Genesis 35:1-8

Genesis 35:1-8

[1] And God  said  unto Jacob,  Arise,  go up  to Bethel,  and dwell  there: and make  there an altar  unto God,  that appeared  unto thee when thou fleddest  from the face  of Esau  thy brother.  [2] Then Jacob  said  unto his household,  and to all that were with him, Put away  the strange  gods  that are among you,  and be clean,  and change  your garments:  [3] And let us arise,  and go up  to Bethel;  and I will make  there an altar  unto God,  who answered  me in the day  of my distress,  and was with me in the way  which I went.  [4] And they gave  unto Jacob  all the strange  gods  which were in their hand,  and all their earrings  which were in their ears;  and Jacob  hid  them under the oak  which was by Shechem.  [5] And they journeyed:  and the terror  of God  was upon the cities  that were round about  them, and they did not pursue  after  the sons  of Jacob.  [6] So Jacob  came  to Luz,  which is in the land  of Canaan,  that is, Bethel,  he and all the people  that were with him. [7] And he built  there an altar,  and called  the place  because there God  appeared  unto him, when he fled  from the face  of his brother.  [8] But Deborah  Rebekah's  nurse  died,  and she was buried  beneath Bethel  under an oak:  and the name  of it was called  Allonbachuth. 

What does Genesis 35:1-8 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

About10 years had passed since Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, and he had not yet returned to Bethel to fulfill his vow there ( Genesis 28:20-22). He should have headed there immediately rather than settling near Shechem. His negligence evidently was due in part to the continuing presence of the idols that Rachel and probably others had brought from Haran. Perhaps their allegiance to these gods restrained Jacob"s total commitment to Yahweh (cf. 1 Kings 11:3-4).
God appeared to Jacob (the fourth time) and commanded him to fulfill his vow ( Genesis 35:1). This revelation encouraged Jacob to stop procrastinating. This is the first and only time God commanded a patriarch to build an altar. The command constituted a test of Jacob"s obedience similar to Abraham"s test when God instructed him to offer up "a burnt offering" on Mt. Moriah ( Genesis 22:2). In preparation for his trip to Bethel Jacob purged his household of idolatry by literally burying Rachel"s idols along with other objects associated with the worship of these gods. He also purified himself from the defilement of the blood his family had shed in Shechem (ch34).
"It is significant that Jacob called God the one "who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone" ( Genesis 35:3). That epithet serves as a fitting summary of the picture of God that has emerged from the Jacob narratives. Jacob was in constant distress; yet in each instance God remained faithful to his promise and delivered him." [1]
The oak referred to here ( Genesis 35:4) seems to have been the oak of Moreh (lit. "teacher") where God had appeared to Abraham shortly after he had entered the land ( Genesis 12:6).
"At the same spot, possibly prompted by Jacob"s example, Joshua was one day to issue a very similar call to Israel ( Joshua 24:23 ff.)." [2]
God blessed Jacob for his commitment, expressed in his burying the idols and earrings (perhaps taken from the Shechemites), by placing the fear of Jacob"s family in the hearts of the Canaanites whom they passed on their way to Bethel ( Genesis 35:5-8; cf. Proverbs 16:7). Perhaps God used the memory of Simeon and Levi"s fierce treatment of the Shechemites to accomplish this.
"Throughout his life Jacob has had to contend with his own fears-fear of God ( Genesis 28:17), fear of Laban ( Genesis 31:31), fear of Esau ( Genesis 32:8; Genesis 32:12 [3]). Nobody had been in fear of him. Angry, yes; fearful, no." [4]
Jacob faithfully fulfilled his vow to God at Luz, which he renamed Bethel (house of God, Genesis 35:15). He named the place of his altar El-Bethel (God of Bethel, Genesis 35:7) in memory of God"s first revelation to him there. This is the first revival recorded in the Bible.
Deborah, Rebekah"s nurse (cf. Genesis 24:59), must have been an important member of Jacob"s household to merit this notation by the writer. She may have left Beersheba with Jacob or may have joined him later after the death of Rebekah. The reference to Deborah is probably a way of reminding the reader of Rebekah and alluding to her death in a veiled manner. [5] This may have been appropriate in view of Rebekah"s deception of Isaac (ch27). [6]