Genesis 35:7

7 and he buildeth there an altar, and proclaimeth at the place the God of Bethel: for there had God been revealed unto him, in his fleeing from the face of 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 they journey, and the terror of God is on the cities which [are] round about them, and they have not pursued after the sons of Jacob.

6 And Jacob cometh in to Luz which [is] in the land of Canaan (it [is] Bethel), he and all the people who [are] with him,

7 and he buildeth there an altar, and proclaimeth at the place the God of Bethel: for there had God been revealed unto him, in his fleeing from the face of his brother.

8 And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, dieth, and she is buried at the lower part of Bethel, under the oak, and he calleth its name `Oak of weeping.'

9 And God appeareth unto Jacob again, in his coming from Padan-Aram, and blesseth him;