---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Genesis 35"
description: "CHAPTER 35   :-. REMOVAL TO
BETHEL. 1. God said unto Jacob, Arise,
c.—This command was given seasonably in point of time and tenderly
in respect of langua"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/genesis/35"
---

![Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible](/images/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible.jpg)

 The Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
 
Include 66 books
 
Denomination: calvinism
 
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CHAPTER 35

. REMOVAL TO
BETHEL.

**1. God said unto Jacob, Arise,**
c.—This command was given seasonably in point of time and tenderly
in respect of language. The disgraceful and perilous events that had
recently taken place in the patriarch's family must have produced in
him a strong desire to remove without delay from the vicinity of
Shechem. Borne down by an overwhelming sense of the criminality of
his two sons—of the offense they had given to God and the dishonor
they had brought on the true faith distracted, too, with anxiety
about the probable consequences which their outrage might bring upon
himself and family, should the Canaanite people combine to extirpate
such a band of robbers and murderers; he must have felt this call as
affording a great relief to his afflicted feelings. At the same time
it conveyed a tender rebuke.
**go up to Beth-el**—Beth-el
was about thirty miles south of Shechem and was an ascent from a low
to a highland country. There, he would not only be released from the
painful associations of the latter place but be established on a spot
that would revive the most delightful and sublime recollections. The
pleasure of revisiting it, however, was not altogether unalloyed.
**make there an altar unto God,
that appeared**—It too frequently happens that early impressions
are effaced through lapse of time, that promises made in seasons of
distress, are forgotten; or, if remembered on the return of health
and prosperity, there is not the same alacrity and sense of
obligation felt to fulfil them. Jacob was lying under that charge. He
had fallen into spiritual indolence. It was now eight or ten years
since his return to Canaan. He had effected a comfortable settlement
and had acknowledged the divine mercies, by which that return and
settlement had been signally distinguished (compare ). But for some unrecorded reason, his early vow at Beth-el
[[Genesis 28:20-22](../../../kjv/genesis/28/20-22)], in a
great crisis of his life, remained unperformed. The Lord appeared now
to remind him of his neglected duty, in terms, however, so mild, as
awakened less the memory of his fault, than of the kindness of his
heavenly Guardian; and how much Jacob felt the touching nature of the
appeal to that memorable scene at Beth-el, appears in the immediate
preparations he made to *arise* and *go up* thither ([Genesis 28:20-1](../../../kjv/genesis/28/20-1)).

**2. Then Jacob said unto his
household . . . Put away the strange gods that are among you**—*Hebrew,*
"gods of the stranger," of foreign nations. Jacob had
brought, in his service, a number of Mesopotamian retainers, who were
addicted to superstitious practices; and there is some reason to fear
that the same high testimony as to the religious superintendence of
his household could not have been borne of him as was done of Abraham
([Genesis 18:19](../../../kjv/genesis/18/19)). He might have been
too negligent hitherto in winking at these evils in his servants; or,
perhaps, it was not till his arrival in Canaan, that he had learnt,
for the first time, that one nearer and dearer to him was secretly
infected with the same corruption ([Genesis 18:19](../../../kjv/genesis/18/19)). Be that as it may, he resolved on an immediate and
thorough reformation of his household; and in commanding them to put
away the strange gods, he added,
**be clean, and change your
garments**—as if some defilement, from contact with idolatry,
should still remain about them. In the law of Moses, many ceremonial
purifications were ordained and observed by persons who had
contracted certain defilements, and without the observance of which,
they were reckoned unclean and unfit to join in the social worship of
God. These bodily purifications were purely figurative; and as
sacrifices were offered before the law, so also were external
purifications, as appears from the words of Jacob; hence it would
seem that types and symbols were used from the fall of man,
representing and teaching the two great doctrines of revealed
truth—namely, the atonement of Christ and the sanctification of our
nature.

**4. they gave unto Jacob all the
strange gods . . . and earrings**—Strange gods, the "seraphim"
(compare [Genesis 31:30](../../../kjv/genesis/31/30)), as well,
perhaps, as other idols acquired among the Shechemite spoil—earrings
of various forms, sizes, and materials, which are universally worn in
the East, and, then as now, connected with incantation and idolatry
(compare [Hosea 2:13](../../../kjv/hosea/2/13)). The decided
tone which Jacob now assumed was the probable cause of the alacrity
with which those favorite objects of superstition were surrendered.
**Jacob hid them under the
oak**—or terebinth—a towering tree, which, like all others of
the kind, was a striking object in the scenery of Palestine; and
beneath which, at Shechem, the patriarch had pitched his tent. He hid
the images and amulets, delivered to him by his Mesopotamian
dependents, at the root of this tree. The oak being deemed a
consecrated tree, to bury them at its root was to deposit them in a
place where no bold hand would venture to disturb the ground; and
hence it was called from this circumstance—"the plain of
Meonenim"—that is, "the oak of enchantments" ([Hosea 2:13](../../../kjv/hosea/2/13)); and from the great stone which Joshua set up—"the
oak of the pillar" ([Judges 9:6](../../../kjv/judges/9/6)).

**5. the terror of God was upon the
cities**—There was every reason to apprehend that a storm of
indignation would burst from all quarters upon Jacob's family, and
that the Canaanite tribes would have formed one united plan of
revenge. But a supernatural panic seized them; and thus, for the sake
of the "heir of the promise," the protecting shield of
Providence was specially held over his family.

**6. So Jacob came to Luz . . . that
is, Beth-el**—It is probable that this place was unoccupied
ground when Jacob first went to it; and that after that period
[CALVIN], the Canaanites
built a town, to which they gave the name of Luz [], from the profusion of almond trees that grew around. The
name of Beth-el, which would, of course, be confined to Jacob and his
family, did not supersede the original one, till long after. It is
now identified with the modern Beitin and lies on the western slope
of the mountain on which Abraham built his altar ().

**7. El-Beth-el**—that is, "the
God of Beth-el."

**8. Deborah, Rebekah's nurse,
died**—This event seems to have taken place before the
solemnities were commenced. Deborah (*Hebrew,* a "bee"),
supposing her to have been fifty years on coming to Canaan, had
attained the great age of a hundred eighty. When she was removed from
Isaac's household to Jacob's, is unknown. But it probably was on his
return from Mesopotamia; and she would have been of invaluable
service to his young family. Old nurses, like her, were not only
honored, but loved as mothers; and, accordingly, her death was the
occasion of great lamentation. She was buried under *the*
oak—hence called "the terebinth of tears" (compare ). God was pleased to make a new appearance to him after the
solemn rites of devotion were over. By this manifestation of His
presence, God testified His acceptance of Jacob's sacrifice and
renewed the promise of the blessings guaranteed to Abraham and Isaac
[[Genesis 35:11](../../../kjv/genesis/35/11); [Genesis 35:12](../../../kjv/genesis/35/12)];
and the patriarch observed the ceremony with which he had formerly
consecrated the place, comprising a sacramental cup, along with the
oil that he poured on the pillar, and reimposing the memorable name
[[Genesis 35:14](../../../kjv/genesis/35/14)]. The whole scene was
in accordance with the character of the patriarchal dispensation, in
which the great truths of religion were exhibited to the senses, and
"the world's grey fathers" taught in a manner suited to the
weakness of an infantile condition.

**13. God went up from him**—The
presence of God was indicated in some visible form and His acceptance
of the sacrifice shown by the miraculous descent of fire from heaven,
consuming it on the altar.
. BIRTH OF
BENJAMIN—DEATH
OF RACHEL, &c.

**16. And they journeyed from
Beth-el**—There can be no doubt that much enjoyment was
experienced at Beth-el, and that in the religious observances
solemnized, as well as in the vivid recollections of the glorious
vision seen there, the affections of the patriarch were powerfully
animated and that he left the place a better and more devoted servant
of God. When the solemnities were over, Jacob, with his family,
pursued a route directly southward, and they reached Ephrath, when
they were plunged into mourning by the death of Rachel, who sank in
childbirth, leaving a posthumous son []. A very affecting death, considering how ardently the mind
of Rachel had been set on offspring (compare ).

**18. She called his name Ben-oni**—The
dying mother gave this name to her child, significant of her
circumstances; but Jacob changed his name into Benjamin. This is
thought by some to have been originally Benjamin, "a son of
days," that is, of old age. But with its present ending it means
"son of the right hand," that is, particularly dear and
precious.

**19. Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem**—The
one, the old name; the other, the later name, signifying "house
of bread."

**20. and Jacob set a pillar on her
grave . . . unto this day**—The spot still marked out as the
grave of Rachel exactly agrees with the Scriptural record, being
about a mile from Beth-lehem. Anciently it was surmounted by a
pyramid of stones, but the present tomb is a Mohammedan erection.

**26. Sons of Jacob . . . born to him
in Padan-aram**—It is a common practice of the sacred historian
to say of a company or body of men that which, though true of the
majority, may not be applicable to every individual. (See [Matthew 19:28](../../../kjv/matthew/19/28);
[John 20:24](../../../kjv/john/20/24); [Hebrews 11:13](../../../kjv/hebrews/11/13)).
Here is an example, for Benjamin was born in Canaan [[Hebrews 11:13](../../../kjv/hebrews/11/13)].
[Genesis 35:28](../../../kjv/genesis/35/28);
[Genesis 35:29](../../../kjv/genesis/35/29). DEATH
OF ISAAC.

**29. Isaac gave up the ghost**—The
death of this venerable patriarch is here recorded by anticipation
for it did not take place till fifteen years after Joseph's
disappearance. Feeble and blind though he was, he lived to a very
advanced age; and it is a pleasing evidence of the permanent
reconciliation between Esau and Jacob that they met at Mamre to
perform the funeral rites of their common father.

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