Genesis 35:7

7 And he builded there an altar to the Lord, and called the name of that place The house of God, for God appeared there to him, when he fled his brother. (And he built there an altar to the Lord, and called the name of that place El-bethel, for God appeared to him there, when he fled from his brother.)

Genesis 35:7 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 35:7

And he built there an altar
As he was bid to do, and as he promised he would, ( Genesis 35:1 Genesis 35:3 ) ; and called the place Elbethel;
the God of Bethel; a title which God takes to himself, ( Genesis 31:13 ) ; or rather the sense is, that he called the place with respect God, or because of his appearance to him there, Bethel, confirming the name he had before given it, ( Genesis 36:19 ) ; see ( Genesis 35:15 ) ; as the following reason shows: because there God appeared;
or the divine Persons, for both words are plural that are used; the Targum of Jonathan has it, the angels of God, and so Aben Ezra interprets it; but here, no doubt, the divine Being is meant, who appeared unto him;
to Jacob in this place, as he went to Mesopotamia, and comforted and encouraged him with many promises; when he fled from the face of his brother;
his brother Esau, who was wroth with him, and sought to take away his life, and therefore was forced to flee for it.

Genesis 35:7 In-Context

5 And when they went (forth), dread assailed all men by compass of the city, and they were not hardy to pursue them going away. (And when they went forth, the fear of God assailed all the men of the cities about, and they were not hardy to pursue after them.)

6 Therefore Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, by the sire-name Bethel, he and all his people with him. (And so Jacob came to Luz, that is, Bethel, in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.)

7 And he builded there an altar to the Lord, and called the name of that place The house of God, for God appeared there to him, when he fled his brother. (And he built there an altar to the Lord, and called the name of that place El-bethel, for God appeared to him there, when he fled from his brother.)

8 Deborah, the nurse of Rebecca, died in the same time, and she was buried at the root[s] of Bethel, under an oak, and the name of the place was called The Oak of Weeping. (And Deborah, Rebecca's nurse, died at that time, and she was buried south of Bethel, under an oak tree, and that place was called Allonbachuth.)

9 Forsooth God appeared again to Jacob, after that he turned again from Mesopotamia of Syria, and came into Bethel, and blessed him, (And God appeared again to Jacob, after that he had returned from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him,)