Genesis 35:1-7

God Blesses and Renames Jacob

1 God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to 1Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you 2when you fled from your brother Esau."
2 So Jacob said to his 3household and to all who were with him, "Put away 4the foreign gods that are among you and 5purify yourselves and change your garments.
3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God 6who answers me in the day of my distress and 7has been with me wherever I have gone."
4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under 8the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.
5 And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
6 And Jacob came to 9Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him,
7 and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel,[a] because 10there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother.

Genesis 35:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 35

This chapter gives an account of Jacob's going to Bethel, and building an altar there by the order and direction of God, Ge 35:1-7, where Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried, Ge 35:8, and where God appeared to Jacob, confirmed the new name of Israel he had given him, and renewed to him the promises of the multiplication of his seed, and of their inheriting the land of Canaan, Ge 35:9-13; all which is gratefully acknowledged by Jacob, who erected a pillar in the place, and called it Bethel, in memory of God's gracious appearance to him there, Ge 35:14,15; from hence he journeyed towards his father's house, and on the way Rachel his wife fell in travail, and bore him a son, and died, and was buried near Ephrath, Ge 35:16-21; near this place Reuben committed incest with Bilhah, Ge 35:22, and the names of the twelve sons of Jacob are given, Ge 35:23-26; and the chapter is closed with an account of Jacob's arrival at his father's house, of the death of Isaac, and of his burial at the direction of his two sons, Ge 35:27-29.

Cross References 10

  • 1. Genesis 28:19
  • 2. Genesis 27:43
  • 3. Genesis 18:19; Joshua 24:15
  • 4. [Genesis 31:19; Joshua 24:23; 1 Samuel 7:3]
  • 5. Exodus 19:10
  • 6. Genesis 32:7, 24
  • 7. Genesis 28:20; Genesis 31:3
  • 8. Joshua 24:26; Judges 9:6
  • 9. Genesis 28:19
  • 10. ver. 1

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. El-bethel means God of Bethel
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.