Genesis 35

¹ And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. ² Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: ³ And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. ⁴ And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. ⁵ And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. ⁶ So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. ⁷ And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. ⁸ But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth. ⁹ And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. ¹⁰ And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. ¹¹ And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; ¹² And 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. ¹³ And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him. ¹⁴ And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon. ¹⁵ And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel. ¹⁶ And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. ¹⁷ And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also. ¹⁸ And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin. ¹⁹ And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. ²⁰ And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day. ²¹ And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar. ²² And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: ²³ The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun: ²⁴ The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin: ²⁵ And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali: ²⁶ And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram. ²⁷ And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. ²⁸ And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. ²⁹ And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Study Helps

Glossary

Bethel Place v. 1, 3, 6-9, 15-16: House of God. (1. ) A place in Central Palestine, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, at the head of the pass of Michmash and Ai. It was originally the royal Canaanite city of Luz ( Gen. 28:19 ). Modern identification: Beitin.
Shechem Place v. 4: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tell Balatah.
Canaan Place v. 6: Biblical region. Modern identification: Canaan.
Luz Place v. 6: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Beitin.
El-bethel Place v. 7: Biblical altar. Modern identification: Beitin.
Allon-bacuth Place v. 8: Biblical tree. Modern identification: Beitin.
Deborah Person v. 8: A bee. (1. ) Rebekah’s nurse. She accompanied her mistress when she left her father’s house in Padan-aram to become the wife of Isaac ( Gen. 24:59 ).
Paddan-aram Place v. 9, 26: A plain, occurring only in Gen. 48:7 , where it designates Padan-aram. Modern identification: Harran.
Abraham Person v. 12, 27: Father of a multitude, son of Terah, named ( Gen. 11:27 ) before his older brothers Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises.
Isaac Person v. 12, 27-29: Laughter. (1) Israel, or the kingdom of the ten tribes ( Amos 7:9 , 16). (2. ) The only son of Abraham by Sarah. He was the longest lived of the three patriarchs ( Gen. 21:1-3 ).
Ephrath Place v. 16, 19: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Bethlehem.
Rachel Person v. 16, 19, 24: Ewe, “the daughter”, “the somewhat petulant, peevish, and self-willed though beautiful younger daughter” of Laban, and one of Jacob’s wives ( Gen. 29:6 , 28).
Benjamin Person v. 18, 24: Son of my right hand. (1. ) The younger son of Jacob by Rachel ( Gen. 35:18 ). His birth took place at Ephrath, on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, at a short distance from the latter place.
Bethlehem Place v. 19: House of bread. (1. ) A city in the “hill country” of Judah. It was originally called Ephrath ( Gen. 35:16 , 19; 48:7; Ruth 4:11 ). It was also called Beth-lehem Ephratah ( Micah 5:2 ), Beth-lehem-judah. Modern identification: Bethlehem.
Eder Place v. 21: Flock. (1. ) A city in the south of Judah, on the border of Idumea ( Josh. 15:21 ). (2. ) The second of the three sons of Mushi, of the family of Merari, appointed to the Levitical office ( 1 Chr. 23:23 ; 24:30 ). Modern identification: Khirbet es Siyar el Ghanam.
Reuben Person v. 22-23: Behold a son!, the eldest son of Jacob and Leah ( Gen. 29:32 ). His sinful conduct, referred to in Gen. 35:22 , brought down upon him his dying father’s malediction (48:4).
Leah Person v. 23: Weary, the eldest daughter of Laban, and sister of Rachel ( Gen. 29:16 ). Jacob took her to wife through a deceit of her father ( Gen. 29:23 ). She was “tender-eyed” (17).
Levi Person v. 23: Adhesion. (1. ) The third son of Jacob by Leah. The origin of the name is found in Leah’s words ( Gen. 29:34 ).
Simeon Person v. 23: Hearing. (1. ) The second son of Jacob by Leah ( Gen. 29:33 ). He was associated with Levi in the terrible act of vengeance against Hamor and the Shechemites (34:25, 26).
Zebulun Person v. 23: Dwelling, the sixth and youngest son of Jacob and Leah ( Gen. 30:20 ). Little is known of his personal history. He had three sons (46:14).
Naphtali Person v. 25: My wrestling, the fifth son of Jacob. His mother was Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid ( Gen. 30:8 ). When Jacob went down into Egypt, Naphtali had four sons ( Gen. 46:24 ). Little is known of him as an individual.
Gad Person v. 26: Fortune; luck. (1. ) Jacob’s seventh son, by Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid, and the brother of Asher ( Gen. 30:11-13 ; 46:16 , 18). In the Authorized Version of 30:11 the words, “A troop cometh: and she called,” etc.
Zilpah Person v. 26: Drooping, Leah’s handmaid, and the mother of Gad and Asher ( Gen. 30:9-13 ).
City People v. 27: The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain ( Gen. 4:17 ). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (10:10-12).
Hebron Place v. 27: A community; alliance. (1. ) A city in the south end of the valley of Eshcol, about midway between Jerusalem and Beersheba, from which it is distant about 20 miles in a straight line. Modern identification: Tel Rumeida.
Mamre Place v. 27: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Ramat el Khalil.