Genesis 35:14-29

35:14 So Jacob set up a sacred stone pillar in the place where God spoke with him. ¹  He poured out a drink offering on it, and then he poured oil on it. ²  35:15 Jacob named the place ³  where God spoke with him Bethel. ⁴ 

35:16 They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, ⁵  Rachel went into labor ⁶  – and her labor was hard. 35:17 When her labor was at its hardest, ⁷  the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you are having another son.” ⁸  35:18 With her dying breath, ⁹  she named him Ben-Oni. ¹⁰  But his father called him Benjamin instead. ¹¹  35:19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ¹²  35:20 Jacob set up a marker ¹³  over her grave; it is ¹⁴  the Marker of Rachel’s Grave to this day.

35:21 Then Israel traveled on and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. ¹⁵  35:22 While Israel was living in that land, Reuben had sexual relations with ¹⁶  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, ¹⁷  to Kiriath Arba ¹⁸  (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. ¹⁹  35:28 Isaac lived to be 180 years old. ²⁰  35:29 Then Isaac breathed his last and joined his ancestors. ²¹  He died an old man who had lived a full life. ²²  His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

[35:14]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew.

[35:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “and there was still a stretch of the land to go to Ephrath.”

[35:16]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the going out of her life, for she was dying.” Rachel named the child with her dying breath.

[35:18]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn The disjunctive clause is contrastive.

[35:19]  ¹² sn This explanatory note links the earlier name Ephrath with the later name Bethlehem.

[35:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “standing stone.”

[35:20]  ¹⁴ tn Or perhaps “it is known as” (cf. NEB).

[35:21]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and Reuben went and lay with.” The expression “lay with” is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse.

[35:27]  ¹⁷ tn This is an adverbial accusative of location.

[35:27]  ¹⁸ tn The name “Kiriath Arba” is in apposition to the preceding name, “Mamre.”

[35:27]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur), traditionally rendered “to sojourn,” refers to temporary settlement without ownership rights.

[35:28]  ²⁰ tn Heb “And the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years.”

[35:29]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Heb “old and full of years.”