Genesis 35:6-15

6 So Jacob came to ¹Luz (that is, Bethel ), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.

7 ²He 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 ³Deborah, 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 ⁴blessed him.

10 ⁵God 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 ⁶God Almighty; ⁷Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a ⁸company of nations shall come from you, And ⁹kings shall come forth from you.

12 "¹⁰The 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 ¹¹God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him.

14 Jacob set up ¹²a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it.

15 So Jacob named * the place where * God had spoken with him, ¹³Bethel.

Genesis 35:6-15 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

• 1. Genesis 28:19; Genesis 48:3
• 2. Genesis 35:3
• 3. Genesis 24:59
• 4. Genesis 32:29
• 5. Genesis 17:5; Genesis 32:28
• 6. Genesis 17:1; Genesis 28:3; Exodus 6:3
• 7. Genesis 9:1, 7
• 8. Genesis 48:4
• 9. Genesis 17:6, 16; Genesis 36:31
• 10. Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:15; Genesis 26:3, 4; Genesis 28:13; Exodus 32:13
• 11. Genesis 17:22; Genesis 18:33
• 12. Genesis 28:18, 19; Genesis 31:45
• 13. Genesis 28:19

Footnotes

• [a] I.e. the God of Bethel
• [b] Lit "from the face of"
• [c] I.e. oak of weeping
• [d] Lit "Your name"
• [e] Lit "his name"
• [f] Heb "El Shaddai"
• [g] Or "come into being"
• [h] Or "come into being"
• [i] Lit "your loins"
• [j] Lit "seed"
• [k] I.e. the house of God