Genesis 35
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 35
Jacob Returns to Bethel.[a] 1 God said to Jacob, “Rise up, go to Bethel, and live there. Build an altar to the God who appeared to you when you fled from Esau, your brother, in that place.”
2 Jacob said to his family and to those who were with him, “Throw away the foreign gods that you have with you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Let us arise and go to Bethel where I will build an altar to the God who delivered me at the time of my distress and who has been with me along the way that I have traveled.” 4 They gave Jacob all the foreign gods in their possession and the earrings they had in their ears. Jacob left them under the oak near Shechem. 5 They then journeyed on, and a great terror came upon the people who lived in that area, so they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
6 Jacob and all the people who were with him arrived in Luz, that is, Bethel, which is in the land of Canaan. 7 Here he built an altar and called the place El-Bethel, because God had revealed himself there, when he had fled from his brother.
8 Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, died there, and she was buried below Bethel, beneath an oak. This is why that place is called the Weeping Oak.
9 God appeared another time to Jacob, when he returned from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him. 10 God said to him,
“Your name is Jacob.
You shall no longer be called Jacob,
but Israel shall be your name.”
Thus, he was called Israel.
11 God said to him,
“I am God Almighty.
Be fruitful and become numerous.
People and assemblies of people shall come from you.
Kings shall come forth from your loins.
12 The country that I have given to Abraham and Isaac
I will give to you;
and to your descendants after you
I will give this land.”
13 Then God departed from him, in the place where he had spoken to him.
14 Jacob erected a pillar where God had spoken to him, a stone pillar upon which he poured a libation of oil. 15 Jacob called the place where God had spoken to him Bethel.
16 Jacob Endures Painful Times.[b] They then departed from Bethel. They were a short distance outside of Ephrath when Rachel went into labor and she suffered great distress. 17 When her pains were most severe, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for it is another son!” 18 With her last breath, for she was dying, she called him Ben-oni,[c] the son of my sorrow, but his father called him Benjamin.
19 Rachel died and was buried on the road to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem. 20 Jacob erected a pillar on the tomb. That monument to Rachel can be seen to this day.
21 Israel moved on and pitched his tent on the other side of Migdal-eder. 22 While Israel lived in that country, Reuben slept with Bilhah, the concubine of his father, and Israel came to know about it.
The Twelve Sons of Jacob.[d] Jacob had twelve sons.
23 The sons of Leah:
Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn,
Simeon, Levi, Judah,
Issachar and Zebulun.
24 The sons of Rachel:
Joseph and Benjamin.
25 The sons of Bilhah, the slave of Rachel:
Dan and Naphtali.
26 The sons of Zilpah, the slave of Leah:
Gad and Asher.
These were the sons of Jacob who were born in Paddan-aram.
27 Death of Isaac.[e] Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, at Kiriath-arba, that is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. 28 Isaac lived for one hundred and eighty years. 29 Isaac then breathed his last. He died and was reunited with his people at a ripe old age. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Footnotes
- Genesis 35:1 The Patriarch seems to be fleeing a threat of reprisal by the Shechemites (v. 5). Possibly he is also making a pilgrimage to his origins. In any case, this return to Bethel takes on a religious meaning: it is there that the Lord revealed himself to Jacob and there that he renewed his promises. The Patriarch and his family cleanse themselves and give up their pagan practices to affirm their faith in the one God to whom they wish to render homage; the Lord brooks no rivals in human hearts. This constitutes a first stable establishment of the People of God in the Holy Land.
- Genesis 35:16 Rachel, Jacob’s preferred wife, dies while giving birth to a son; later, he learns that his eldest son Reuben has committed a grave outrage against him. Thus, Jacob continues to expiate his sin.
- Genesis 35:18 Ben-oni means “Son of my sorrow.” Jacob changes it to Benjamin, “Son of the right hand,” that is, of good omen. This time, the popular etymology agrees with the scientific. But originally the name “son of the right hand” seems to have been inspired by geography: the right hand is the south, because the Semites oriented themselves by looking eastward to where the sun rises; therefore “Benjamin” means “son of the south.”
- Genesis 35:22 Jacob’s twelve sons represent all the chosen people born of Abraham now established in the Holy Land. This list will be found frequently in the Bible.
- Genesis 35:27 The aged and taciturn Isaac seemed close to death when he blessed Jacob to the detriment of Esau (ch. 27). Here the Priestly tradition reports his death later and seems to know nothing about the rivalry between the two brothers.
1 Mose 35
Luther Bibel 1545
35 Und Gott sprach zu Jakob: Mache dich auf und ziehe gen Beth-El und wohne daselbst und mache daselbst einen Altar dem Gott, der dir erschien, da du flohest vor deinem Bruder Esau.
2 Da sprach Jakob zu seinem Hause und zu allen, die mit ihm waren: Tut von euch fremde Götter, so unter euch sind, und reinigt euch und ändert eure Kleider
3 und laßt uns auf sein und gen Beth-El ziehen, daß ich daselbst einen Altar mache dem Gott, der mich erhört hat zur Zeit meiner Trübsal und ist mit mir gewesen auf dem Wege, den ich gezogen bin.
4 Da gaben sie ihm alle fremden Götter, die unter ihren Händen waren, und ihre Ohrenspangen; und er vergrub sie unter einer Eiche, die neben Sichem stand.
5 Und sie zogen aus. Und es kam die Furcht Gottes über die Städte, die um sie her lagen, daß sie den Söhnen Jakobs nicht nachjagten.
6 Also kam Jakob gen Lus im Lande Kanaan, das da Beth-El heißt, samt all dem Volk, das mit ihm war,
7 und baute daselbst einen Altar und hieß die Stätte El-Beth-El, darum daß ihm daselbst Gott offenbart war, da er floh vor seinem Bruder.
8 Da starb Debora, der Rebekka Amme, und ward begraben unterhalb Beth-El unter der Eiche; die ward genannt die Klageeiche.
9 Und Gott erschien Jakob abermals, nachdem er aus Mesopotamien gekommen war, und segnete ihn
10 und sprach zu ihm: Du heißt Jakob; aber du sollst nicht mehr Jakob heißen, sondern Israel sollst du heißen. Und also heißt man ihn Israel.
11 Und Gott sprach zu ihm: Ich bin der allmächtige Gott; sei fruchtbar und mehre dich; Völker und Völkerhaufen sollen von dir kommen, und Könige sollen aus deinen Lenden kommen;
12 und das Land, das ich Abraham und Isaak gegeben habe, will ich dir geben und will's deinem Samen nach dir geben.
13 Also fuhr Gott auf von ihm von dem Ort, da er mit ihm geredet hatte.
14 Jakob aber richtete ein steinernes Mal auf an dem Ort, da er mit ihm geredet hatte, und goß ein Trankopfer darauf und begoß es mit Öl.
15 Und Jakob hieß den Ort, da Gott mit ihm geredet hatte, Beth-El.
16 Und sie zogen von Beth-El. Und da noch ein Feld Weges war von Ephrath, da gebar Rahel.
17 Und es kam sie hart an über der Geburt. Da aber die Geburt so schwer ward, sprach die Wehmutter zu ihr: Fürchte dich nicht, denn diesen Sohn wirst du auch haben.
18 Da ihr aber die Seele ausging, daß sie sterben mußte, hieß sie ihn Ben-Oni; aber sein Vater hieß ihn Ben-Jamin.
19 Also starb Rahel und ward begraben an dem Wege gen Ephrath, das nun heißt Bethlehem.
20 Und Jakob richtete ein Mal auf über ihrem Grabe; dasselbe ist das Grabmal Rahels bis auf diesen Tag.
21 Und Israel zog aus und richtete seine Hütte auf jenseit des Turms Eder.
22 Und es begab sich, da Israel im Lande wohnte, ging Ruben hin und schlief bei Bilha, seines Vaters Kebsweib; und das kam vor Israel. Es hatte aber Jakob zwölf Söhne.
23 Die Söhne Leas waren diese: Ruben, der erstgeborene Sohn Jakobs, Simeon, Levi, Juda, Isaschar und Sebulon;
24 die Söhne Rahel waren: Joseph und Benjamin;
25 die Söhne Bilhas, Rahels Magd: Dan und Naphthali;
26 die Söhne Silpas, Leas Magd: Gad und Asser. Das sind die Söhne Jakobs, die ihm geboren sind in Mesopotamien.
27 Und Jakob kam zu seinem Vater Isaak gen Mamre zu Kirjat-Arba, das da heißt Hebron, darin Abraham und Isaak Fremdlinge gewesen sind.
28 Und Isaak ward hundertundachtzig Jahre alt
29 und nahm ab und starb und ward versammelt zu seinem Volk, alt und des Lebens satt. Und seine Söhne Esau und Jakob begruben ihn.
Copyright © 1545 by Public Domain