Genesis 35:3-13

3 and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make 1an altar there to God, 2who answered me in the day of my distress and 3has been with me wherever * I have gone."
4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.
5 As they journeyed, there was 4a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
6 So Jacob came to 5Luz (that is, Bethel ), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.
7 6He built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother.
8 Now 7Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below * Bethel under the oak; it was named * Allon-bacuth.

Jacob Is Named Israel

9 Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He 8blessed him.
10 9God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, But Israel shall be your name." Thus He called him Israel.
11 God also said to him, "I am 10God Almighty; 11Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a 12company of nations shall come from you, And 13kings shall come forth from you.
12 "14The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give the land to your descendants after you."
13 Then 15God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him.

Genesis 35:3-13 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 15

  • 1. Genesis 28:20-22
  • 2. Psalms 107:6
  • 3. Genesis 28:15; Genesis 31:3, 42
  • 4. Exodus 15:16; Exodus 23:27; Deuteronomy 2:25
  • 5. Genesis 28:19; Genesis 48:3
  • 6. Genesis 35:3
  • 7. Genesis 24:59
  • 8. Genesis 32:29
  • 9. Genesis 17:5; Genesis 32:28
  • 10. Genesis 17:1; Genesis 28:3; Exodus 6:3
  • 11. Genesis 9:1, 7
  • 12. Genesis 48:4
  • 13. Genesis 17:6, 16; Genesis 36:31
  • 14. Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:15; Genesis 26:3, 4; Genesis 28:13; Exodus 32:13
  • 15. Genesis 17:22; Genesis 18:33

Footnotes 14

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved.