THE FIRST BOOK OF

MOSES,
called
G E N E S I S

Genesis 35

1God commandeth Jacob to go to Beth-el; he purgeth his house of idols; 6and buildeth an altar at Beth-el. 8Deborah Rebekah's nurse dieth, and is buried under an oak. 9God again blesseth Jacob, and confirmeth to him the name of Israel, and the promise of the land of Canaan. 14Jacob setteth up a pillar at Beth-el. 16Rachel travailing of Benjamin dieth near Bethlehem, and is buried there. 22Reuben lieth with Bilhah. The twelve sons of Jacob. 27Jacob cometh to Isaac at Hebron. 28Isaac's age, death, and burial.


1AND God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and 1make there an altar unto God, thata appeared unto thee whenb thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

1 To remember the promises which I have made to thee, and thou to Me, Gen. 28:13, 14, 20. This seems to have served to that end to comfort and strengthen Jacob against the fears that had seized on him. See Gen. 34:30.

a Gen. 28:12, 13.

b Gen. 27:43.

2Then Jacob said unto his 2household, and to 3all that were with him, Put away the 4strangec gods 5that are among you, and 6be clean, and change your garments:

2 Hebr. house; see Gen. 7 on verse 1.

3 Servants and maidservants, and such as were come to him from the outside.

4 Hebr. gods of the strangers. Understand the images of the idols whom the foreign nations served, being not the true God, Who had revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Thus the idols are called, Deut. 31:16; 32:12; Joshua 24:20; Psalm 81:9. These were called, other gods, Deut. 6:14; Joshua 23:16; Judges 10:13, likewise, new gods, Judges 5:8.

c foreign*

5 It seems from this that there were some of such images kept in secret still among his family, whether they were the idols of Laban, Gen. 31:19, or some costly images which they had gotten in the plundering of Shechem, or some of their prisoners had brought thither with them.

6 To show by this outward ceremony the inward cleansing and reforming of the heart which they stood in need of not only by reason of the idolatrous defilement, but especially also in regard of the murder, committed upon the Shechemites, to prepare themselves for that solemn worship of God which Jacob was commanded now to set up and exercise with his family. See Exod. 19:10, 14.

3And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, 7who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me 8in the way which I went.

7 That is, Who is apt to answer me. God answers His people when He makes it appear by words and deeds that He has heard them. See 1 Kings 18:24; Psalm 22:21; Isa. 41:17, 18.

8 Namely, upon my journey from Haran to this place.

4And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods 9which were in their hand, and all their 10earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob 11hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

9 That is, such as they had or kept among them. See 2 Sam. 8 on verse 10.

10 These Jacob took away from them, it being probable that either they had gotten them in their plundering from the idols at Shechem, or had been worn by that people in honor of them, or otherwise might have caused misuse or scandal in his family.

11 Without his peoples’ knowledge, that none might find and further misuse them for superstition and idolatry.

5And they journeyed: and the 12terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

12 That is, a very great one, which was sent by God. Also Exod. 23:27; 2 Chron. 14:14; 17:10. The word God is sometimes used to express the greatness and excellence of a thing. See Gen. 13 on verse 10. Without this terror Jacob and with all his own might easily have been overtaken and destroyed by reason of the deed committed by Simeon and Levi at Shechem, Gen. 34:25.

6¶So Jacob came to 13Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, 14Beth-el, he and all the people that were with him.

13 See Gen. 12:8; 28:19.

14 Called as such by Jacob.

7And he built there an altar, and calledd the place 15El-beth-el: because there 16God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

d Gen. 28:19.

15 That is, God is at Bethel. Thus he calls this place the second time. See Gen. 28:19, and compare the annotation at Gen. 33 on verse 20.

16 See Gen. 28:13, and the manner of speaking, Gen. 20:13.

8But 17Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Beth-el under an oak: and the name of it was called 18Allon-bachuth.

17 Namely, she who was sent with Rebekah out of Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan. See Gen. 24:59.

18 That is, the oak of weeping, for having there bewailed and wept over Deborah.

9¶And Gode appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan-aram, and blessed him.

e Hosea 12:5.

10And God said unto him, 19Thy name is Jacob: thyf name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.

19 God confirms here to Jacob what He had spoken of before unto him. See Gen. 32 on verse 28.

f Gen. 32:28; 2 Kings 17:34.

11And God said unto him, Igam 20God Almighty: 21be fruitful and multiply; ah nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kingsi shall come 22out of thy loins;

g Gen. 17:1; 28:3; 48:3.

20 See Gen. 17:1.

21 Here God ratifies the blessing of his father Isaac, which he gave him when he fled into Mesopotamia. See Gen. 28:3, 4.

h Gen. 17:6, 16.

i Mat. 1:6.

22 That is, to be born out of thy own flesh and blood. Also 1 Kings 8:19; 2 Chron. 6:9; Acts 2:30. Compare Gen. 46:26.

12And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

13And God 23went up from him in the place where he talked with him.

23 Hebr. went up from above him. God is said to go up and come down, without changing of places, as He is everywhere present; and therefore it is only to be understood of the tokens of His presence, which He manifests by His descending, as Gen. 11:5; Exod. 3:8, and Num. 11:17, or takes away again by His ascending, as here and Gen. 17:22; Judges 13:20.

14And 24Jacob setj up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a 25drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.

24 Jacob renews the memorial here which he had erected previously, Gen. 28:18, because it may have become decayed or thrown down through the length of time or through the malevolence of the residents, in order that it might serve for a perpetual memorial of God’s goodness to him, and his reciprocal duty and engagement.

j Gen. 28:18.

25 Understand hereby, either the oil, as immediately follows; or wine, or some other liquid matter that was usual in drink offerings, or in offerings of effusion for thanksgiving.

15And Jacob 26called the name of the place where God spake with him, Beth-el.

26 Being upon the performance of his vow, he renews not only the memorial, but the name likewise. This seems to be a distinct place from that of El Bethel, verse 7.

16¶And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was but 27a little way to come to 28Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.

27 Other, with regard to a land of feeding or stopping, that is, as much land as one travels before one stops; about a league. See Gen. 48:7; 2 Kings 5:19.

28 This is the name of the city, commonly called Bethlehem. See both these names below in verse 19 and Micah 5:1.

17And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; 29thou shalt have this son also.

29 Or, hast likewise, besides Joseph, according to your own wish that there might be one more added to him, Gen. 30:24.

18And it came to pass, 30as her soul was in departing, 31(for she died) that she called his name 32Ben-oni: but his father called him 33Benjamin.

30 A clear description of death, from which it appears that death is a parting of the soul which remains over for another life, and goes forth out of the body, which by death is consumed. For which cause it is said of them that live yet, that their soul is in them, 2 Sam. 1:9, and of those that die that their spirit goes forth, Psalm 146:4, and of those that rise again from the dead, that their spirit returns into them, 1 Kings 17:21, 22.

31 Or, that she died, and named, or had named.

32 That is, son of pain, smart, aching.

33 That is, son of the right hand, that is, he that shall always be most near and dear to me, as to a man is his right hand, Psalm 80:17.

19Andk Rachel died, and was buried in the way to 34Ephrath, which is 35Beth-lehem.

k Gen. 48:7.

34 This name seems to have been given to Bethlehem by Caleb’s wife. See 1 Chron. 2:19, 24, and thereby is also this Bethlehem, situated in the tribe of Judah, (Micah 5:2, Mat. 2:6) distinguished from another Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulon, Joshua 19:15.

35 Bethlehem means an house of bread.

20And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave 36unto this day.

36 Namely, at the time when Moses wrote this book; yes, it existed still in the time of Samuel and Saul, 1 Sam. 10:2; at the time of the murder of children which Herod committed then at the time of Christ’s birth, see Jer. 31:15; Mat. 2:16, 17.

21¶And 37Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond 38the tower of Edar.

37 Here Jacob is called Israel the first time, according to God’s command, verse 10.

38 That is, a tower of the flock, see likewise Micah 4:8.

22And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and layl with Bilhah his father’s 39concubine: and 40Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

l Gen. 49:4.

39 See Gen. 22 on verse 24.

40 Doubtless with a great deal of heartache, seeing, by this deed of Reuben, that God must needs be highly offended, his own family much dishonored, and cause was given of great scandal and reproach; so that Jacob had reason, even when he laid on his deathbed, to complain of this foul transgression, Gen. 49:3, 4, and to deprive Reuben of the right of primogeniture for it, 1 Chron. 5:1, 2.

2341Them sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun:

41 Here the twelve sons of Jacob are mentioned because now, since Benjamin’s birth and Rachel’s death, the number of them was complete, and no sons more being born unto him; and because these twelve were the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel, of whom much mention will be made afterwards.

m Gen. 46:8; Exod. 1:2.

24The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin:

25And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:

26And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, 42which were born to him in Padan-aram.

42 Except Benjamin, who was born by Ephrath in the land of Canaan, verse 16. Moses speaks thus in regard of all the rest who were born there. This is a kind of speech whereby a thing is not precisely expressed, but in general and in a certain respect. See Gen. 15:13; 46:15; Judges 20:46; 1 Cor. 15:5.

27¶And Jacob came unto Isaac his father 43unto Mamre, unto the city of 44Arbah, which is 45Hebron, where Abraham and 46Isaac sojourned.

43 A place of which one is able to see Gen. 23:17, bearing the name of one of Abraham’s confederates who was called Mamre. See Gen. 13 on verse 18, and Gen. 14:13, 24.

44 See Gen. 23:2.

45 See Gen. 13:18; 23:2, 19.

46 Who was yet living and dwelling there as a stranger.

28And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.

29And Isaac 47gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered 48unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob 49buried him.

47 Compare Gen. 25:8.

48 See Gen. 15 on verse 15.

49 Namely, in the cave whereof you read, Genesis 23, wherein Abraham likewise lay buried, Gen. 25:9. The same was in Hebron where Isaac died. This has occurred a great while after this time, Jacob having lived in Canaan about twenty years since his return out of Mesopotamia, before his father died. But here it is mentioned by Moses to end herewith Isaac’s history, and to continue the history of Jacob.