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Genesis 28:18
Verse
Context
The Stone of Bethel
17And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!”18Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it, 19and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.
Sermons
Carter Conlon
Chuck Smith
Stephen Kaung
A.B. Simpson
G.W. NorthG.W. NorthA.B. SimpsonSummary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
And Jacob - took the stone - and set it up for a pillar - He placed the stone in an erect posture, that it might stand as a monument of the extraordinary vision which he had in this place; and he poured oil upon it, thereby consecrating it to God, so that it might be considered an altar on which libations might be poured, and sacrifices offered unto God. See Gen 35:14. The Brahmins anoint their stone images with oil before bathing; and some anoint them with sweet-scented oil. This is a practice which arises more from the customs of the Hindoos than from their idolatry. Anointing persons as an act of homage has been transferred to their idols. There is a foolish tradition that the stone set up by Jacob was afterwards brought to Jerusalem, from which, after a long lapse of time, it was brought to Spain, from Spain to Ireland, from Ireland to Scotland, and on it the kings of Scotland sat to be crowned; and concerning which the following leonine verses were made: - Ni fallat fatum, - Scoti quocunque locatum Invenient lapidem, - regnare tenentur ibidem. Or fate is blind - or Scots shall find Where'er this stone - the royal throne. Camden's Perthshire. Edward I. had it brought to Westminster; and there this stone, called Jacob's pillar, and Jacob's pillow, is now placed under the chair on which the king sits when crowned! It would be as ridiculous to attempt to disprove the truth of this tradition, as to prove that the stone under the old chair in Westminster was the identical stone which served the patriarch for a bolster. And poured oil upon the top of it - Stones, images, and altars, dedicated to Divine worship, were always anointed with oil. This appears to have been considered as a consecration of them to the object of the worship, and a means of inducing the god or goddess to take up their residence there, and answer the petitions of their votaries. Anointing stones, images, etc., is used in idolatrous countries to the present day, and the whole idol is generally smeared over with oil. Sometimes, besides the anointing, a crown or garland was placed on the stone or altar to honor the divinity, who was supposed, in consequence of the anointing, to have set up his residence in that place. It appears to have been on this ground that the seats of polished stone, on which the kings sat in the front of their palaces to administer justice, were anointed, merely to invite the deity to reside there, that true judgment might be given, and a righteous sentence always be pronounced. Of this we have an instance in Homer, Odyss. lib. v., ver. 406-410: - Εκ δ' ελθων, κατ' αρ' ἑζετ' επι ξεστοισι λιθοσιν, Οἱ οἱ εσαν προπαροιθε θυραων ὑψηλαων, Δευκοι, αποστιλβοντες αλειφατος· οἱς επι μεν πριν Νηλευς ἱζεσκεν, θεοφιν μηστωρ αταλαντος. The old man early rose, walk'd forth, and sate On polish'd stone before his palace gate; With unguent smooth the lucid marble shone, Where ancient Neleus sate, a rustic throne. Pope. This gives a part of the sense of the passage; but the last line, on which much stress should be laid, is very inadequately rendered by the English poet. It should be translated, - Where Neleus sat, equal in counsel to the gods; because inspired by their wisdom, and which inspiration he and his successor took pains to secure by consecrating with the anointing oil the seat of judgment on which they were accustomed to sit. Some of the ancient commentators on Homer mistook the meaning of this place by not understanding the nature of the custom; and these Cowper unfortunately follows, translating "resplendent as with oil;" which as destroys the whole sense, and obliterates the allusion. This sort of anointing was a common custom in all antiquity, and was probably derived from this circumstance. Arnobius tells us that it was customary with himself while a heathen, "when he saw a smooth polished stone that had been smeared with oils, to kiss and adore it, as if possessing a Divine virtue." Si quando conspexeram lubricatum lapidem, et ex olivi unguine sordidatum (ordinatum) tanquam inesset vis prasens, adulabar, affabar. And Theodoret, in his eighty-fourth question on Genesis, asserts that many pious women in his time were accustomed to anoint the coffins of the martyrs, etc. And in Catholic countries when a church is consecrated they anoint the door-posts, pillars, altars, etc. So under the law there was a holy anointing oil to sanctify the tabernacle, laver, and all other things used in God's service, Exo 40:9, etc.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
In the morning Jacob set up the stone at his head, as a monument (מצּבה) to commemorate the revelation he had received from God; and poured oil upon the top, to consecrate it as a memorial of the mercy that had been shown him there (visionis insigne μνημόσυνον, Calvin), not as an idol or an object or divine worship (vid., Exo 30:26.). - He then gave the place the name of Bethel, i.e., House of God, whereas (ואוּלם) the town had been called Luz before. This antithesis shows that Jacob gave the name, not to the place where the pillar was set up, but to the town, in the neighbourhood of which he had received the divine revelation. He renewed it on his return from Mesopotamia (Gen 35:15). This is confirmed by Gen 48:3, where Jacob, like the historian in Gen 35:6-7, speaks of Luz as the place of this revelation. There is nothing at variance with this in Jos 16:2; Jos 18:13; for it is not Bethel as a city, but the mountains of Bethel, that are there distinguished from Luz (see my Commentary on Jos 16:2). (Note: The fact mentioned here has often been cited as the origin of the anointed stones (βαίτυλοι) of the heathen, and this heathen custom has been regarded as a degeneration of the patriarchal. But apart from this essential difference, that the Baetulian worship was chiefly connected with meteoric stones (cf. F. von Dalberg, @fcb. d. Meteor-cultus d. Alten), which were supposed to have come down from some god, and were looked upon as deified, this opinion is at variance with the circumstance, that Jacob himself, in consecrating the stone by pouring oil upon it, only followed a custom already established, and still more with the fact, that the name βαίτυλοι, Βαιτόλια, notwithstanding its sounding like Bethel, can hardly have arisen from the name Beth-El, Gr. Βαιθήλ, since the τ for θ would be perfectly inexplicable. Dietrich derives βαιτύλιον from בּטּל, to render inoperative, and interprets it amulet.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jacob set up a stone, etc.--The mere setting up of the stone might have been as a future memorial to mark the spot; and this practice is still common in the East, in memory of a religious vow or engagement. But the pouring oil upon it was a consecration. Accordingly he gave it a new name, Beth-el, "the house of God" (Hos 12:4); and it will not appear a thing forced or unnatural to call a stone a house, when one considers the common practice in warm countries of sitting in the open air by or on a stone, as are those of this place, "broad sheets of bare rock, some of them standing like the cromlechs of Druidical monuments" [STANLEY].
John Gill Bible Commentary
And Jacob rose up early in the morning,.... In order to proceed on his journey, being comfortably refreshed both in body and mind: but first he took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar; not for a statue or an idol to be worshipped, but for a memorial of the mercy and goodness of God unto him, see Jos 4:3; indeed, among the Heathens, stones, even rude and unpolished ones, were worshipped as gods; and this was the ancient custom among the Greeks, and which, as Pausanias (l) says, universally obtained among them: and poured oil upon the top of it; which he had brought with him for necessary uses in his journey, or fetched from the neighbouring city; the former is most likely: and this he did, that he might know it again when he returned, as Aben Ezra remarks, and not for the consecration of it for religious use; though it is thought, by some learned men (m), that the Phoenicians worshipped this stone which Jacob anointed; and that from this anointed stone at Bethel came the Boetylia, which were anointed stones consecrated to Saturn and Jupiter, and others, and were worshipped as gods; the original of which Sanchoniatho (n) ascribes to Uranus, who, he says, devised the Boetylia, forming animated stones, which Bochart renders anointed stones; and so Apuleius (o), Minutius Felix (p), Arnobius (q), and others, speak of anointed stones, worshipped as deities; and hence it may be through the early and ancient abuse of such pillars it was, that they were forbidden by the law of Moses, and such as the Heathens had erected were to be pulled down, Lev 26:1. (l) Achaiaca sive, l. 7. p. 441. (m) Bochart. Canaan. l. 2. c. 2. col. 707, 708. Marsham. Chronicon, p. 56. & alii. (n) Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 1. p. 37. (o) Florida, c. 1. (p) Octav. p. 2. (q) Adv. Gentes, l. 1. p. 2.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
28:18 Anointing with oil became a way of setting something apart for divine use in Israel’s worship (Exod 29:1-7; 40:9; Lev 2:1; 1 Sam 10:1).
Genesis 28:18
The Stone of Bethel
17And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!”18Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it, 19and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
Living a Life of Double Portion Pt. 1
By Carter Conlon2.7K56:38Double PortionGEN 12:7GEN 28:182KI 2:15MAT 6:33JHN 14:6ACT 4:12EPH 2:8In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of living a life in Christ and understanding the ways of God. He highlights the dichotomy between those who walk in faith and those who rely on human reasoning. The preacher encourages the audience to trust in God and not to be ashamed or hesitant to follow His lead, even when it may seem uncertain. He also emphasizes the need for faith in the body of Christ, rather than just knowledge, and the importance of praising God and allowing Him to work through us.
(Through the Bible) Exodus 1-5
By Chuck Smith1.8K1:23:21ExpositionalGEN 50:26EXO 2:15EXO 4:1EXO 4:10In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes that God is not just a passive observer of our struggles and suffering. He takes action to deliver His people from their hardships. The preacher also highlights the importance of not getting too attached to material possessions, as they can easily be taken away. Instead, our focus should be on the things of the Spirit and God's eternal kingdom. The sermon references the story of Moses and the Israelites in Egypt, where they faced oppression and hardship, but ultimately God delivered them.
Spiritual House - Part 1
By Stephen Kaung8541:23:43GEN 28:18In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes that we are no longer dealing with shadows, but with the reality of God's desires for us. He highlights the gathering of people from every nation, tribe, town, and people to be built up as a spiritual house and a holy priesthood. The speaker also discusses the importance of offering acceptable spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. The sermon references the story of Jacob and his dream of a ladder connecting heaven and earth, illustrating how God desires to connect with humanity and extend His promises.
The Anointing
By A.B. Simpson0The AnointingThe Holy SpiritGEN 28:181JN 2:27A.B. Simpson emphasizes the significance of the anointing in the life of a believer, illustrating its transformative power through biblical examples such as Jacob's anointing, the consecration of the tabernacle, and the anointing of the priesthood. He explains that the anointing represents the Holy Spirit's presence and work in our lives, calling us to a deeper relationship with God and empowering us for service. Simpson also highlights the anointing's role in healing and restoration, assuring that even the most broken can receive the fullness of the Spirit. Ultimately, he urges believers to examine their lives for any obstructions that may hinder the flow of God's anointing and presence.
Only One Altar
By G.W. North0Worship and SacrificeThe AltarGEN 22:14GEN 26:25GEN 28:18EXO 20:24G.W. North emphasizes the significance of the altar in the relationship between God and humanity, illustrating how God established a singular altar as the official means of access to Him during Moses' time. He recounts the experiences of patriarchs like Isaac and Jacob, who built altars to commemorate their encounters with God, highlighting the importance of personal testimony and acknowledgment of God's presence. North explains that the altar symbolizes devotion and self-offering, serving as a reminder that true worship is rooted in a relationship with God rather than mere ritual sacrifice. He also draws parallels between the altars built by Moses and the spiritual principles they represent, ultimately pointing to the altar as a foundational aspect of faith and salvation. The sermon culminates in the understanding that the altar signifies God's provision and the essence of worship.
Twelve Pillars of Witness
By G.W. North0WorshipCovenantGEN 28:18EXO 20:24EXO 24:4G.W. North emphasizes the significance of the twelve pillars Moses erected at Sinai, symbolizing Israel's covenant with God and their identity as a people dedicated to worship. He reflects on the journey from Egypt, highlighting the absence of altars during their time in bondage and the importance of the altar built under the mountain as a preparation for the future brazen altar in the promised land. The pillars, representing the twelve tribes, serve as a testament to God's faithfulness and the spiritual pilgrimage of the Israelites. North draws parallels between Moses' actions and Jacob's earlier experience, underscoring the continuity of God's covenantal relationship with His people. Ultimately, the sermon calls for a deeper understanding of worship and commitment to God.
Epistles of John Chapter 4 the Anointing
By A.B. Simpson0The Anointing of the Holy SpiritSpiritual EmpowermentGEN 28:181JN 2:27A.B. Simpson emphasizes the significance of the anointing in the life of believers, illustrating it through biblical examples such as Jacob's anointing, the consecration of the tabernacle, the priesthood, the leper, and the sick. He explains that the anointing represents the Holy Spirit's presence and power, which transforms and empowers believers for service and healing. Simpson highlights that true anointing requires complete surrender and obedience to God, allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell within and guide us. He warns against the obstructions that can hinder our spiritual life, urging believers to remain vigilant and connected to God. Ultimately, the anointing is a divine gift that brings believers into a deeper relationship with Christ and equips them for ministry.
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
And Jacob - took the stone - and set it up for a pillar - He placed the stone in an erect posture, that it might stand as a monument of the extraordinary vision which he had in this place; and he poured oil upon it, thereby consecrating it to God, so that it might be considered an altar on which libations might be poured, and sacrifices offered unto God. See Gen 35:14. The Brahmins anoint their stone images with oil before bathing; and some anoint them with sweet-scented oil. This is a practice which arises more from the customs of the Hindoos than from their idolatry. Anointing persons as an act of homage has been transferred to their idols. There is a foolish tradition that the stone set up by Jacob was afterwards brought to Jerusalem, from which, after a long lapse of time, it was brought to Spain, from Spain to Ireland, from Ireland to Scotland, and on it the kings of Scotland sat to be crowned; and concerning which the following leonine verses were made: - Ni fallat fatum, - Scoti quocunque locatum Invenient lapidem, - regnare tenentur ibidem. Or fate is blind - or Scots shall find Where'er this stone - the royal throne. Camden's Perthshire. Edward I. had it brought to Westminster; and there this stone, called Jacob's pillar, and Jacob's pillow, is now placed under the chair on which the king sits when crowned! It would be as ridiculous to attempt to disprove the truth of this tradition, as to prove that the stone under the old chair in Westminster was the identical stone which served the patriarch for a bolster. And poured oil upon the top of it - Stones, images, and altars, dedicated to Divine worship, were always anointed with oil. This appears to have been considered as a consecration of them to the object of the worship, and a means of inducing the god or goddess to take up their residence there, and answer the petitions of their votaries. Anointing stones, images, etc., is used in idolatrous countries to the present day, and the whole idol is generally smeared over with oil. Sometimes, besides the anointing, a crown or garland was placed on the stone or altar to honor the divinity, who was supposed, in consequence of the anointing, to have set up his residence in that place. It appears to have been on this ground that the seats of polished stone, on which the kings sat in the front of their palaces to administer justice, were anointed, merely to invite the deity to reside there, that true judgment might be given, and a righteous sentence always be pronounced. Of this we have an instance in Homer, Odyss. lib. v., ver. 406-410: - Εκ δ' ελθων, κατ' αρ' ἑζετ' επι ξεστοισι λιθοσιν, Οἱ οἱ εσαν προπαροιθε θυραων ὑψηλαων, Δευκοι, αποστιλβοντες αλειφατος· οἱς επι μεν πριν Νηλευς ἱζεσκεν, θεοφιν μηστωρ αταλαντος. The old man early rose, walk'd forth, and sate On polish'd stone before his palace gate; With unguent smooth the lucid marble shone, Where ancient Neleus sate, a rustic throne. Pope. This gives a part of the sense of the passage; but the last line, on which much stress should be laid, is very inadequately rendered by the English poet. It should be translated, - Where Neleus sat, equal in counsel to the gods; because inspired by their wisdom, and which inspiration he and his successor took pains to secure by consecrating with the anointing oil the seat of judgment on which they were accustomed to sit. Some of the ancient commentators on Homer mistook the meaning of this place by not understanding the nature of the custom; and these Cowper unfortunately follows, translating "resplendent as with oil;" which as destroys the whole sense, and obliterates the allusion. This sort of anointing was a common custom in all antiquity, and was probably derived from this circumstance. Arnobius tells us that it was customary with himself while a heathen, "when he saw a smooth polished stone that had been smeared with oils, to kiss and adore it, as if possessing a Divine virtue." Si quando conspexeram lubricatum lapidem, et ex olivi unguine sordidatum (ordinatum) tanquam inesset vis prasens, adulabar, affabar. And Theodoret, in his eighty-fourth question on Genesis, asserts that many pious women in his time were accustomed to anoint the coffins of the martyrs, etc. And in Catholic countries when a church is consecrated they anoint the door-posts, pillars, altars, etc. So under the law there was a holy anointing oil to sanctify the tabernacle, laver, and all other things used in God's service, Exo 40:9, etc.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
In the morning Jacob set up the stone at his head, as a monument (מצּבה) to commemorate the revelation he had received from God; and poured oil upon the top, to consecrate it as a memorial of the mercy that had been shown him there (visionis insigne μνημόσυνον, Calvin), not as an idol or an object or divine worship (vid., Exo 30:26.). - He then gave the place the name of Bethel, i.e., House of God, whereas (ואוּלם) the town had been called Luz before. This antithesis shows that Jacob gave the name, not to the place where the pillar was set up, but to the town, in the neighbourhood of which he had received the divine revelation. He renewed it on his return from Mesopotamia (Gen 35:15). This is confirmed by Gen 48:3, where Jacob, like the historian in Gen 35:6-7, speaks of Luz as the place of this revelation. There is nothing at variance with this in Jos 16:2; Jos 18:13; for it is not Bethel as a city, but the mountains of Bethel, that are there distinguished from Luz (see my Commentary on Jos 16:2). (Note: The fact mentioned here has often been cited as the origin of the anointed stones (βαίτυλοι) of the heathen, and this heathen custom has been regarded as a degeneration of the patriarchal. But apart from this essential difference, that the Baetulian worship was chiefly connected with meteoric stones (cf. F. von Dalberg, @fcb. d. Meteor-cultus d. Alten), which were supposed to have come down from some god, and were looked upon as deified, this opinion is at variance with the circumstance, that Jacob himself, in consecrating the stone by pouring oil upon it, only followed a custom already established, and still more with the fact, that the name βαίτυλοι, Βαιτόλια, notwithstanding its sounding like Bethel, can hardly have arisen from the name Beth-El, Gr. Βαιθήλ, since the τ for θ would be perfectly inexplicable. Dietrich derives βαιτύλιον from בּטּל, to render inoperative, and interprets it amulet.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jacob set up a stone, etc.--The mere setting up of the stone might have been as a future memorial to mark the spot; and this practice is still common in the East, in memory of a religious vow or engagement. But the pouring oil upon it was a consecration. Accordingly he gave it a new name, Beth-el, "the house of God" (Hos 12:4); and it will not appear a thing forced or unnatural to call a stone a house, when one considers the common practice in warm countries of sitting in the open air by or on a stone, as are those of this place, "broad sheets of bare rock, some of them standing like the cromlechs of Druidical monuments" [STANLEY].
John Gill Bible Commentary
And Jacob rose up early in the morning,.... In order to proceed on his journey, being comfortably refreshed both in body and mind: but first he took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar; not for a statue or an idol to be worshipped, but for a memorial of the mercy and goodness of God unto him, see Jos 4:3; indeed, among the Heathens, stones, even rude and unpolished ones, were worshipped as gods; and this was the ancient custom among the Greeks, and which, as Pausanias (l) says, universally obtained among them: and poured oil upon the top of it; which he had brought with him for necessary uses in his journey, or fetched from the neighbouring city; the former is most likely: and this he did, that he might know it again when he returned, as Aben Ezra remarks, and not for the consecration of it for religious use; though it is thought, by some learned men (m), that the Phoenicians worshipped this stone which Jacob anointed; and that from this anointed stone at Bethel came the Boetylia, which were anointed stones consecrated to Saturn and Jupiter, and others, and were worshipped as gods; the original of which Sanchoniatho (n) ascribes to Uranus, who, he says, devised the Boetylia, forming animated stones, which Bochart renders anointed stones; and so Apuleius (o), Minutius Felix (p), Arnobius (q), and others, speak of anointed stones, worshipped as deities; and hence it may be through the early and ancient abuse of such pillars it was, that they were forbidden by the law of Moses, and such as the Heathens had erected were to be pulled down, Lev 26:1. (l) Achaiaca sive, l. 7. p. 441. (m) Bochart. Canaan. l. 2. c. 2. col. 707, 708. Marsham. Chronicon, p. 56. & alii. (n) Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 1. p. 37. (o) Florida, c. 1. (p) Octav. p. 2. (q) Adv. Gentes, l. 1. p. 2.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
28:18 Anointing with oil became a way of setting something apart for divine use in Israel’s worship (Exod 29:1-7; 40:9; Lev 2:1; 1 Sam 10:1).