Genesis 35:1-29

The Return to Bethel

35:1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up at once ¹  to Bethel ²  and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” ³  35:2 So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have among you. ⁴  Purify yourselves and change your clothes. ⁵  35:3 Let us go up at once ⁶  to Bethel. Then I will make ⁷  an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress ⁸  and has been with me wherever I went.” ⁹ 

35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their possession ¹⁰  and the rings that were in their ears. ¹¹  Jacob buried them ¹²  under the oak ¹³  near Shechem 35:5 and they started on their journey. ¹⁴  The surrounding cities were afraid of God, ¹⁵  and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

35:6 Jacob and all those who were with him arrived at Luz (that is, Bethel) ¹⁶  in the land of Canaan. ¹⁷  35:7 He built an altar there and named the place El Bethel ¹⁸  because there God had revealed himself ¹⁹  to him when he was fleeing from his brother. 35:8 (Deborah, ²⁰  Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel; thus it was named ²¹  Oak of Weeping.) ²² 

35:9 God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan Aram and blessed him. 35:10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but your name will no longer be called Jacob; Israel will be your name.” So God named him Israel. ²³  35:11 Then God said to him, “I am the sovereign God. ²⁴  Be fruitful and multiply! A nation – even a company of nations – will descend from you; kings will be among your descendants! ²⁵  35:12 The land I gave ²⁶  to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. To your descendants ²⁷  I will also give this land.” 35:13 Then God went up from the place ²⁸  where he spoke with him. 35:14 So Jacob set up a sacred stone pillar in the place where God spoke with him. ²⁹  He poured out a drink offering on it, and then he poured oil on it. ³⁰  35:15 Jacob named the place ³¹  where God spoke with him Bethel. ³² 

35:16 They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, ³³  Rachel went into labor ³⁴  – and her labor was hard. 35:17 When her labor was at its hardest, ³⁵  the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you are having another son.” ³⁶  35:18 With her dying breath, ³⁷  she named him Ben-Oni. ³⁸  But his father called him Benjamin instead. ³⁹  35:19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ⁴⁰  35:20 Jacob set up a marker ⁴¹  over her grave; it is ⁴²  the Marker of Rachel’s Grave to this day.

35:21 Then Israel traveled on and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. ⁴³  35:22 While Israel was living in that land, Reuben had sexual relations with ⁴⁴  Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

35:23 The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, as well as Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

35:24 The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

35:25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, were Dan and Naphtali.

35:26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant, were Gad and Asher.

These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

35:27 So Jacob came back to his father Isaac in Mamre, ⁴⁵  to Kiriath Arba ⁴⁶  (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. ⁴⁷  35:28 Isaac lived to be 180 years old. ⁴⁸  35:29 Then Isaac breathed his last and joined his ancestors. ⁴⁹  He died an old man who had lived a full life. ⁵⁰  His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Genesis 1:11

1:11 God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: ⁵¹  plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, ⁵²  and ⁵³  trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” It was so.

Genesis 1:2

1:2 Now ⁵⁴  the earth ⁵⁵  was without shape and empty, ⁵⁶  and darkness ⁵⁷  was over the surface of the watery deep, ⁵⁸  but the Spirit of God ⁵⁹  was moving ⁶⁰  over the surface ⁶¹  of the water. ⁶² 

Genesis 3:9

3:9 But the Lord God called to ⁶³  the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ⁶⁴ 

Acts 2:30

2:30 So then, because ⁶⁵  he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants ⁶⁶  on his throne, ⁶⁷ 

Hebrews 7:21

7:21 but Jesus ⁶⁸  did so ⁶⁹  with a sworn affirmation by the one who said to him, “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever’” ⁷⁰  –

[35:1]  ¹ tn Heb “arise, go up.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.

[35:1]  ² map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[35:1]  ³ sn God is calling on Jacob to fulfill his vow he made when he fled from…Esau (see Gen 28:20-22).

[35:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “which are in your midst.”

[35:2]  ⁵ sn The actions of removing false gods, becoming ritually clean, and changing garments would become necessary steps in Israel when approaching the Lord in worship.

[35:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “let us arise and let us go up.” The first cohortative gives the statement a sense of urgency.

[35:3]  ⁷ tn The cohortative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or consequence.

[35:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “day of distress.” See Ps 20:1 which utilizes similar language.

[35:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the way in which I went.” Jacob alludes here to God’s promise to be with him (see Gen 28:20).

[35:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in their hand.”

[35:4]  ¹¹ sn On the basis of a comparison with Gen 34 and Num 31, G. J. Wenham argues that the foreign gods and the rings could have been part of the plunder that came from the destruction of Shechem (Genesis [WBC], 2:324).

[35:4]  ¹² sn Jacob buried them. On the burial of the gods, see E. Nielson, “The Burial of the Foreign Gods,” ST 8 (1954/55): 102-22.

[35:4]  ¹³ tn Or “terebinth.”

[35:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and they journeyed.”

[35:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the fear of God was upon the cities which were round about them.” The expression “fear of God” apparently refers (1) to a fear of God (objective genitive; God is the object of their fear). (2) But it could mean “fear from God,” that is, fear which God placed in them (cf. NRSV “a terror from God”). Another option (3) is that the divine name is used as a superlative here, referring to “tremendous fear” (cf. NEB “were panic-stricken”; NASB “a great terror”).

[35:6]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[35:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and Jacob came to Luz which is in the land of Canaan – it is Bethel – he and all the people who were with him.”

[35:7]  ¹⁸ sn The name El-Bethel means “God of Bethel.”

[35:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “revealed themselves.” The verb נִגְלוּ (niglu), translated “revealed himself,” is plural, even though one expects the singular form with the plural of majesty. Perhaps אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is here a numerical plural, referring both to God and the angelic beings that appeared to Jacob. See the note on the word “know” in Gen 3:5.

[35:8]  ²⁰ sn Deborah. This woman had been Rebekah’s nurse, but later attached herself to Jacob. She must have been about one hundred and eighty years old when she died.

[35:8]  ²¹ tn “and he called its name.” There is no expressed subject, so the verb can be translated as passive.

[35:8]  ²² tn Or “Allon Bacuth,” if one transliterates the Hebrew name (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). An oak tree was revered in the ancient world and often designated as a shrine or landmark. This one was named for the weeping (mourning) occasioned by the death of Deborah.

[35:10]  ²³ tn Heb “and he called his name Israel.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[35:11]  ²⁴ tn The name אֵל שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72. Shaddai/El Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world who grants, blesses, and judges. In the Book of Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name are uncertain its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. For a fuller discussion see the note on “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

[35:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “A nation and a company of nations will be from you and kings from your loins will come out.”

[35:12]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew verb translated “gave” refers to the Abrahamic promise of the land. However, the actual possession of that land lay in the future. The decree of the Lord made it certain; but it has the sense “promised to give.”

[35:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and to your offspring after you.”

[35:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “went up from upon him in the place.”

[35:14]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and Jacob set up a sacred pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a sacred pillar of stone” (see the notes on the term “sacred stone” in Gen 28:18). This passage stands parallel to Gen 28:18-19, where Jacob set up a sacred stone, poured oil on it, and called the place Bethel. Some commentators see these as two traditions referring to the same event, but it is more likely that Jacob reconsecrated the place in fulfillment of the vow he had made here earlier. In support of this is the fact that the present narrative alludes to and is built on the previous one.

[35:14]  ³⁰ tn The verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “to pour out, to make libations,” and the noun נֶסֶךְ (nesekh) is a “drink-offering,” usually of wine or of blood. The verb יָצַק (yatsaq) means “to pour out,” often of anointing oil, but of other elements as well.

[35:15]  ³¹ sn Called the name of the place. In view of the previous naming of Bethel in Gen 28:19, here Jacob was confirming or affirming the name through an official ritual marking the fulfillment of the vow. This place now did become Bethel, the house of God.

[35:15]  ³² tn The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew.

[35:16]  ³³ tn Heb “and there was still a stretch of the land to go to Ephrath.”

[35:16]  ³⁴ tn Normally the verb would be translated “she gave birth,” but because that obviously had not happened yet, it is better to translate the verb as ingressive, “began to give birth” (cf. NIV) or “went into labor.”

[35:17]  ³⁵ tn The construction uses a Hiphil infinitive, which E. A. Speiser classifies as an elative Hiphil. The contrast is with the previous Piel: there “she had hard labor,” and here, “her labor was at its hardest.” Failure to see this, Speiser notes, has led to redundant translations and misunderstandings (Genesis [AB], 273).

[35:17]  ³⁶ sn Another son. The episode recalls and fulfills the prayer of Rachel at the birth of Joseph (Gen 30:24): “may he add” another son.

[35:18]  ³⁷ tn Heb “in the going out of her life, for she was dying.” Rachel named the child with her dying breath.

[35:18]  ³⁸ sn The name Ben-Oni means “son of my suffering.” It is ironic that Rachel’s words to Jacob in Gen 30:1, “Give me children or I’ll die,” take a different turn here, for it was having the child that brought about her death.

[35:18]  ³⁹ tn The disjunctive clause is contrastive.

[35:19]  ⁴⁰ sn This explanatory note links the earlier name Ephrath with the later name Bethlehem.

[35:20]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “standing stone.”

[35:20]  ⁴² tn Or perhaps “it is known as” (cf. NEB).

[35:21]  ⁴³ sn The location of Migdal Eder is not given. It appears to be somewhere between Bethlehem and Hebron. Various traditions have identified it as at the shepherds’ fields near Bethlehem (the Hebrew name Migdal Eder means “tower of the flock”; see Mic 4:8) or located it near Solomon’s pools.

[35:22]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and Reuben went and lay with.” The expression “lay with” is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse.

[35:27]  ⁴⁵ tn This is an adverbial accusative of location.

[35:27]  ⁴⁶ tn The name “Kiriath Arba” is in apposition to the preceding name, “Mamre.”

[35:27]  ⁴⁷ tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur), traditionally rendered “to sojourn,” refers to temporary settlement without ownership rights.

[35:28]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “And the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years.”

[35:29]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and Isaac expired and died and he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.

[35:29]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “old and full of years.”

[1:11]  ⁵¹ tn The Hebrew construction employs a cognate accusative, where the nominal object (“vegetation”) derives from the verbal root employed. It stresses the abundant productivity that God created.

[1:11]  ⁵² sn After their kinds. The Hebrew word translated “kind” (מִין, min) indicates again that God was concerned with defining and dividing time, space, and species. The point is that creation was with order, as opposed to chaos. And what God created and distinguished with boundaries was not to be confused (see Lev 19:19 and Deut 22:9-11).

[1:11]  ⁵³ tn The conjunction “and” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation to clarify the relationship of the clauses.

[1:2]  ⁵⁴ tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) at the beginning of v. 2 gives background information for the following narrative, explaining the state of things when “God said…” (v. 3). Verse one is a title to the chapter, v. 2 provides information about the state of things when God spoke, and v. 3 begins the narrative per se with the typical narrative construction (vav [ו] consecutive followed by the prefixed verbal form). (This literary structure is paralleled in the second portion of the book: Gen 2:4 provides the title or summary of what follows, 2:5-6 use disjunctive clause structures to give background information for the following narrative, and 2:7 begins the narrative with the vav consecutive attached to a prefixed verbal form.) Some translate 1:2a “and the earth became,” arguing that v. 1 describes the original creation of the earth, while v. 2 refers to a judgment that reduced it to a chaotic condition. Verses 3ff. then describe the re-creation of the earth. However, the disjunctive clause at the beginning of v. 2 cannot be translated as if it were relating the next event in a sequence. If v. 2 were sequential to v. 1, the author would have used the vav consecutive followed by a prefixed verbal form and the subject.

[1:2]  ⁵⁵ tn That is, what we now call “the earth.” The creation of the earth as we know it is described in vv. 9-10. Prior to this the substance which became the earth (= dry land) lay dormant under the water.

[1:2]  ⁵⁶ tn Traditional translations have followed a more literal rendering of “waste and void.” The words describe a condition that is without form and empty. What we now know as “the earth” was actually an unfilled mass covered by water and darkness. Later תֹהוּ (tohu) and בֹּהוּ (bohu), when used in proximity, describe a situation resulting from judgment (Isa 34:11; Jer 4:23). Both prophets may be picturing judgment as the reversal of creation in which God’s judgment causes the world to revert to its primordial condition. This later use of the terms has led some to conclude that Gen 1:2 presupposes the judgment of a prior world, but it is unsound method to read the later application of the imagery (in a context of judgment) back into Gen 1:2.

[1:2]  ⁵⁷ sn Darkness. The Hebrew word simply means “darkness,” but in the Bible it has come to symbolize what opposes God, such as judgment (Exod 10:21), death (Ps 88:13), oppression (Isa 9:1), the wicked (1 Sam 2:9) and in general, sin. In Isa 45:7 it parallels “evil.” It is a fitting cover for the primeval waste, but it prepares the reader for the fact that God is about to reveal himself through his works.

[1:2]  ⁵⁸ tn The Hebrew term תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “deep”) refers to the watery deep, the salty ocean – especially the primeval ocean that surrounds and underlies the earth (see Gen 7:11).

[1:2]  ⁵⁹ tn The traditional rendering “Spirit of God” is preserved here, as opposed to a translation like “wind from/breath of God” (cf. NRSV) or “mighty wind” (cf. NEB), taking the word “God” to represent the superlative. Elsewhere in the OT the phrase refers consistently to the divine spirit that empowers and energizes individuals (see Gen 41:38; Exod 31:3; 35:31; Num 24:2; 1 Sam 10:10; 11:6; 19:20, 23; Ezek 11:24; 2 Chr 15:1; 24:20).

[1:2]  ⁶⁰ tn The Hebrew verb has been translated “hovering” or “moving” (as a bird over her young, see Deut 32:11). The Syriac cognate term means “to brood over; to incubate.” How much of that sense might be attached here is hard to say, but the verb does depict the presence of the Spirit of God moving about mysteriously over the waters, presumably preparing for the acts of creation to follow. If one reads “mighty wind” (cf. NEB) then the verse describes how the powerful wind begins to blow in preparation for the creative act described in vv. 9-10. (God also used a wind to drive back the flood waters in Noah’s day. See Gen 8:1.)

[1:2]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “face.”

[1:2]  ⁶² sn The water. The text deliberately changes now from the term for the watery deep to the general word for water. The arena is now the life-giving water and not the chaotic abyss-like deep. The change may be merely stylistic, but it may also carry some significance. The deep carries with it the sense of the abyss, chaos, darkness – in short, that which is not good for life.

[3:9]  ⁶³ tn The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to call”) followed by the preposition אֶל־ or לְ (’el- or lÿ, “to, unto”) often carries the connotation of “summon.”

[3:9]  ⁶⁴ sn Where are you? The question is probably rhetorical (a figure of speech called erotesis) rather than literal, because it was spoken to the man, who answers it with an explanation of why he was hiding rather than a location. The question has more the force of “Why are you hiding?”

[2:30]  ⁶⁵ tn The participles ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) and εἰδώς (eidw") are translated as causal adverbial participles.

[2:30]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “one from the fruit of his loins.” “Loins” is the traditional translation of ὀσφῦς (osfu"), referring to the male genital organs. A literal rendering like “one who came from his genital organs” would be regarded as too specific and perhaps even vulgar by many contemporary readers. Most modern translations thus render the phrase “one of his descendants.”

[2:30]  ⁶⁷ sn An allusion to Ps 132:11 and 2 Sam 7:12-13, the promise in the Davidic covenant.

[7:21]  ⁶⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:21]  ⁶⁹ tn The words “did so” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[7:21]  ⁷⁰ sn A quotation from Ps 110:4 (see Heb 5:6, 6:20, and 7:17).