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.
Genesis 35
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
35 In the meantime God said to Jacob: Arise, and go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar to God, who appeared to thee when thou didst flee from Esau thy brother.
2 And Jacob having called together all his household, said: Cast away the strange gods that are among you, and be cleansed and change your garments.
3 Arise, and let us go up to Bethel, that we may make there an altar to God: who heard me in the day of my affliction, and accompanied me in my journey.
4 So they gave him all the strange gods they had, and the earrings which were in their ears: and he buried them under the turpentine tree, that is behind the city of Sichem.
5 And when they were departed, the terror of God fell upon all the cities round about, and they durst not pursue after them as they went away.
6 And Jacob came to Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan, surnamed Bethel: he and all the people that were with him.
7 And he built there an altar, and called the name of that place, The house of God: for there God appeared to him when he fled from his brother.
8 At the same time Debora the nurse of Rebecca died, and was buried at the foot of Bethel under an oak: and the name of that place was called, The oak of weeping.
9 And God appeared again to Jacob, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria, and he blessed him,
10 Saying: Thou shalt not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. And he called him Israel.
11 And said to him: I am God Almighty, increase thou and be multiplied. Nations and peoples of nations shall be from thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins.
12 And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to thee, and to thy seed after thee.
13 And he departed from him.
14 But he set up a monument of stone, in the place where God had spoken to him: pouring drink offerings upon it, and pouring oil thereon:
15 And calling the name of that place Bethel.
16 And going forth from thence, he came in the springtime to the land which leadeth to Ephrata: wherein when Rachel was in travail,
17 By reason of her hard labour she began to be in danger, and the midwife said to her: Fear not, for thou shalt have this son also.
18 And when her soul was departing for pain, and death was now at hand, she called the name of her son Benoni, that is, The son of my pain: but his father called him Benjamin, that is, The son of the right hand.
19 So Rachel died, and was buried in the highway that leadeth to Ephrata, this is Bethlehem.
20 And Jacob erected a pillar over her sepulchre: this is the pillar of Rachel's monument, to this day.
21 Departing thence, he pitched his tent beyond the Flock tower.
22 And when he dwelt in that country, Ruben went, and slept with Bala, the concubine of his father: which he was not ignorant of. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.
23 The sons of Lia: Ruben the firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Juda, and Issachar, and Zabulon.
24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
25 The sons of Bala, Rachel's handmaid: Dan and Nephtali.
26 The sons of Zelpha, Lia's handmaid: Gad and Aser: these are the sons of Jacob, that were born to him in Mesopotamia of Syria.
27 And he came to Isaac his father in Mambre, the city of Arbee, this is Hebron: wherein Abraham and Isaac sojourned.
28 And the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years.
29 And being spent with age he died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
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