Genesis 35:10-20

10 And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; 1no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but 2Israel shall be your name." So he called his name Israel.
11 And God said to him, 3"I am God Almighty:[a] be 4fruitful and multiply. 5A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.[b]
12 6The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you."
13 Then God 7went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him.
14 And Jacob 8set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.
15 So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him 9Bethel.

The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance[c] from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor.
17 And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, "Do not fear, for 10you have another son."
18 And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni;[d]11but his father called him Benjamin.[e]
19 So 12Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to 13Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem),
20 and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is 14the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day.

Genesis 35:10-20 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 14

  • 1. [Genesis 17:5, 15]
  • 2. Genesis 32:28
  • 3. See Genesis 17:1
  • 4. Genesis 28:3; Genesis 48:4
  • 5. Genesis 17:5, 6, 16; Genesis 26:4
  • 6. Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:15; Genesis 17:8; Genesis 26:3; Genesis 28:13
  • 7. Genesis 17:22
  • 8. Genesis 28:18; Genesis 31:45
  • 9. Genesis 28:19
  • 10. Genesis 30:24
  • 11. [Luke 1:59, 60]
  • 12. Genesis 48:7
  • 13. Ruth 1:2; Ruth 4:11; Micah 5:2; Matt. 2:6, 16-18
  • 14. 1 Samuel 10:2; [2 Samuel 18:18]

Footnotes 5

  • [a]. Hebrew El Shaddai
  • [b]. Hebrew from your loins
  • [c]. Or about two hours' distance
  • [d]. Ben-oni could mean son of my sorrow, or son of my strength
  • [e]. Benjamin means son of the right hand
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.