Genesis 35:11-21

11 And God said to him, "I am Almighty God. Have many children. Nations will be descended from you, and you will be the ancestor of kings. ¹

12 I will give you the land which I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, and I will also give it to your descendants after you."

13 Then God left him.

14 There, where God had spoken to him, Jacob set up a memorial stone and consecrated it by pouring wine and olive oil on it. ²

15 He named the place Bethel.

16 Jacob and his family left Bethel, and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, the time came for Rachel to have her baby, and she was having difficult labor.

17 When her labor pains were at their worst, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid, Rachel; it's another boy."

18 But she was dying, and as she breathed her last, she named her son Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin.

19 When Rachel died, she was buried beside the road to Ephrath, now known as Bethlehem.

20 Jacob set up a memorial stone there, and it still marks Rachel's grave to this day.

21 Jacob moved on and set up his camp on the other side of the tower of Eder.

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Genesis 35:11-21 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.