Genesis 35

God said to Jacob, "Get up, go up to Bethel, and live there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you were running away from your brother Esau."

1And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

NoteBethel means "house of God" in Hebrew. An altar was a raised structure of earth or stone on which animals or other gifts were burned or poured out for a god. The earlier appearance is the dream of the stairway in Genesis 28, when Jacob was fleeing Esau after cheating him.

2So Jacob said to his household and to everyone who was with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Make yourselves clean, and change your clothes.

2Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:

Note"Foreign gods" are the small images of household gods that people carried with them; Rachel had taken her father's in Genesis 31. Washing and putting on fresh clothes was the standard way of making oneself fit to approach a god, a matter of ritual state, not of dirt.

3Then let us get up and go up to Bethel. There I will build an altar to God, who answered me when I was in trouble, and who was with me on the road I traveled."

3And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.

4They gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had in their hands, and all the rings they wore in their ears. Jacob hid them under the oak tree that was near Shechem.

4And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

NoteThe earrings are grouped with the idols because rings and pendants often carried the image of a god and were worn as protective charms. The Hebrew verb rendered "hid" means simply to bury; the oak near Shechem was evidently a known landmark tree.

5Then they traveled on. A terror from God came over the cities all around them, and the people of those cities did not chase after Jacob's sons.

5And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

NoteThe surrounding towns had reason to retaliate: in the previous chapter Jacob's sons Simeon and Levi had killed the men of Shechem. "A terror from God" is a panic sent by God rather than fear felt toward him.

6So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan (that is, Bethel), he and all the people who were with him.

6So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.

NoteLuz was the town's older name; the site becomes Bethel in Israelite usage. Canaan is the land later called Israel, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean.

7He built an altar there and named the place El-bethel, because God had appeared to him there when he was running away from his brother.

7And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

NoteEl-bethel means "God of Bethel", the name marks the god who appeared there rather than the place itself.

8Deborah, who had been Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under an oak tree. The oak was named Allon-bachuth.

8But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.

NoteA "nurse" in this world was a woman who suckled and then raised a child, and often stayed with her for life as a senior servant; Deborah had come with Rebekah from Mesopotamia two generations earlier. Allon-bachuth means "oak of weeping."

9God appeared to Jacob again after he came out of Padan-aram, and blessed him.

9And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.

NotePadan-aram is the region of northern Mesopotamia around Harran, in modern southeastern Turkey, where Jacob's mother's family lived and where he had spent twenty years working for Laban.

10God said to him, "Your name is Jacob. You will not be called Jacob any longer. Your name will be Israel." So he named him Israel.

10And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.

NoteJacob's name suggests both "heel" and "he supplants" or "he cheats"; Israel is explained in Genesis 32 as "he strives with God." Renaming was a claim on a person, the way a master or a king could rename someone.

11God also said to him, "I am God Almighty. Have many children and grow in number. A nation, and a group of nations, will come from you, and kings will come from your own body.

11And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;

Note"God Almighty" translates the Hebrew El Shaddai, a title whose exact sense is uncertain, possibly "God of the mountain" or "God of the open country"; the traditional "Almighty" comes from the ancient Greek and Latin versions. "Kings will come from your own body" renders a Hebrew phrase referring to the loins as the source of offspring.

12The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you."

12And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

Note"Descendants" translates a Hebrew word meaning "seed", offspring as a continuing line, not just immediate children.

13Then God went up from him, in the place where he had talked with him.

13And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.

14Jacob set up a pillar in the place where God had talked with him, a pillar made of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it.

14And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.

NoteA pillar here is a single upright stone set on end (Hebrew *matzevah*), used to mark a spot as sacred or memorable. A drink offering is wine or another liquid poured out on the stone as a gift to a god. Pouring oil over a stone or a person set it apart for sacred use.

15Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

15And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.

16They traveled on from Bethel. When there was still a little way to go before reaching Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and the birth was hard.

16And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.

Note"Ephrath" is another name for the district of Bethlehem, a few miles south of Jerusalem.

17While she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, "Do not be afraid. You are having this son too."

17And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.

18As her life was leaving her, for she was dying, she named him Ben-oni. But his father called him Benjamin.

18And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.

NoteBen-oni means "son of my sorrow" or "son of my strength"; the Hebrew word can mean either. Benjamin means "son of the right hand", the right side signified favor and good fortune, and can also mean "son of the south."

19So Rachel died, and she was buried beside the road to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

19And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

20Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. That is the pillar that marks Rachel's grave to this day.

20And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.

Note"To this day" is the narrator speaking to his own readers, long after the events, pointing to a marker they could still go and see.

21Israel traveled on and set up his tent beyond the tower of Edar.

21And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.

NoteThe tower of Edar (Migdal Eder) means "tower of the flock", a watchtower built in open grazing country so shepherds could spot raiders or predators.

22While Israel was living in that land, Reuben went and slept with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard about it. Now Jacob had twelve sons:

22And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

NoteA concubine was a secondary wife, of lower standing than a full wife but not a casual partner; her children were legitimate. Taking a man's concubine was a public claim on his position and authority, which is why this is reported as an act against Israel rather than a private affair. Ancient Hebrew manuscripts mark an unusual break in the middle of this verse, as though the account is deliberately cut short.

23The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob's firstborn son, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

23The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun:

NoteThe firstborn son normally received a double share of the inheritance and headship of the family after his father, which makes Reuben's act in verse 22 and its later consequences significant. The twelve sons are named by mother, since each mother's sons formed a distinct group within the household.

24The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

24The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin:

25The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant, were Dan and Naphtali.

25And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:

26The sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant, were Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Padan-aram.

26And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram.

Note"Born to him in Padan-aram" is a summary statement covering the group as a whole; Benjamin, as verses 16–18 have just said, was born in Canaan.

27Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, at the city of Arbah (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed as outsiders in the land.

27And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

NoteMamre was a place near Hebron, about twenty miles south of Jerusalem, associated with Abraham. Kiriath-arba ("city of Arba") was Hebron's older name. "Stayed as outsiders" translates a word for resident foreigners, people living in a land they did not own and where they held no legal standing of their own.

28Isaac lived 180 years.

28And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.

29Then Isaac breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people, old and having lived a full life. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

29And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Note"Gathered to his people" is a set phrase for dying and joining one's ancestors, tied to the practice of burying family members together in one tomb; it is used of the death itself, before and apart from the burial mentioned next. Isaac's death is recorded here to close his story, though the events of the following chapters overlap with his last years.