Chapter Thirty-Five

By God’s Command Jacob Goes to Bethel, Where the Name Israel is Fully Established for Him

Genesis 35:1. God said to Jacob: Rise up, go to Bethel and dwell there, and make an altar there to God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau. The bloody deed of Simeon and Levi at Shechem made it unsafe for Jacob’s family to remain in the vicinity of Shechem (verse 3). Moreover, the purpose of Jacob’s journey from Haran was Bethel (Gen 28:19), which Jacob had still not reached, despite his ten years already spent in Palestine. Therefore, God gives him the command to go to Bethel, which at the same time was both an approval and a reminder.

Genesis 35:2–3. And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him: Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes; then let us rise and go to Bethel, that I may make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me [and kept me] on the way that I went. Under the influence of this revelation, and also in anticipation of the journey to the place sacred to Jacob—Bethel (Gen 28:19), he (as later Moses did from the people—before the Sinaitic legislation, Exod 19:10-14), requires from all members of his household complete purification—the rejection of all heathen admixtures of idolatry (the teraphim and probably other idols, the worship of which might have been brought into Jacob’s family by Mesopotamian servants of his, as well as through relations with the Shechemites) and, as an outward sign of this, washing and changing of clothes, defiled by idolatry. This was as it were an act of preparation for higher sanctification (cf. Exod 19:10; 2 Sam 12:20). As the motive for this Jacob puts forward his sense of gratitude to the Lord for aid in the perils of his journey.

Genesis 35:4. So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak that was near Shechem. [And made them ineffectual until this day.] The word of the patriarch produces immediate effect: his household members give him not only the idols but also the rings (cf. Exod 32:2): “perhaps these were some kind of signs (symbols) idolatrous, and therefore they brought them together with the idols to Jacob” (John Chrysostom, Homily 59, p. 642). Blessed Augustine (Quaestiones ad h. l.) sees in such rings magical talismans and calls them “idolorum phylacteria” (repositories of idols). Similarly Rabbi Maimonides in the treatise “akum imazzeloth” (idolaters) recognizes them as idols. Jacob buries these objects in the earth (according to Jewish tradition—secretly, so that no one would dig them up again), under the oak near Shechem, which apparently was well-known (Gen 12:6; Josh 24:26; Judg 9:6). The addition by the Seventy (also in the Slavonic and Russian translation), that Jacob made the idols ineffectual until this day, though it has the character of a gloss, not confirmed by textual tradition, yet has internal credibility.

Genesis 35:5. And they set out from there. And the terror of God fell upon the cities round about them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. Jacob’s zeal for the purity of faith and his family’s obedience to him was rewarded with safety sent by God against the surrounding peoples, whereas after the bloodshed at Shechem Jacob expected attack (Gen 34:30) from the neighbors; on the contrary, they themselves experienced fear before the worshiper of the true God (“the terror of God,” cf. Exod 23:27).

Genesis 35:6–7. And Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan (that is, Bethel), he and all the people who were with him, and he built an altar there, and called the place El-Bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother [Esau]. Luz was the former Canaanite name of the place, which from the time of Jacob’s vision (Gen 28:19-20) received the name Bethel (“house of God”); at this time the name Luz was still in common use, so Jacob gives the place a new name: Bethel or El-Bethel (cf. Gen 31:13), building there, according to his vow (Gen 28:22), an altar. The reason for the name: “there God revealed himself to him when he fled...” In the Hebrew text the name God (Haelohim) at this place has a verb in the plural number, which is very rare with the word Bohim. Together with Onkelos one can here see an indication of God’s appearance together with the Angels.

Genesis 35:8. And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and was buried below Bethel under an oak; and Jacob called the name of it Allon-Bacuth (the oak of weeping). Rebekah’s nurse Deborah was without doubt the nurse of Rebekah about whom, as a companion of Rebekah to Canaan, mention is made in Gen 24:59, without, however, mention of her name. She could have come to Jacob’s camp during one of his visits to Hebron (it is difficult to suppose that during ten years he, at least once, would not have visited his father and mother). Jewish tradition says that Rebekah, according to the promise given to Jacob (Gen 27:45) after fourteen years of Jacob’s stay in Haran, sent Deborah there with the news that Jacob could now return. Some rabbis, however, supposed that Deborah is mentioned here instead of Rebekah, of whose death there is no special mention (cf. Gen 35:27). Near the place of Deborah’s burial, called “Allon-Bacuth” (oak of weeping), there is later mentioned “Deborah’s palm” (Judg 4:5).

Genesis 35:9–12. And God appeared to Jacob again, upon his coming from Paddan-aram, and blessed him, and God said to him: Your name is Jacob; you will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel will be your name. So he called his name Israel. And God said to him: I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations will come from you, and kings will arise from your offspring; and the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you. Here is depicted the vision of God to Jacob “for the first time upon his returning from Mesopotamia” (earlier, verse 1, there was merely a simple command of God) and His blessing of Jacob. This vision is set in parallel with the one that came to Jacob on the way of his flight into Mesopotamia: both visions take place at Bethel, one at the beginning of his wandering in Mesopotamia and at the pronouncement of Jacob’s vow, the other at his return to his homeland and the fulfillment of his vow; there and here the promises of God to Abraham are repeated, and in the latter case God finally establishes for Jacob the name Israel (cf. Gen 32:27-28), in which consists the special blessing of Jacob (verses 9-10). And just as to Abraham at the announcement of the birth of his son (Gen 17:1) God reveals himself with the designation in the Hebrew text of the words El-Shaddai, which means “God Almighty,” so now He reveals himself to Jacob (verse 11) at the repetition of the promise about the descent of many nations from him; and the promise (verse 12) is repeated about the gift to the descendants of Abraham and Jacob of the land of Canaan. Dying, Jacob remembered (Gen 48:3) the Bethel event as the highest moment of his life. Indeed, thanks to the indicated relation to the history of Abraham (Gen 17:1) and others), to Jacob’s vision on the way to Mesopotamia (Gen 28:12-16) and to the mysterious wrestling of Jacob at Peniel (Gen 32:24-32), it connects in one whole all the preceding patriarchal history, presenting it as one history of salvation, developed systematically under the constant action of God.

Genesis 35:14–15. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it; and Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel. In accordance with the similarity of the inner significance of both Bethel theophani Jacob in both cases performs the same external monuments: the setting up of a pillar and a drink offering (only according to some commentators, in the latter case wine, nesech, was poured out (cf. Num 15:5), not just oil, as in the first case); finally, Jacob again seals the memory of the twofold vision with the name Bethel (verse 15).

On the Road Rachel Bears Benjamin and Dies

Genesis 35:16. And they set out from Bethel. [And he pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Eder.] And when there was yet some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. Strengthened by the vision and promise, happy in the consciousness of duty fulfilled, Jacob directs himself from Bethel toward the south, to Hebron, through later Bethlehem. But here he was to experience that complete happiness on earth was not granted to him: his beloved wife Rachel bears him a second son, and then dies. The addition (verse 16) by the Seventy (Slavonic-Russian): “And he pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Eder” is probably taken from verse 21. The meaning of the Hebrew term kibrat-haarez was already unknown to the ancient translators: the Seventy merely wrote the Hebrew word kibrat in Greek letters: χαβραθά; in Gen 48:7, the same word the Seventy render with the translation: κατὰ τὸν ιππόδρομον χαβραθὰ, understanding by the latter word the distance run by a horse, perhaps in an hour. The Midrash sees in this expression a determination of time: identifying the term kibrath with the word kebarah, a sieve, the Midrash renders: “in springtime, when the earth is plowed like a sieve” (Bereschr. r. Par. 82, s. 402) an entirely unacceptable understanding, shared, however, by the Vulgate (“verno tempore”). In modern times mostly the said expression is taken as denoting a distance, equal to approximately a French mile (Metropolitan Philaret and others) or a verst (Mandelstam), which is confirmed by the equal of this distance now indicated from Bethlehem to Rachel’s tomb. The names “Bethlehem” (from Hebrew “house of bread”) and “Ephrath” (“fruitful”) are synonymous in meaning; the latter was the most ancient, and the former the later (as well as Luz-Bethel); they were used together (Gen 35:19; Mic 5:2).

Genesis 35:17. And when she was in severe labor, the midwife said to her: Do not fear, for now you have another son. Rachel’s labor (in contrast to the majority of Hebrew women, Exod 1:19) was difficult, perhaps because of her advanced age and the long time since the birth of Joseph. But the midwife tries to comfort her, reminding her of her ardent desire (Gen 30:24) to have a second son and announcing to her that a son is being born to her (according to the Midrash, with each son of Jacob there was born also a sister, and with Benjamin—two sisters).

Genesis 35:18. And as her soul was departing (for she died), she called his name Ben-oni (Son of My Sorrow). But his father called him Benjamin (Son of the Right Hand). The dying mother says that this son is the child of sorrow (to death) of his mother, Ben-oni. But Jacob, not wishing that the name of his last son be constantly a reminder of his grief over the loss of Rachel, changed it to another, Benjamin—“son of the right hand” (Vulg.: filius dextrae), that is, perhaps of fortune (such is the meaning of the names: “Gad,” “Asher”) or “strength” (Hebrew aven, sorrow, can have the form on, which means strength, Gen 49:3), or “son of the south” (born in the south, whereas all other sons were born in the north).

Genesis 35:19–20. So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). And Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave. This is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which stands to this day. Rachel was buried near Ephrath—Bethlehem (Septuagint: “the way of the hippodrome”—in the stated meaning), where her tomb is shown even now, Kubbet-Rahil, having, however, the appearance of a purely Muslim sarcophagus. In 1 Sam 10:2 Rachel’s tomb is indicated on the border of Benjamin, that is, significantly further north, and similarly in Jer 31:15 (about the weeping of Rachel over the captive Hebrews, heard in Ramah) the proximity of this tomb to Ramah in the tribe of Benjamin is presupposed. It is possible that the memorial set up by Jacob, preserved until the time of Moses (“to this day”), made it possible for the Hebrews, upon their entry into Canaan, to find Rachel’s remains and transfer them (as the bones of Jacob and Joseph were transferred) to the inheritance of Rachel’s last son—Benjamin.

Reuben’s Transgression, the Genealogy of Jacob’s Family, the Death and Burial of Isaac

Genesis 35:21–22. And Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Eder. And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it [and was grieved]. Now Jacob had twelve sons. To the grievous family sorrow of the patriarch was added another: the dishonoring of his bed by his firstborn Reuben (perhaps standing in connection with Rachel’s death and Reuben’s claim to actual primacy), which took place near “the Tower of Eder” or “the Tower of Flocks” (Vulg: “turris gregis”), which according to tradition lay to the south of Bethlehem (some, however, on the basis of Mic 4:8 brought this tower of flocks close to the “sheep gate” (John 5:2) in Jerusalem, but the first date fits the narrative of this place better). “And Israel heard of it,”—certainly with grief, as the Seventy interpreters also supplement the Hebrew text. For this serious crime Reuben was deprived by Jacob of the rights of primogeniture (Gen 49:3-4). Jewish interpreters, however, mitigated Reuben’s guilt; among other things, they pointed out that the first prophet—Hosea was from the tribe of Reuben.

Genesis 35:23–26. The sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant: Dan and Naphtali. The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram. With the birth of Benjamin the number of Jacob’s sons was completed—twelve, which is why all of them, with an indication of the division of them among four mothers, are here enumerated. The remark that all of them were born in Mesopotamia requires, of course, a qualification with respect to Benjamin, who was born in Canaan.

Genesis 35:27–29. And Jacob came to Isaac his father [for he was still living] at Mamre, at Kirjath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned as strangers. And the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. And Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of years; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. Jacob with all his household finally comes to his father Isaac. At this time Isaac was about one hundred and sixty-seven years old (about thirty years had passed since Jacob’s flight, cf. the commentary on Gen 27:1), so that his death (verse 28) occurred about thirteen years later, (the figure of one hundred and sixty-seven years can also be obtained thus: Joseph was sold into Egypt at seventeen years (Gen 37:2), and before Jacob’s arrival in Egypt with his family lived in Egypt about twenty-three years; consequently, Jacob, when arriving in Egypt was one hundred and thirty years old (Gen 47:9), was about one hundred and seven years old at the time of Joseph’s sale; hence Isaac—one hundred and sixty-seven years, Gen 25:26). Together with Jacob, Isaac (Rebekah apparently died before him) experienced grief over Joseph and died, probably about the time of the latter’s exaltation in Egypt. But the sacred historian speaks proleptiically of Isaac’s death, so as not to later interrupt the narrative (similarly about Abraham’s death it is said Gen 25:8, before the birth of Esau and Jacob, yet he lived another fifteen years after that event). Isaac, like his father, died “full of years,” that is, having received from life all its blessings and having fulfilled his life’s purpose; “and was gathered to his people,” that is, departed into the life beyond. He was buried in the cave of Machpelah (Gen 49:31) by both his sons (verses 28-29).