Genesis 35

Genesis 35:1

8. The Return to Bethel (Chap. 35)35:1-8 Chapter 35 opens with God’s command to Jacob to fulfill the vow made about thirty years earlier (Gen_28:20-22). The Lord used the tragic events of the previous chapter to prepare the patriarch to do it. Notice that God is referred to about twenty times in this chapter, in contrast to no references in chapter 34. Before obeying God’s command to return to Bethel, Jacob first ordered his family to put away the foreign household gods and to put on clean clothes. As soon as they did this, they became a terror to their heathen neighbors. It was appropriate that Jacob should build an altar at “El Bethel” and worship the God who had protected him from his brother, Esau. 35:9-15 Once again God stated that Jacob’s name was now Israel and renewed the covenant He had made with Abraham and Isaac. The patriarch marked the sacred spot with a pillar and once again named the place Bethel. 35:16-20 As Jacob’s family journeyed south from Bethel, . . . Rachel died in childbirth. She had named the child Ben-Oni (son of my sorrow), but Jacob named this twelfth son Benjamin (son of my right hand). These two names pre-picture the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. The traditional (but probably not authentic) site of Rachel’s grave may still be seen on the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Why was she not buried with Abraham, Sarah, and Rebekah in the cave of Hebron? Perhaps it was because she had brought idols into the family. 35:21-29 A brief mention is made of Reuben’s sin with Bilhah his father’s concubine, a sin by which he forfeited the birthright (Gen_49:3-4). The last sentence in verse 22 begins a new paragraph: Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. The next two verses list the twelve sons. Though it says in verse 26 that these sons were born to Jacob in Paddan Aram, Benjamin (v. 24) is excepted. He was born in Canaan (vv. 16-19). Jacob returned to Hebron in time to see his father Isaac before he died. His mother, Rebekah, had died some years earlier. Three funerals are recorded in this chapter: that of Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse (v. 8); of Rachel (v. 19); and of Isaac (v. 29).