Genesis Chapter 35 Return to Bethel

Genesis 35:1

God said to Ya'akov, "Get up, go up to Beit-El and live there, and make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled 'Esav your brother."

God tells Ya'akov to go to Beit-El. In chapter 28, this was the place where Jacob dreamed of the staircase to heaven and marked his encounter with God.

The original commentary observes that the Hebrew wording emphasizes more than a change of location: Jacob is being called back to a place of encounter and worship.

Genesis 35:2–4

Then Ya'akov said to his household and all the others with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods that you have with you, purify yourselves, and put on fresh clothes. We're going to move on and go up to Beit-El. There I will build an altar to God, who answered me when I was in such distress and stayed with me wherever I went." They gave Ya'akov all the foreign gods in their possession and the earrings they were wearing, and Ya'akov buried them under the pistachio tree near Sh'khem.

Jacob's instructions reach beyond his immediate family to everyone traveling with him. Before going to Bethel, he calls them to remove foreign gods, purify themselves, and change their clothes.

The study sees the change of clothing as a visible picture of changed behavior. It connects the surrender of earrings with leaving behind signs of allegiance to foreign gods.

Jacob recalls that God answered him in distress and stayed with him wherever he went. His household gives up the idols and earrings, and he buries them near Shechem before the journey continues.

Genesis 35:5–7

While they were traveling, a terror from God fell upon the cities around them, so that none of them pursued the sons of Ya'akov. Ya'akov and all the people with him arrived at Luz (that is, Beit-El) in the land of Kena'an. He built there an altar and called the place El-Beit-El, because it was there that God was revealed to him, at the time when he was fleeing from his brother.

God protects Jacob's household during the journey: the surrounding cities do not pursue them. They arrive at Luz, also called Bethel, and Jacob builds the altar God commanded.

He names the place El-Beit-El, recalling God's appearance when he had fled his brother. The study reads the naming of this place as a sign of transformation and renewed attention to God's presence.

Genesis 35:8

Then D'vorah, Rivkah's nurse, died. She was buried below Beit-El under the oak, which was given the name Alon-Bakhut.

D'vorah, Rebekah's nurse, dies after the household reaches Bethel. She is buried beneath an oak that is named Alon-Bakhut, the oak of weeping.

The study sees her burial at Bethel as an acknowledgment of her long service. Her death also gives the family's return a note of grief alongside worship.

Genesis 35:9–13

After Ya'akov arrived from Paddan-Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, "Your name is Ya'akov, but you will be called Ya'akov no longer; your name will be Isra'el." Thus he named him Isra'el. God further said to him, "I am El Shaddai. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation, indeed a group of nations, will come from you; kings will be descended from you. Moreover, the land which I gave to Avraham and Yitz'chak I will give to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you." Then God went up from him there where he had spoken with him.

God appears to Jacob again, confirms his new name as Israel, and blesses him. He identifies Himself as El Shaddai and renews the promises of descendants, kings, and land.

The study connects the command to be fruitful and multiply with the words given to Adam and Havah in Genesis 1. It also draws attention to the repeated language of giving the land to Jacob and his descendants.

Jacob's identity and the future of his family rest on God's covenant promise, even as the household continues to face loss and human failure.

Genesis 35:14 & 15

Ya'akov set up a standing-stone in the place where he had spoken with him, a stone pillar. Then he poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. Ya'akov called the place where God spoke with him Beit-El.

Jacob sets up a stone pillar where God spoke with him. He pours out a drink offering and oil, marking his response with worship.

The study also reads the oil as pointing toward Messiah. Jacob again names the place Beit-El, keeping the memory of God's appearance before his household.

Genesis 35:16–20

Then they traveled on from Beit-El, and while there was still some distance to go before arriving in Efrat, Rachel went into labor, and she had great difficulty with it. While she was undergoing this hard labor, the midwife said to her, "Don't worry, this is also a son for you." But she died in childbirth. As she was dying she named her son Ben-Oni, but his father called him Binyamin. So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Efrat (that is, Beit-Lechem). Ya'akov set up a standing-stone on her grave; it is the standing-stone of Rachel's grave to this day.

On the way toward Efrat, or Bethlehem, Rachel gives birth after a difficult labor and dies. She names the boy Ben-Oni; Jacob gives him the name Binyamin.

The study connects Ben-Oni with sorrow and strength and reads Binyamin as a name associated with integrity. In the scene itself, the two names hold a mother's grief and a father's response to the life of their son.

Jacob buries Rachel on the road and sets a standing-stone over her grave. The promised family continues to grow, but not without profound loss.

Genesis 35:21

Isra'el continued his travels and pitched his tent on the other side of Migdal-'Eder.

Israel continues beyond Rachel's burial place and pitches his tent past Migdal-'Eder. The name points to a tower associated with the flock.

Genesis 35:22–26

It was while Isra'el was living in that land that Re'uven went and slept with Bilhah his father's concubine, and Isra'el heard about it. Ya'akov had twelve sons. The sons of Le'ah were Re'uven Ya'akov's firstborn, Shim'on, Levi, Y'hudah, Yissakhar and Z'vulun. The sons of Rachel were Yosef and Binyamin. The sons of Bilhah Rachel's slave-girl were Dan and Naftali. And the sons of Zilpah Le'ah's slave-girl were Gad and Asher. These were Ya'akov's sons, born to him in Paddan-Aram.

Reuben sleeps with Bilhah, a member of his father's household, and Israel hears of it. The study treats this as a serious offense and connects it with Reuben's later loss of firstborn status.

The passage then names Jacob's twelve sons by their mothers. The family through whom the covenant will continue is complete in number, though its relationships are far from free of conflict.

Benjamin was born on the journey near Bethlehem; the other sons were born during Jacob's years in Paddan-Aram.

Genesis 35:27–29

Ya'akov came home to his father Yitz'chak at Mamre, near Kiryat-Arba (also known as Hevron), where Avraham and Yitz'chak had lived as foreigners. Yitz'chak lived to be 180 years old. Then he breathed his last, died and was gathered to his people, an old man full of years; and his sons 'Esav and Ya'akov buried him.

Jacob returns to Isaac at Mamre near Hebron. Isaac dies at 180 years old, and Esau and Jacob come together to bury their father.

The study sees their shared act as a picture of the unity God desires for the family. The chapter closes by remembering the patriarchs and the promise that continues beyond their lifetimes.