Genesis 35
New International Reader's Version
Jacob Returns to Bethel
35 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and live there. Build an altar there to honor me. That’s where I appeared to you when you were running away from your brother Esau.”
2 So Jacob spoke to his family and to everyone with him. He said, “Get rid of the statues of false gods you have with you. Make yourselves pure by washing and changing your clothes. 3 Come, let’s go up to Bethel. There I’ll build an altar to honor God. He answered me when I was in trouble. He’s been with me everywhere I’ve gone.” 4 So they gave Jacob all the statues of false gods they had. They also gave him their earrings. Jacob buried those things under the oak tree at Shechem. 5 Then Jacob and everyone with him started out. The terror of God fell on the towns all around them. So no one chased them.
6 Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz. Luz is also called Bethel. It’s in the land of Canaan. 7 Jacob built an altar at Luz. He named the place El Bethel. There God made himself known to Jacob when he was running away from his brother.
8 Rebekah’s attendant Deborah died. They buried her body under the oak tree outside Bethel. So it was called Allon Bakuth.
9 After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again. And God blessed him. 10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. But you will not be called Jacob anymore. Your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.
11 God said to him, “I am the Mighty God. Have children so that there will be many of you. You will become the father of a nation and a community of nations. Your later family will include kings. 12 I am giving you the land I gave to Abraham and Isaac. I will also give it to your children after you.” 13 Then God left him at the place where he had talked with him.
14 Jacob set up a sacred stone at the place where God had talked with him. He poured out a drink offering on it. He also poured olive oil on it. 15 Jacob named the place Bethel. That’s where God had talked with him.
Rachel and Isaac Die
16 They moved on from Bethel. Ephrath wasn’t very far away when Rachel began to have a baby. She was having a very hard time of it. 17 The woman who helped her saw that she was having problems. So she said to Rachel, “Don’t be afraid. You have another son.” 18 But Rachel was dying. As she took her last breath, she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.
19 So Rachel died. She was buried beside the road to Ephrath. Ephrath was also called Bethlehem. 20 Jacob set up a stone marker over her tomb. To this day, the stone marks the place where Rachel was buried.
21 Israel moved on again. He set up his tent beyond Migdal Eder. 22 While Israel was living in that area, Reuben went in and slept with Bilhah. She was the concubine of Reuben’s father. And Israel heard about it.
Here are the 12 sons Jacob had.
23 Leah was the mother of
Reuben, Jacob’s oldest son.
Her other sons were Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.
24 The sons of Rachel were
Joseph and Benjamin.
25 The sons of Rachel’s female servant Bilhah were
Dan and Naphtali.
26 The sons of Leah’s female servant Zilpah were
Gad and Asher.
These were Jacob’s sons. They were born in Paddan Aram.
27 Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre. Mamre is near Kiriath Arba, where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. The place is also called Hebron. 28 Isaac lived 180 years. 29 Then he took his last breath and died. He was very old when he joined the members of his family who had already died. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Genesis 35
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 35
Bethel Revisited. 1 [a]God said to Jacob: Go up now to Bethel. Settle there and build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.(A) 2 So Jacob told his household and all who were with him: “Get rid of the foreign gods[b] among you; then purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Let us now go up to Bethel so that I might build an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 They gave Jacob all the foreign gods in their possession and also the rings they had in their ears[c] and Jacob buried them under the oak that is near Shechem. 5 Then, as they set out, a great terror fell upon the surrounding towns, so that no one pursued the sons of Jacob.
6 Thus Jacob and all the people who were with him arrived in Luz (now Bethel) in the land of Canaan.(B) 7 There he built an altar and called the place El-Bethel,[d] for it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.(C)
8 Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died. She was buried under the oak below Bethel, and so it was named Allon-bacuth.[e]
9 On Jacob’s arrival from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. 10 God said to him:
Your name is Jacob.
You will no longer be named Jacob,
but Israel will be your name.(D)
So he was named Israel. 11 Then God said to him: I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply. A nation, indeed an assembly of nations, will stem from you, and kings will issue from your loins. 12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you; and to your descendants after you I will give the land.(E)
13 Then God departed from him. 14 In the place where God had spoken with him, Jacob set up a sacred pillar, a stone pillar, and upon it he made a libation and poured out oil.(F) 15 Jacob named the place where God spoke to him Bethel.
Jacob’s Family. 16 Then they departed from Bethel; but while they still had some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel went into labor and suffered great distress. 17 When her labor was most intense, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for now you have another son.” 18 With her last breath—for she was at the point of death—she named him Ben-oni;[f] but his father named him Benjamin. 19 Thus Rachel died; and she was buried on the road to Ephrath (now Bethlehem).[g](G) 20 Jacob set up a sacred pillar on her grave, and the same pillar marks Rachel’s grave to this day.
21 Israel moved on and pitched his tent beyond Migdal-eder. 22 While Israel was encamped in that region, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine. When Israel heard of it, he was greatly offended.[h](H)
The sons of Jacob were now twelve. 23 The sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; 24 [i]the sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin; 25 the sons of Rachel’s maidservant Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali; 26 the sons of Leah’s maidservant Zilpah: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
27 Jacob went home to his father Isaac at Mamre, in Kiriath-arba (now Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had resided. 28 The length of Isaac’s life was one hundred and eighty years; 29 then he breathed his last. He died as an old man and was gathered to his people. After a full life, his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Footnotes
- 35:1–7 Jacob returns to Bethel and founds the sanctuary, an event that forms a “bookend” to the first visit to Bethel in 28:10–22. To enter the Lord’s sanctuary, one must purify oneself and get rid of all signs of allegiance to other gods (Jos 24:23; Jgs 10:16). Jacob also seems to initiate the custom of making a pilgrimage to Bethel (see Ps 122:1 and Is 2:3, 5).
- 35:2 Foreign gods: divine images, including those of household deities (see note on 31:19), that Jacob’s people brought with them from Paddan-aram.
- 35:4 Rings…their ears: the earrings may have belonged to the gods because earrings were often placed on statues.
- 35:7 El-Bethel: probably to be translated “the god of Bethel.” This is one of several titles of God in Genesis that begin with El (= God), e.g., El Olam (21:33), El Elyon (14:18), El the God of Israel (33:20), El Roi (16:13), and El Shaddai. Most of these (except El Shaddai) are tied to specific Israelite shrines.
- 35:8 Allon-bacuth: the Hebrew name means “oak of weeping.”
- 35:18 Ben-oni: means either “son of my vigor” or, more likely in the context, “son of affliction.” Benjamin: “son of the right hand,” meaning a son who is his father’s help and support.
- 35:19 Bethlehem: the gloss comes from a later tradition that identified the site with Bethlehem, also called Ephrath or Ephratha (Jos 15:59; Ru 4:11; Mi 5:1). But Rachel’s grave was actually near Ramah (Jer 31:15), a few miles north of Jerusalem, in the territory of Benjamin (1 Sm 10:2).
- 35:22 The genealogy in vv. 23–29 is prefaced by a notice about Reuben’s sleeping with Bilhah, his father’s concubine. Such an act is a serious challenge to the authority of the father (cf. 2 Sm 3:7 and 16:21). In his final testament in chap. 49, Jacob cites this act of Reuben as the reason for Reuben’s loss of the authority he had as firstborn son (49:4). Reuben’s act is one more instance of strife in the family and of discord between father and son.
- 35:24–26 Benjamin is here said to have been born in Paddan-aram, apparently because all twelve sons of Jacob are considered as a unit.
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