Genesis 35:8

But Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died,.... That is, when, and quickly after they were come to Bethel; a nurse of Rebekah's came with her to Canaan, when she married Isaac, and is generally thought to be

But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth. Deborah, Rebekah's nurse died.

She came with Rebekah into Canaan, , and probably tarried with her whilst she lived, and after her death, as it seems; and, upon Jacob’ s desire, after his return from Haran, came into his family; where, being a person of great prudence and piety, her presence and advice was very useful in his numerous and divided family. Allon-bachuth, from the great lamentation which they made there for the loss of a person of such singular worth.

Genesis 35:8 But Deborah Rebekah’ s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth. Ver. 8. But Deborah, Rebekah’ s nurse, died.] A grave matron she was; of great use while she lived, and much missed when she died. This is not every man’ s case. Some have their souls, as swine, for no other use, than, as salt, to keep their bodies from putrefaction. And when they die, they are no more missed than the sweepings of the house, or parings of the nails. Suillo pecori anima pro sale.

(8) Deborah.—As she was at Hebron with Rebekah when Jacob journeyed to Haran, he must have somehow gone thither before this, have seen his father, and told him of his fortunes. Apparently Rebekah was then dead, and Jacob brought back Deborah with him. (See Note on Genesis 33:18.) How dear she was to them is shown by their calling the tree under which she was buried the oak of weeping. This oak was “beneath Beth-el,” that is, in the valley below it. Deborah must have died at a great age, for she gave Rebekah suck, and must therefore have been grown up at her birth. Now Jacob, when he returned from Padan-aram, was ninety-seven years of age; and as he was born twenty years after his mother’s marriage—if we allow the shortest possible space for the interval spent at Succoth and Shechem—Deborah must have been nearly one hundred and sixty years of age. This again confirms the conclusion that Dinah’s dishonour occurred very soon after the arrival of Jacob at Shechem. (See Note on Genesis 34:1.)

Verse 8. But Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died] She was sent with Rebekah when taken by Abraham's servant to be wife to Isaac, Genesis 24:59. How she came to be in Jacob's family, expositors are greatly puzzled to find out; but the text does not state that she was in Jacob's family. Her death is mentioned merely because Jacob and his family had now arrived at the place where she was buried, and the name of that place was called Allon-bachuth, "the oak of weeping," as it is likely her death had been greatly regretted, and a general and extraordinary mourning had taken place on the occasion. Of Rebekah's death we know nothing. After her counsel to her son, Genesis 27:5-17; Genesis 27:42-46, we hear no more of her history from the sacred writings, except of her burial in Genesis 49:31. Her name is written in the dust. And is not this designed as a mark of the disapprobation of God? It seems strange that such an inconsiderable person as a nurse should be mentioned, when even the person she brought up is passed by unnoticed! It has been observed that the nurse of AEneas is mentioned nearly in the same way by the poet Virgil; and in the circumstances, in both cases, there is a striking resemblance. "Tu quoque littoribus nostris, AEneia nutrix, AEternam moriens famam, Caleta, dedisti: Eet nunc servat honos sedem tunus; ossaque nomen, Hesperia in magna, (si qua est en gloria,) signat. At pius exequils AEneas rite solutis, Aggere composito tumuli, postquam alta quierunt AEquora, tendit iter veils, portumque relinqult." AEn., lib. vii., ver. 1, c. "Thou too, Cajeta, whose indulgent cares Nursed the great chief, and form'd his tender years, Expiring here (an ever-honour'd name!) Adorn Hesperia with immortal fame: Thy name survives, to please thy pensive ghost Thy sacred relics grace the Latian coast. Soon as her funeral rites the prince had paid, And raised a tomb in honour of the dead; The sea subsiding, and the tempests o'er, He spreads the flying sails, and leaves the shore." PITT.

8. Deborah] The mention of Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, is surprising. She is mentioned, though not by name, in Genesis 24:59. Probably her name was well known in other Israelite traditions which have not survived. If we relied on the chronology of P, we should have to call attention to the fact that, according to its statements (Genesis 25:20, Genesis 35:28), Deborah had left Haran with Rebekah 140 years before. below Beth-el] On lower ground, probably to the south; cf. 1 Samuel 7:11, “under Beth-car”; 1 Kings 4:12, “beneath Jezreel.” Allon-bacuth] That is, the oak of weeping. It is a coincidence, but nothing more, that Deborah, the prophetess, dwelt between Ramah and Bethel, under a palm tree, Judges 4:5. Is this the “oak of Tabor” (1 Samuel 10:3)? 9–15 (P). This passage contains the account of (1) an appearance of God to Jacob, (2) the change of his name to Israel, and (3) the renewal of the Divine promises granted at Bethel. All this is parallel to the narrative in Genesis 28:10-22; it presents P’s explanation of the names Israel and Bethel, both of which have already been accounted for in J and E.

8. Deborah — Here suddenly comes the mention of the death of Rebekah’s nurse, without any notice of how she came to be with Jacob, or any apparent reason for its being mentioned in this connexion.