Genesis 35

Introduction

Genesis 35 brings the Jacob cycle to its climax and resolution by returning Jacob to Bethel — the place where God first appeared to him as a fugitive twenty years earlier (Genesis 28:10-22). God commands Jacob to go up to Bethel, and Jacob responds by ordering his household to purify themselves and abandon their foreign gods. At Bethel, God reaffirms the name change to Israel and repeats the Abrahamic promises of land, nationhood, and royal descendants. The chapter thus forms a grand bracket with Genesis 28: the vow Jacob made as a young man fleeing from Esau is now fulfilled as he returns, a transformed man, to the place where it all began.

But the chapter is not only about fulfillment — it is also marked by profound loss and moral failure. Rachel, the great love of Jacob's life, dies in childbirth on the road from Bethel to Bethlehem, naming her son Ben-oni ("son of my sorrow") with her final breath. Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, defiles his father's concubine Bilhah — an act that will cost him his birthright (Genesis 49:3-4). And Isaac, the last of the second generation of patriarchs, dies at the age of 180, buried jointly by his two sons Esau and Jacob. The chapter reads like a series of closings: the closing of Jacob's vow, the closing of Rachel's life, the closing of Reuben's standing, and the closing of Isaac's era.

God Commands Jacob to Return to Bethel (vv. 1-4)

Notes

• קוּם עֲלֵה בֵית אֵל ("Arise, go up to Bethel") — God's command uses two imperatives: "arise" and "go up." The verb עָלָה ("go up") is appropriate both geographically (Bethel sits in the hill country, higher than Shechem) and spiritually (one "ascends" to a place of worship). This is the first time since Genesis 31:3 that God has spoken directly to Jacob. The command comes in the aftermath of the Shechem massacre (Genesis 34), suggesting that Bethel represents both a place of safety and a return to covenant fidelity after the moral chaos of the previous chapter.

• אֱלֹהֵי הַנֵּכָר ("foreign gods") — Jacob's command to his household to remove foreign gods reveals that idolatry had infiltrated his family. These may include the household gods (teraphim) Rachel stole from Laban (Genesis 31:19), gods acquired through the plunder of Shechem (Genesis 34:29), or religious objects brought by servants. The נְזָמִים ("rings/earrings") were likely amulets with pagan religious associations, not mere jewelry (cf. Exodus 32:2-3, where earrings are used to make the golden calf). Jacob buries them under the terebinth at Shechem — an act of definitive renunciation. The tree near Shechem is associated with Abraham's first altar in Canaan (Genesis 12:6) and with Joshua's later covenant ceremony (Joshua 24:26).

• הִטַּהֲרוּ וְהַחֲלִיפוּ שִׂמְלֹתֵיכֶם ("purify yourselves and change your garments") — Jacob's instructions echo the ritual preparation that will later characterize Israel's approach to God at Sinai (Exodus 19:10-14). Changing garments symbolizes the transition from the profane to the sacred, from the contamination of Shechem to the holiness required to meet God at Bethel. This is Jacob acting as a priest of his household — the first time he exercises spiritual leadership over his family in this way.

The Journey to Bethel and the Altar (vv. 5-8)

Notes

• חִתַּת אֱלֹהִים ("a terror from God") — The word חִתָּה ("terror, dread") describes a supernatural panic that falls on the surrounding cities, preventing them from retaliating for the massacre at Shechem (Genesis 34:25-29). This divine protection answers Jacob's fear expressed in Genesis 34:30 — that the Canaanites and Perizzites would unite against him. God shields Jacob's family despite the moral failures of his sons. A similar divine terror appears in Exodus 23:27 and Joshua 2:9 when Israel enters the promised land.

• אֵל בֵּית אֵל ("El-bethel," meaning "God of Bethel") — Jacob names the altar "God of Bethel" rather than simply "Bethel." The emphasis is on God rather than the place. The verb נִגְלוּ ("revealed himself") is notably plural in form — נִגְלוּ אֵלָיו הָאֱלֹהִים — which has sparked debate over whether the plural reflects the Trinity, angelic accompaniment, or simply the plural noun אֱלֹהִים. The reference back to Jacob's flight from Esau connects this altar to the original Bethel vision (Genesis 28:12-15).

• דְּבֹרָה מֵינֶקֶת רִבְקָה ("Deborah, Rebekah's nurse") — This brief obituary notice is puzzling because Deborah has not appeared in the narrative since Genesis 24:59, where she accompanied Rebekah from Mesopotamia to Canaan. How she came to be in Jacob's household is unexplained — perhaps she joined him when he returned to Canaan, or had been sent by the aging Rebekah to meet him. The name אַלּוֹן בָּכוּת ("Oak of Weeping") suggests deep grief, which is surprising for a servant. Some interpreters suggest the weeping was also for Rebekah herself, who is never said to have died (she may have died while Jacob was away, and this is the narrative's oblique way of mourning her). Rebekah had promised Jacob, "I will send for you and bring you back" (Genesis 27:45) — but she never did, and the weeping at the Oak may signal that reunion never happened.

God Reaffirms the Covenant (vv. 9-15)

Notes

• The name change from Jacob to Israel was first announced at Peniel (Genesis 32:28) by the mysterious "man" who wrestled with Jacob. Here God formally confirms it at Bethel. The repetition is not a doublet but a ratification — what the divine wrestler announced, God now publicly declares. The double naming mirrors how Abram's renaming to Abraham was given at a specific moment (Genesis 17:5) but reflected a process of transformation.

• אֵל שַׁדַּי ("God Almighty") — This divine name was first revealed to Abraham (Genesis 17:1) in the context of the covenant promise and is associated with fertility, multiplication, and the power to fulfill seemingly impossible promises. The etymology of שַׁדַּי is debated — possibly from שַׁד ("breast," emphasizing nurture and provision), or from an Akkadian root meaning "mountain" (the mountain God), or from שֶׁ + דַּי ("the one who is sufficient"). The command "be fruitful and multiply" echoes the original blessing to humanity (Genesis 1:28) and to Noah (Genesis 9:1), placing Jacob-Israel in the line of God's creative and re-creative purposes.

• גּוֹי וּקְהַל גּוֹיִם ("a nation and a company of nations") — The promise that Jacob will become not just one nation but a קְהַל גּוֹיִם ("assembly of nations") has been interpreted in several ways. It may refer to the twelve tribes of Israel as distinct national entities, or it may echo the promise to Abraham that he would be a father of many nations (Genesis 17:4-6). The promise of kings (מְלָכִים מֵחֲלָצֶיךָ יֵצֵאוּ, "kings shall come from your loins") anticipates the Davidic monarchy and ultimately the messianic king.

• וַיַּעַל מֵעָלָיו אֱלֹהִים ("God went up from him") — This phrase describes a visible, localized divine departure — God "ascends" from the place of encounter, suggesting a theophany that Jacob could perceive with his senses. The same language is used of God departing from Abraham in Genesis 17:22. Jacob responds with the same act he performed in Genesis 28:18 — setting up a stone pillar — but adds a drink offering (נֶסֶךְ), the only such offering recorded in Genesis. The repetition of the pillar and oil mirrors the original Bethel experience, creating a narrative frame: what Jacob began as a fugitive, he now completes as Israel.

The Death of Rachel (vv. 16-20)

Notes

• כִּבְרַת הָאָרֶץ ("some distance") — This is a rare and obscure phrase, appearing only here and in 2 Kings 5:19. Its exact meaning is unknown — possibly a specific unit of distance or simply "a stretch of land." The translations uniformly render it vaguely ("some distance," "a little way") because the measurement cannot be determined.

• בֶּן אוֹנִי ("son of my sorrow/strength") — Rachel's dying name for her son is ambiguous. The word אוֹן can mean either "sorrow, grief" or "strength, vigor." If "son of my sorrow," the name reflects the agony of her death. If "son of my strength," it reflects her final act of vitality. Most interpreters favor "son of my sorrow" given the context of her death, but the ambiguity may be intentional — this child was born from both her greatest pain and her last creative power.

• בִּנְיָמִין ("Benjamin") — Jacob renames the child בִּנְיָמִין, meaning "son of the right hand." The right hand signifies honor, strength, and favor throughout the Hebrew Bible (Psalm 110:1, Psalm 16:11). By renaming the child, Jacob transforms a name of grief into a name of honor — he refuses to let his son carry the burden of his mother's death. This is the only case in Genesis where a father overrides a mother's naming of a child.

• וַתָּמָת רָחֵל ("Rachel died") — Rachel's death is one of the most poignant moments in Genesis. She was the woman Jacob loved at first sight (Genesis 29:18), served fourteen years to obtain, and waited years for children. Her prayer in Genesis 30:1 — "Give me children, or I will die!" — finds tragic fulfillment here: she receives her second child and dies in the giving. She is buried not in the family tomb at Machpelah but on the roadside, and Jacob marks her grave with a pillar. Rachel's tomb became a site of remembrance for Israel; Jeremiah evokes her weeping for her children in Jeremiah 31:15, a passage Matthew applies to the slaughter of the innocents at Bethlehem (Matthew 2:18) — the very town near which she died.

• אֶפְרָתָה הִוא בֵּית לָחֶם ("Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem") — The identification of Ephrath with Bethlehem connects Rachel's burial site to the future birthplace of David (1 Samuel 17:12) and, for Christians, of Jesus (Matthew 2:1). The city of death for one beloved mother becomes the city of birth for Israel's greatest king and, in the New Testament, for the Messiah.

Reuben's Sin and the Sons of Jacob (vv. 21-26)

Notes

• מִגְדַּל עֵדֶר ("Tower of the Flock") — This place name means "watchtower of the flock" and is associated with the area near Bethlehem. The prophet Micah uses the same name in a messianic context: "And you, O Tower of the Flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come — the former dominion" (Micah 4:8). Some early Jewish and Christian interpreters connected this site with the shepherds' fields where the angels announced Jesus' birth.

• וַיִּשְׁכַּב אֶת בִּלְהָה פִּילֶגֶשׁ אָבִיו ("he lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine") — Reuben's act is reported with shocking brevity. Sleeping with a ruler's concubine was an assertion of power and a claim to succession in the ancient Near East (cf. Absalom's act with David's concubines in 2 Samuel 16:21-22). Reuben may have been asserting his position as firstborn after Rachel's death, or he may have been acting on behalf of his mother Leah — ensuring that Bilhah (Rachel's servant) did not assume Rachel's position as Jacob's primary wife. Whatever the motivation, the act is a profound violation. The narrative's response is devastatingly terse: וַיִּשְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ("and Israel heard of it") — followed by silence. Jacob says nothing. The consequences are deferred to his deathbed, where he strips Reuben of the birthright: "Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father's bed" (Genesis 49:3-4).

• The genealogical summary (vv. 23-26) lists all twelve sons of Jacob, grouped by mother. This is the first complete enumeration of the twelve tribes' ancestors. The note that they were born in Paddan-aram is slightly imprecise — Benjamin was just born near Bethlehem — but the phrase likely refers to the period of Jacob's sojourn in Mesopotamia as the time when the family was formed.

The Death and Burial of Isaac (vv. 27-29)

Notes

• מַמְרֵא קִרְיַת הָאַרְבַּע הִוא חֶבְרוֹן ("Mamre, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron") — The triple naming links this place to the deepest roots of patriarchal history. Mamre was where Abraham settled and received the promise of Isaac's birth (Genesis 18:1). Kiriath-arba ("city of four") was the older Canaanite name. Hebron is the name by which it is best known. The cave of Machpelah, where Abraham, Sarah, and eventually Isaac and Rebekah would be buried, is here (Genesis 23:19).

• וַיִּגְוַע יִצְחָק וַיָּמָת וַיֵּאָסֶף אֶל עַמָּיו ("Isaac breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people") — The triple expression — expired, died, gathered — is the standard patriarchal death formula (used also for Abraham in Genesis 25:8). The phrase "gathered to his people" implies reunion with ancestors in the afterlife, a belief that predates later Jewish theology of resurrection. The description זָקֵן וּשְׂבַע יָמִים ("old and full of days") signals a life well completed.

• וַיִּקְבְּרוּ אֹתוֹ עֵשָׂו וְיַעֲקֹב בָּנָיו ("his sons Esau and Jacob buried him") — The joint burial by both sons mirrors Abraham's burial by Isaac and Ishmael (Genesis 25:9). Despite everything — the stolen blessing, the twenty-year separation, the complicated reunion of Genesis 33 — the brothers come together in their father's death. Esau is named first, perhaps reflecting his status as the elder son or his geographic proximity to Hebron (from Seir). The scene provides a quiet note of reconciliation as the Isaac cycle closes.