·nê
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-they-set-out (way·yis·sā·‘ū); and-a-terror-of-God (ḥit·taṯ ’ĕ·lō·hîm) was (way·hî) upon (‘al) the-cities (he·‘ā·rîm) that were-around-them (sə·ḇî·ḇō·ṯê·hem), and-they-did-not (wə·lō) pursue (rā·ḏə·p̄ū) after (’a·ḥă·rê) the-sons (bə·nê) of-Jacob (Ya·‘ă·qōḇ).”
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Heb., a terror of God, that is, a very great terrorEllicott reads the genitive as a Hebrew superlative — "a very great terror" — the minority view the BSB does not take.
a supernatural panic seized them; and thus, for the sake of the "heir of the promise," the protecting shield of Providence was specially held over his family
The way of duty is the way of safety. When we are about God's work, we are under special protectionHenry's epigram on the providence of v. 5.
did not pursue ] These words which imply that “the sons of Jacob” had by their violence given just cause of provocation, presuppose ch. 34Cambridge: the restraint only makes sense against the massacre of the previous chapter.
6So Jacob and everyone with him arrived in Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ya·‘ă·qōḇ wə·ḵāl hā·‘ām ’ă·šer- ‘im·mōw way·yā·ḇō lū·zāh ’ă·šer hî bêṯ- ’êl hū bə·’e·reṣ kə·na·‘an
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-Jacob (Ya·‘ă·qōḇ) came (way·yā·ḇō), he and-all (wə·ḵāl) the-people (hā·‘ām) that (’ă·šer) were-with-him (‘im·mōw), to-Luz (Lū·zāh) which (’ă·šer) is (hî) Bethel (Bêṯ-’Êl), in-the-land (bə·’e·reṣ) of-Canaan (Kə·na·‘an).”
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The name of Beth-el, which would, of course, be confined to Jacob and his family, did not supersede the original one, till long after. It is now identified with the modern BeitinJFB on how the covenant name slowly displaced the old Canaanite one — and on the modern site.
these all came safe to Luz without any molestation or lossGill notes the fruit of v. 5's terror: a journey completed without a single casualty.
In the land of Canaan, properly so called, or where the Canaanites properly so called dwelt. Thus it is distingnished from another Luz, Judges 1:26Poole on why the narrator specifies "in Canaan" — to fix which Luz is meant. [sic: "distingnished"]
7There Jacob built an altar, and he called that place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed Himself to Jacob as he fled from his brother.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šām way·yi·ḇen miz·bê·aḥ way·yiq·rā lam·mā·qō·wm ’êl bêṯ- ’êl kî šām hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm niḡ·lū ’ê·lāw bə·ḇā·rə·ḥōw mip·pə·nê ’ā·ḥîw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-he-built (way·yi·ḇen) there (šām) an-altar (miz·bê·aḥ), and-he-called (way·yiq·rā) the-place (lam·mā·qō·wm) El-Bethel (’Êl Bêṯ-’Êl); because (kî) there (šām) the-Elohim (hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm) had-revealed-themselves (niḡ·lū) to-him (’ê·lāw) in-his-fleeing (bə·ḇā·rə·ḥōw) from-the-face-of (mip·pə·nê) his-brother (’ā·ḥîw).”
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El-beth-el. —That is, the God of the house of God: the God into whose house he had been admitted, and seen there the wonders of His providenceEllicott unfolds the layered name: not the house, but the God of the house.
He built an altar — And, no doubt, offered sacrifice upon it, perhaps the tenth of his cattle, according to his vowBenson connects the altar to the tithe Jacob vowed at Genesis 28:22.
El-beth-el ] That is, the God of Beth-el . Here, as in Genesis 33:20 , the altar receives the name of the deityCambridge notes the pattern: Jacob's altars are named for the God met there (cf. El-Elohe-Israel, 33:20).
he called it El-Beth-el metaphorically, as Jerusalem afterwards was styled Jehovah Tsidkenu ( Jeremiah 33:16 ) and Jehovah Shammah ( Ezekiel 48:35Pulpit compares the place-name-as-confession to later prophetic names for Jerusalem.
8Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bacuth.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
də·ḇō·rāh riḇ·qāh mê·ne·qeṯ wat·tā·māṯ wat·tiq·qā·ḇêr mit·ta·ḥaṯ hā·’al·lō·wn ta·ḥaṯ lə·ḇêṯ- ’êl way·yiq·rā šə·mōw ’al·lō·wn bā·ḵūṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-Deborah (Də·ḇō·rāh), nurse-of (mê·ne·qeṯ) Rebekah (Riḇ·qāh), died (wat·tā·māṯ), and-she-was-buried (wat·tiq·qā·ḇêr) below (mit·ta·ḥaṯ) Bethel (Bêṯ-’Êl) under (ta·ḥaṯ) the-oak (hā·’al·lō·wn); and-he-called (way·yiq·rā) its-name (šə·mōw) Allon-bacuth (’Al·lō·wn Bā·ḵūṯ).”
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this old nurse, who had come with her into Canaan, ( Genesis 24:59 ,) and had tarried with her while she lived, was, after her death, taken into Jacob’s family, in which, as she was a person of great prudence and piety, her presence and advice must have been very usefulBenson reconstructs why a servant of Rebekah's is now found in Jacob's camp.
Old nurses, like her, were not only honored, but loved as mothers; and, accordingly, her death was the occasion of great lamentation
Allon-bacuth ] That is, the oak of weeping . It is a coincidence, but nothing more, that Deborah, the prophetess, dwelt between Ramah and Bethel, under a palm tree, Jdg 4:5Cambridge cautions against confusing this Deborah with the later prophetess of the same name and region — a coincidence, "nothing more."
The mourning at her death, and the perpetuation of her memory, are proofs that she must have been a faithful and highly esteemed servant in Jacob's house
9After Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
bə·ḇō·’ōw mip·pad·dan ’ă·rām ’ĕ·lō·hîm way·yê·rā ’el- ya·‘ă·qōḇ ‘ō·wḏ way·ḇā·reḵ ’ō·ṯōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-he-appeared (way·yê·rā), the-Elohim (’ĕ·lō·hîm), to (’el) Jacob (Ya·‘ă·qōḇ) again (‘ō·wḏ), in-his-coming (bə·ḇō·’ōw) from-Paddan-Aram (mip·pad·dan ’ă·rām), and-he-blessed (way·ḇā·reḵ) him (’ō·ṯōw).”
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The word “out” is not in the Hebrew, which says, on his coming from —that is, on his arrival at Beth-el from Padan-aramEllicott corrects a long-standing mistranslation ("out of") that the BSB's "After … had returned" rightly avoids.
The writer here refers to the former meeting of God with Jacob at Bethel, and thereby proves himself cognizant of the fact, and of the record already made of itBarnes on the force of "again": the narrator deliberately cites Genesis 28.
though it was then in a dream, now by daylight in a visible form (cf. Genesis 35:13 , "God went up from him"). The gloom of that day of fear had now brightened into the clear daylight of salvationK&D contrast the two Bethel appearances: dream then, daylight now.
10And God said to him, “Though your name is Jacob, you will no longer be called Jacob. Instead, your name will be Israel.” So God named him Israel.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’ĕ·lō·hîm way·yō·mer- lōw šim·ḵā ya·‘ă·qōḇ lō- ‘ō·wḏ yiq·qā·rê šim·ḵå̄ ya·‘ă·qōḇ kî ’im- šə·me·ḵā yih·yeh yiś·rā·’êl way·yiq·rā ’eṯ- šə·mōw yiś·rā·’êl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-Elohim (’ĕ·lō·hîm) said (way·yō·mer) to-him (lōw): Your-name (šim·ḵā) is-Jacob (Ya·‘ă·qōḇ); not (lō) again (‘ō·wḏ) shall-it-be-called (yiq·qā·rê), your-name (šim·ḵā), Jacob (Ya·‘ă·qōḇ); for (kî) Israel (Yiś·rā·’êl) shall-be (yih·yeh) your-name (šə·me·ḵā). And-he-called (way·yiq·rā) his-name (šə·mōw) Israel (Yiś·rā·’êl).”
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I do not repent of the change which I made of thy name, but I do again confirm it; and as then thou didst prevail over thy brother Esau, so now thou shalt prevail over those of whom thou art afraidPoole hears the renaming as God re-confirming Peniel — and as fresh courage against the Canaanites.
So he had been named by the angel that wrestled with him, ( Genesis 32:28 ,) and the change of his name, then made, is here confirmed and ratified by the Divine MajestyBenson ties this naming back to the wrestling at Peniel.
At Bethel he renews the change of name, to indicate that the meetings here were of equal moment in Jacob's spiritual life with that at PenuelBarnes reads the renewed name as a marker of revived spiritual life.
11And God told him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation—even a company of nations—shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’ĕ·lō·hîm way·yō·mer lōw ’ă·nî ’êl šad·day pə·rêh ū·rə·ḇêh gō·w ū·qə·hal gō·w·yim yih·yeh mim·me·kā ū·mə·lā·ḵîm yê·ṣê·’ū mê·ḥă·lā·ṣe·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-Elohim (’ĕ·lō·hîm) said (way·yō·mer) to-him (lōw): I (’ă·nî) am-El-Shaddai (’Êl Šad·day); be-fruitful (pə·rêh) and-multiply (ū·rə·ḇêh); a-nation (gō·w) and-a-company-of-nations (ū·qə·hal gō·w·yim) shall-be (yih·yeh) from-you (mim·me·kā), and-kings (ū·mə·lā·ḵîm) shall-come-out (yê·ṣê·’ū) from-your-loins (mê·ḥă·lā·ṣe·ḵā).”
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A company. —Heb., a congregation of nations. (See Genesis 28:3 , where it is “a congregation,” or church, “of peoples.”)Ellicott surfaces the "congregation/church" sense of qāhāl that "company" obscures.
A company of nations, tribes, for number and power, equal to so many nations, shall come out of thy loins, i.e. shall be begotten by thee, as this phrase is taken also in Genesis 46:26 1 Kings 8:19 Acts 2:30Poole reads "out of thy loins" as a begetting idiom carried into Acts 2:30.
and kings shall come out of thy loins; as Saul, David, Solomon, and, many others, who were kings of Israel and of Judah, and especially the King MessiahGill carries the line of kings forward to its head, "the King Messiah."
Here the mention of “kings” renews the promise to Sarah in Genesis 17:16Cambridge ties the royal promise back to Genesis 17 — characteristic, it notes, of P's style.
12The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’eṯ- hā·’ā·reṣ ’ă·šer ’et·tə·nen·nāh lə·’aḇ·rā·hām ū·lə·yiṣ·ḥāq nā·ṯat·tî lə·ḵā ’et·tên ’eṯ- hā·’ā·reṣ ū·lə·zar·‘ă·ḵā ’a·ḥă·re·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And the-land (hā·’ā·reṣ) that (’ă·šer) I-gave (’et·tə·nen·nāh) to-Abraham (lə·’aḇ·rā·hām) and-to-Isaac (ū·lə·yiṣ·ḥāq), to-you (lə·ḵā) I-will-give-it (nā·ṯat·tî), and-to-your-seed (ū·lə·zar·‘ă·ḵā) after-you (’a·ḥă·re·ḵā) I-will-give (’et·tên) the-land (hā·’ā·reṣ).”
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Meaning the land of Canaan, which, as he had by promise given it to his grandfather, and father, so he would give it to him; thus renewing the grant of it for his comfort, and the encouragement of his faithGill on the land-grant as covenant renewal at a low moment in Jacob's wanderings.
Two things are promised; that he should be the father of a great nation, and that he should be the master of a good land. These two promises had a spiritual significationHenry pairs the seed (v. 11) and land (v. 12) promises and reads both as figures of greater things.
the promised of a numerous seed and the possession of Canaan, which, so far as the form and substance are concerned, points back rather to Genesis 17:6 and Genesis 17:8 than to Genesis 28:13-14K&D observe the land-and-seed promise here is framed in the language of the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 17), more than of the first Bethel vision.
13Then God went up from the place where He had spoken with him.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’ĕ·lō·hîm way·ya·‘al mê·‘ā·lāw bam·mā·qō·wm ’ă·šer- dib·ber ’it·tōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-he-went-up (way·ya·‘al), the-Elohim (’ĕ·lō·hîm), from-upon-him (mê·‘ā·lāw), in-the-place (bam·mā·qō·wm) where (’ă·šer) he-had-spoken (dib·ber) with-him (’it·tōw).”
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God went up from him. —This formula, used before in Genesis 17:22 ; Genesis 18:33 , shows that this manifestation of God’s presence was more solemn than any of those previous occasions upon which the Deity had revealed Himself to JacobEllicott reads "went up" as a fixed formula signaling an especially weighty theophany.
As God is said to descend, when he shows some sign of his presence: so he is said to ascend when a vision is endedThe Geneva gloss (e): "go up" is the language of a vision drawing to its close.
The presence of God was indicated in some visible form and His acceptance of the sacrifice shown by the miraculous descent of fire from heaven, consuming it on the altarJFB add a descent of fire the text does not mention — flagged here as inference, not statement.
14So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where God had spoken with him—a stone marker—and he poured out a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ya·‘ă·qōḇ way·yaṣ·ṣêḇ maṣ·ṣê·ḇāh bam·mā·qō·wm ’ă·šer- dib·ber ’it·tōw ’ā·ḇen maṣ·ṣe·ḇeṯ way·yas·sêḵ ne·seḵ ‘ā·le·hā way·yi·ṣōq ‘ā·le·hā šā·men
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-Jacob (Ya·‘ă·qōḇ) set-up (way·yaṣ·ṣêḇ) a-pillar (maṣ·ṣê·ḇāh) in-the-place (bam·mā·qō·wm) where (’ă·šer) he-had-spoken (dib·ber) with-him (’it·tōw), a-pillar-of (maṣ·ṣe·ḇeṯ) stone (’ā·ḇen); and-he-poured (way·yas·sêḵ) upon-it (‘ā·le·hā) a-drink-offering (ne·seḵ), and-he-poured (way·yi·ṣōq) upon-it (‘ā·le·hā) oil (šā·men).”
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But as these memorial pillars were subsequently worshipped, they were expressly forbidden by the Mosaic Law, the word correctly rendered “pillar” in this place being translated standing image in Leviticus 26:1 , and image in Deuteronomy 16:22Ellicott on how the very object Jacob raises in worship the Law would later forbid as an idol.
On this he pours a drink-offering of wine, and then anoints it with oil. Here, for the first time, we meet with the libationBarnes flags the libation as a biblical first.
Yet this very place afterward lost the honour of its name, and became Beth-aven, a house of iniquity; for here it was that Jeroboam set up one of his calves. It is impossible for the best men to entail so much as the profession and form of religion upon a placeBenson's sober coda: the holiest spot can be debased — Bethel would become "Beth-aven."
And he poured a drink offering thereon . This is the first mention of those sacrificial libations which afterwards became so prominent in connection with the Mosaic ritual
15Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ya·‘ă·qōḇ ’eṯ- way·yiq·rā šêm ham·mā·qō·wm ’ă·šer ’ĕ·lō·hîm dib·ber ’it·tōw šām bêṯ- ’êl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-Jacob (Ya·‘ă·qōḇ) called (way·yiq·rā) the-name (šêm) of-the-place (ham·mā·qō·wm) where (’ă·šer) the-Elohim (’ĕ·lō·hîm) had-spoken (dib·ber) with-him (’it·tōw) — Bethel (Bêṯ-’Êl).”
Where the English smooths the original
This name was first given after the dream vision of the ladder ( Genesis 28:19 ); already on this occasion it had been changed into El-beth-el (ver. 7); now its old name is reimposedPulpit traces the three-stage naming of the place: Bethel, El-Bethel, Bethel again.
both building an altar for sacrifice, and setting up a pillar, which was beginning an house for GodGill: altar plus pillar together "begin" the house of God Jacob had vowed.
He now teaches the name to his family, explains the reason why he first gave it, and requires them to employ it. But with so grand a beginning the town was debased to unholy uses, and from being Beth-el, the house of God, it became Bethaven, the house of iniquityEllicott closes the unit with the irony of Hosea's "Beth-aven" — the house of God turned house of iniquity.
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The unit opens not with Jacob but with a deficit. Maclaren states it plainly: "Thirty years at least had passed since Jacob’s vow; ten or twenty since his return. He is in no haste to fulfil it, but has settled down at Shechem and bought land there, and seems to have forgotten all about Bethel" (Maclaren). Into that settled forgetfulness God speaks one word — ק֛וּם (qūm, "Arise," v. 1). Henry hears in it the discipline of love: "as many as God loves, he will remind of neglected duties, one way or other, by conscience or by providences … better late than never" (Henry). Yet Benson and the Geneva gloss insist the word is mercy first: "a word in season to comfort his disquieted mind" (Benson), for "God is ever at hand to comfort his people in their troubles" (Geneva Study Bible). The Hebrew of v. 1 quietly puns — build an altar לָאֵל֙ (lā·’êl, "to the El") at בֵֽית־אֵ֖ל (Beth-el, house of El) — and dates God's self-revelation to Jacob's worst hour, בְּבָרְחֲךָ֔ ("in your fleeing," v. 1). Jacob answers the divine imperative by widening it: God said "Arise"; Jacob says וְנָק֥וּמָה (wə·nā·qū·māh, "let us arise," v. 3), turning a private command into a summons for his whole house.
Before he can go up, Jacob must clean house. Benson presses a translation point the BSB still smooths: the command is to put away not merely "strange gods" but אֱלֹהֵ֤י הַנֵּכָר֙, "the gods of the stranger that is among you" (Benson) — the idols of captive Shechemites and Mesopotamian servants. The earrings surrendered with them are no ornaments: Ellicott calls them "talismans or amulets. Hence it was from their earrings that Aaron made the golden calf" (Ellicott). Jacob does not display them; he וַיִּטְמֹ֤ן (way·yiṭ·mōn, "hid / interred") them under the terebinth at Shechem, and Henry draws the lesson from the verb: "We must be wholly separated from our sins, as we are from those that are dead and buried out of sight" (Henry). The Cambridge Bible notices that the very ground and the very charge return in Joshua's covenant-renewal: "put away the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord, the God of Israel … words which were also spoken at Shechem" (Cambridge Bible). And the reformation is immediately rewarded with protection: as they break camp, a חִתַּ֣ת אֱלֹהִ֗ים ("terror of God," v. 5) falls on the cities, so that — against every expectation after the massacre of chapter 34 — none pursue. Henry's epigram seals it: "The way of duty is the way of safety" (Henry).
Jacob reaches Luz — "which is Bethel" — and the narrator adds בְּאֶ֣רֶץ כְּנַ֔עַן ("in the land of Canaan," v. 6) to mark, as the Pulpit Commentary says, "that Jacob had now accomplished his return to Canaan." There he builds the altar and names the place אֵ֖ל בֵּֽית־אֵ֑ל (El-Bethel). Ellicott unfolds the name as confession: "the God of the house of God: the God into whose house he had been admitted, and seen there the wonders of His providence" (Ellicott); Henry distils the whole comfort of worship from it — that it comes "not so much from Beth-el, the house of God, as from El-beth-el, the God of the house" (Henry). The verse hides a famous crux: נִגְל֤וּ (niḡ·lū) is grammatically plural, "the Elohim were-revealed," which Ellicott notes is "contrary to rule" and which the Samaritan Pentateuch silently singularizes. Then grief intrudes: Deborah, Rebekah's old nurse, dies and is buried under an אַלּ֥וֹן (’allôn, a true oak — a different tree from the terebinth of v. 4) named Allon-bacuth, "oak of weeping." Keil & Delitzsch read the mourning as a measure of her worth: "proofs that she must have been a faithful and highly esteemed servant in Jacob's house" (Keil & Delitzsch). The same chapter buries false gods and a beloved servant beneath sacred trees, one in shame and one in honor.
Now comes the answering theophany. Where v. 1 was a word, v. 9 is a sight: God וַיֵּרָ֨א (way·yê·rā, "appeared / let Himself be seen"). Keil & Delitzsch mark the advance over Genesis 28 — "it was then in a dream, now by daylight in a visible form … The gloom of that day of fear had now brightened into the clear daylight of salvation" (Keil & Delitzsch). Ellicott corrects the old rendering: the Hebrew בְּבֹא֖וֹ says God met him "on his coming from" Paddan-aram, on arrival, not departure (Ellicott) — the mirror of the flight. God ratifies the name יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ (Israel) first given at Peniel; Poole hears God say, in effect, "I do not repent of the change which I made of thy name, but I do again confirm it" (Poole). Then the creation-blessing falls on one man — פְּרֵ֣ה וּרְבֵ֔ה ("be fruitful and multiply," v. 11) — and Barnes notes the turn: Abraham and Isaac "had each only one son of promise. But now the time of increase is come" (Barnes). The covenant name is אֵ֤ל שַׁדַּי֙ (El-Shaddai); the promise is a קְהַ֥ל גּוֹיִ֖ם (qəhal gōyim) — which Ellicott insists is "a congregation of nations … a church of peoples" (Ellicott) — and kings מֵחֲלָצֶ֥יךָ ("from your loins"). Gill carries that line to its end: kings such as "Saul, David, Solomon … and especially the King Messiah" (Gill).
The unit closes in symmetry. The verb that opened it — ‘ālāh, "go up" (v. 1) — now turns upward in God: וַיַּ֥עַל … אֱלֹהִ֑ים ("God went up from him," v. 13). Geneva glosses the idiom: "As God is said to descend, when he shows some sign of his presence: so he is said to ascend when a vision is ended" (Geneva Study Bible), and Ellicott reads the ascent-formula (Genesis 17:22; 18:33) as marking a theophany "more solemn than any of those previous occasions." Jacob answers with stone and oil: a מַצֵּבָ֗ה (maṣṣēḇāh, pillar) on which he pours the first נֶ֔סֶךְ (nesek, drink-offering) recorded in Scripture — Barnes: "Here, for the first time, we meet with the libation" (Barnes). Ellicott sounds the warning the neutral word "pillar" hides: such standing-stones "were subsequently worshipped" and so "expressly forbidden by the Mosaic Law" (Ellicott). Three times the place is defined not by its objects but by its conversation — "the place where God had spoken with him" (vv. 13, 14, 15) — and the unit ends by re-imposing the simplest name of all: בֵּֽית־אֵֽל, Bethel, house of God. Ellicott will not let the reader rest in it, though: he closes on Hosea's bitter reversal, when "from being Beth-el, the house of God, it became Bethaven, the house of iniquity" (Ellicott).
Read under Sola Scriptura, Genesis 35:1–15 is a chapter about the geography of memory. The same verb, עָלָה (‘ālāh, "go up"), frames the whole: Jacob is told to go up to Bethel (v. 1), and God goes up from Bethel (v. 13). Between those two ascents, everything that can be buried is buried — the gods of the stranger and the earrings under the terebinth (v. 4), and faithful Deborah under the oak of weeping (v. 8) — while everything that endures is named: the altar (El-Bethel), the man (Israel), and the place (Bethel), each fixed by the recurring naming-verb קָרָא (qārā’). The hinge is obedience long delayed but not refused. God dates His grace to Jacob's lowest point — the El "who appeared to you in your fleeing" (v. 1) — and Jacob in turn dates God's faithfulness to that same low point — the One "who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way that I went" (v. 3), a near-verbatim recital of the vow of Genesis 28:20. The structure preaches its own theology: the God who meets the fugitive on the way out meets the same man, now Israel, on the way home, and turns a stone of fear into a house of God. This is my own fallible reading, offered to be tested against the text, not above it.
The God who met the fugitive on the road out met Israel on the road home — and named the stone of fear a house of God.
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The trees of vv. 4 and 8 stand at the center of a web of rare-word links. Verse 4's הָאֵלָ֖ה (’êlāh, terebinth, H424 — a rare word in only 12 verses) is the lexeme by which the Verifier ties Genesis 35:4 to Isaiah 6:13, where the stump of the felled terebinth is "the holy seed." Verse 8's אַלּ֑וֹן (’allôn, oak, H437 — rarer still, only 8 verses) ties Genesis 35:8 to both Isaiah 6:13 and Hosea 4:13, where idolaters "burn incense … under oaks and poplars and terebinths." The honest note governs the badge below: although the lexemes are rare enough that the Verifier's algorithm labels the pair "verbal," there is in fact no quotation — none of these texts cites another. Genesis buries idols under the tree; Hosea worships idols under it; Isaiah makes the felled tree a figure of surviving hope. Three independent uses of a sacred-tree word, not one text quoting another. Because "verbal / quotation" would falsely imply a citation, I downgrade the tier to structural/thematic: the shared word is real, the recurring sacred-tree motif is real, but the theology each text builds on it is its own.
Genesis 35:4 · Genesis 35:8 · Isaiah 6:13 · Hosea 4:13
basis: rare shared lexemes per Verifier — H424 ʼêlâh (terebinth, in 12 vv) for 35:4↔Isaiah 6:13; H437 ʼallôwn (oak, in 8 vv) for 35:8↔Isaiah 6:13 and 35:8↔Hosea 4:13. The Verifier's rarity score labels these "verbal," but I downgrade to structural/thematic because no text quotes or cites another — it is a shared sacred-tree motif, not a quotation.
Jacob's act in v. 14 — וַיַּצֵּ֨ב … מַצֵּבָ֗ה (way·yaṣṣêḇ … maṣṣêḇāh, "he set up a pillar") — shares an uncommon verb-and-noun pair with 2 Samuel 18:18, where Absalom, lacking a son to keep his name, sets up for himself a מַצֶּ֫בֶת (maṣṣeḇeṯ) "to keep my name in remembrance." The Verifier records the shared lexemes maṣṣeḇeṯ (H4678, in only 4 verses) and nāṣaḇ (H5324). The contrast is the commentary: Jacob raises his stone to mark where God spoke with him and poured out an offering in worship; Absalom raises his to perpetuate himself. The same gesture, the same words, opposite gods. I tier this structural/thematic rather than verbal because, though the lexemes are shared, no quotation is claimed — it is a deliberate echo of monument-making, not a citation.
Genesis 35:14 · 2 Samuel 18:18
basis: shared lexemes per Verifier: H4678 matstsebeth (pillar/monument, in only 4 vv) and H5324 nâtsab (to set up, in 74 vv). The Verifier labels this "verbal" on the rarity of matstsebeth, but I downgrade to structural/thematic: 2 Samuel does not quote Genesis — it is the same monument-making idiom turned to opposite ends, not a citation.
The whole unit is a deliberate return to Genesis 28:19, where Jacob, fleeing, first called the place בֵּֽית־אֵ֑ל (Bethel). The Verifier links Genesis 35:1 and 35:7 to Genesis 28:19 on the place-name lexeme Bêyth-’Êl (H1008, in 64 verses) and the naming-verb qārā’ (H7121). Barnes makes the narrator's intent explicit: the word "again" (v. 9) "refers to the former meeting of God with Jacob at Bethel, and thereby proves himself cognizant of … the record already made of it" (Barnes). The Pulpit Commentary traces the three-stage history of the name: Bethel (28:19), then El-Bethel (35:7), then Bethel re-imposed (35:15). This is a structural/thematic link — shared place-name and shared naming-act across the two pillars at the same spot — not a verbal quotation; the relationship is one of narrative return, which the text itself signals with ‘ôd, "again."
Genesis 35:1 · Genesis 35:7 · Genesis 35:15 · Genesis 28:19
basis: shared lexemes per Verifier: H1008 Bêyth-ʼÊl (place-name, in 64 vv) and H7121 qârâʼ (to call/name, in 687 vv) — narrative return to the first Bethel, no quotation claimed
The covenant grant of v. 11 — אֲנִ֨י אֵ֤ל שַׁדַּי֙ ("I am El-Shaddai") with "be fruitful and multiply" — deliberately recites God's words to Abram in Genesis 17:1. The Verifier (run on this self-chosen pair) links Genesis 35:11 to Genesis 17:1 on Shadday (H7706, in only 48 verses), ’êl (H410), and the self-presentation pronoun ’ănî (H589, "I"). Ellicott names it directly: "Heb., El-shaddai, the name by which God had entered into the covenant with Abraham" (Ellicott); and Keil & Delitzsch, tracing the title's pedigree back to Abraham, say it points to where God "announces Himself to Abram as El Shaddai" (Keil & Delitzsch — note K&D's own "Abram"). The paired imperative פְּרֵ֣ה וּרְבֵ֔ה ("be fruitful and multiply") reaches back further still, past Abraham to the creation mandate of Genesis 1:28 — the word once spoken over all flesh now narrowed onto one covenant line. The shared lexemes are real and the recitation deliberate, but no text quotes another as Scripture here; it is the covenant formula renewed down the generations, so structural/thematic is the honest tier.
Genesis 35:11 · Genesis 17:1
basis: shared lexemes per Verifier: H7706 Shadday (El-Shaddai, in 48 vv), H410 ʼêl, H589 ʼănîy (the 'I am' self-presentation) — the covenant formula of Genesis 17 renewed, no quotation claimed
Verse 10's twice-spoken יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ (Israel) re-grants the name first given at Genesis 32:28. The Verifier links Genesis 35:10 to Genesis 32:28 on Ya‘ăqōḇ (H3290), the adverb ‘ôd (H5750, "again / no longer"), šēm (H8034, "name"), and the conditional/emphatic ’im (H518) — the shared scaffolding of a renaming oracle. Benson: the name given "by the angel that wrestled with him (Genesis 32:28) … is here confirmed and ratified by the Divine Majesty" (Benson). Keil & Delitzsch note Hosea (Hosea 12:4) reads this second Bethel scene as "the result of his wrestling with God," knitting Peniel and Bethel together. This is a structural/thematic link — a renaming-oracle repeated, with shared but common lexemes (name, again, Jacob) — not a quotation; I keep the tier conservative because the verbal overlap is of high-frequency words.
Genesis 35:10 · Genesis 32:28
basis: shared lexemes per Verifier: H3290 Yaʻăqôb, H5750 ʻôwd (no longer/again), H8034 shêm (name), H518 ʼim — a renaming-oracle pattern on common lexemes; quotation not claimed, tier kept conservative
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
The promise of v. 11–12 — a קְהַ֥ל גּוֹיִ֖ם (qəhal gōyim, "congregation/church of nations"), kings from Jacob's loins, and the land given "to your זֶרַע (zera‘, seed) after you" — is gathered up by the New Testament into Christ. Two words carry the freight. The first is qāhāl, "assembly," the very term the Septuagint regularly renders ekklēsia, "church"; Ellicott already heard it on this verse — it is "a congregation of nations," or, as at Genesis 28:3, "a congregation," or church, "of peoples" (Ellicott). The second is zera‘, "seed," singular in form though collective in sense, and it is on precisely that singular that Paul builds in Galatians 3:16: the promises were spoken "to your seed … which is Christ." From the ancient and widely-held Christian reading, then, the qāhāl of nations is the church drawn from all peoples and gathered in the one Seed, and the king from Jacob's loins is, as Gill (following the old reading) says outright, "especially the King Messiah" (Gill). I mark the cross-Testament link carefully: because Galatians is Greek and Genesis Hebrew, there is and can be no shared Strong's lexeme — the Verifier returns no verbal basis — so this is a typological / structural reading, argued from the seed-and-nations motif and the LXX's own ekklēsia, not asserted as a verbal quotation.
Genesis 35:11 · Genesis 35:12 · Galatians 3:16
Jacob names the place אֵ֖ל בֵּֽית־אֵ֑ל (El-Bethel, "God of the house of God," v. 7), and Henry locates all the comfort of worship in the difference between the house and its Lord: it comes "not so much from Beth-el, the house of God, as from El-beth-el, the God of the house" (Henry). The ladder-vision that first made this place Bethel (Genesis 28:12) is the very image the Lord applies to Himself in John 1:51 — "you shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man" — so that ancient Christian reading sees in Bethel a figure of Christ, the true meeting-place of heaven and earth, the real "house of God." The going-up of God from the place (v. 13) and the pillar anointed with oil (v. 14) have likewise been read figurally of the ascended and anointed One. This is a typological reading across Testaments; with Hebrew here and Greek there, no shared lexeme is possible, so I argue it as figure, marking it widely-held rather than novel.
Genesis 35:7 · Genesis 35:13 · Genesis 35:14
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). The named voices are quoted verbatim from public-domain commentaries on Genesis 35 (Ellicott, Maclaren, Benson, Matthew Henry, Barnes, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Poole, Gill, Geneva Study Bible, Cambridge Bible, Pulpit Commentary, and Keil & Delitzsch), each attributed and linked to its BibleHub source. The Hebrew is the Masoretic tradition; transliterations, parsings, glosses, and Strong's numbers follow the Berean interlinear / Strong's data given in the source file and have not been altered. Two honesty notes specific to this unit. (1) The plural verb in v. 7: נִגְל֤וּ ("the Elohim were-revealed") is grammatically plural; Ellicott and the Cambridge Bible record that the Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint read the singular, and explanations range from "God with the angels" (Dillmann) to a rare plural construction with Elohim — the BSB's singular "God revealed Himself" silently resolves a genuine textual/grammatical crux, which the divergence and note flag rather than hide. (2) JFB on v. 13 asserts "the miraculous descent of fire from heaven, consuming it on the altar"; this is the commentator's inference, not stated in the text, and is presented as such. (3) Two thread tiers are deliberately downgraded below the Verifier's computed label. The Verifier scores the sacred-tree links (35:4 / 35:8 ↔ Isaiah 6:13, Hosea 4:13, on the rare lexemes ’êlāh/’allôn) and the standing-stone link (35:14 ↔ 2 Samuel 18:18, on the rare lexeme maṣṣeḇeṯ) as "verbal / quotation — confirmed," because the shared words are rare. I lower both to "structural / thematic — confirmed": rarity is real, but in neither case does one text quote or cite another, and "quotation" would imply a citation that does not exist. The rare-lexeme basis is preserved in each badge so the reader can see exactly what was downgraded and why. The ⚙ machine layer here — the literal renderings, divergence notes, word-notes, grand commentary movements, threads, Christ-readings, and this apparatus — is my own fallible synthesis and is marked as such; it is offered to be tested against the BSB text and the verbatim human voices, never to stand level with them. Cross-Testament Christ-links (Galatians 3:16; John 1:51) cannot rest on shared Strong's numbers, since Genesis is Hebrew and the New Testament Greek; they are argued typologically and tiered accordingly, never "verbal."
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)