Genesis 35:1-15
God calls His people to holiness before Him, protects them in obedience, and renews His covenant promises in the place of worship.
Scripture Text
35:1 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to You when You fled from the face of Esau Your brother.”
35:2 Then Jacob said to His household, and to all who were with Him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among You, purify Yourselves, change Your garments.
35:3 Let’s arise, and go up to Bethel. I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me on the way which I went.”
35:4 They gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
35:5 They traveled, and a terror of God was on the cities that were around them, and they didn’t pursue the sons of Jacob.
35:6 So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, He and all the people who were with Him.
35:7 He built an altar there, and called the place El Beth El; because there God was revealed to Him, when He fled from the face of His brother.
35:8 Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and its name was called Allon Bacuth.
35:9 God appeared to Jacob again, when He came from Paddan Aram, and blessed Him.
35:10 God said to Him, “Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be Jacob any more, but Your name will be Israel.” He named Him Israel.
35:11 God said to Him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from You, and kings will come out of Your body.
35:12 The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to You, and to Your offspring after You I will give the land.”
35:13 God went up from Him in the place where He spoke with Him.
35:14 Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He spoke with Him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it.
35:15 Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with Him “Bethel”.
God calls His people to holiness before Him, protects them in obedience, and renews His covenant promises in the place of worship.
Genesis 35:1-15 reveals that God summons Jacob to return to Bethel, demands household purification, grants protective terror over surrounding peoples, and renews the covenant by reaffirming Jacob’s name as Israel and restating the promises of fruitfulness, nationhood, kings, and land.
That believers would put away idols, return to wholehearted worship, and trust God’s protection and promises as they walk in obedience.
- 35:1–5 God commands Jacob to go up to Bethel, dwell there, and make an altar to the God who appeared to Him when He fled from Esau. Jacob tells His household to put away foreign gods, purify themselves, and change their garments. They give Him their foreign gods and earrings, and He buries them under the oak near Shechem. As they journey, the terror of God falls upon the surrounding cities so that they do not pursue Jacob’s sons.
- 35:6–8 Jacob comes to Luz, that is Bethel, in the land of Canaan, and builds an altar there, calling the place El-Bethel because God had revealed Himself there. Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, dies and is buried below Bethel under an oak, which is named Allon Bacuth.
- 35:9–15 God appears again to Jacob after His return from Paddan Aram, blesses Him, reaffirms that His name is Israel, promises that a nation and a company of nations shall come from Him, that kings shall come from His loins, and that the land given to Abraham and Isaac will be given to Him and His offspring. Jacob sets up a pillar where God spoke with Him, pours out a drink offering and oil on it, and calls the place Bethel.
- 35:16–20 As they journey from Bethel toward Ephrath, Rachel goes into hard labor and gives birth to Benjamin. She dies in childbirth after calling Him Ben-Oni, but Jacob names Him Benjamin. Rachel is buried on the way to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem, and Jacob sets up a pillar over her tomb.
- 35:21–22 Israel journeys on and pitches His tent beyond Migdal Eder. Reuben goes and lies with Bilhah, His father’s concubine, and Israel hears of it.
- 35:22b–26 The chapter lists the twelve sons of Jacob, grouped by their mothers: Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah.
- 35:27–29 Jacob comes to Isaac at Mamre near Kiriath Arba, that is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. Isaac dies at a good old age, old and full of days, and Esau and Jacob bury Him.
- Do not treat Bethel as a magical location apart from the God who reveals Himself there.
- Do not overlook the moral necessity of putting away idols before renewed worship.
- Do not assume God’s protection means there are no real surrounding threats.
- Do not reduce the burial of idols to symbolic sentiment without real repentance.
- Do not ignore the covenant continuity between Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the renewed promises.
- Do not separate worship from holiness and obedience in this passage.
- Do not miss that God’s grace renews Jacob after household disorder and sin, but not without purification.
- Covenant Significance : Genesis 35 is covenantally decisive because it renews the Bethel encounter and restates the Abrahamic promises directly over Jacob, now explicitly as Israel. The promises of land, offspring, nationhood, and kingship are reaffirmed in a fuller way, strengthening the covenant horizon as the story moves toward the tribal and national future. The chapter also shows that covenant life is incompatible with tolerated idols. The burial of foreign gods and the altar at Bethel together make clear that renewal requires both renunciation and worship. The listing of Jacob’s twelve sons is also covenantally significant, because the future tribal structure of Israel is now fully present in seed form. Finally, the deaths of Rachel and Isaac frame the chapter as one of covenant continuity across generations.
- Old Testament Foundation : Genesis 28:10-22
- Old Testament Foundation : Genesis 34:1-31
- Old Testament Foundation : Genesis 49:3-10
- Old Testament Foundation : Joshua 24:23
- Old Testament Foundation : 1 Chronicles 5:1-2
- Thematic Parallel : Genesis 28:10-22
- Thematic Parallel : Genesis 34:1-31
- Thematic Parallel : Genesis 49:3-10
- Thematic Parallel : Joshua 24:23-28
God calls His people out of defilement into holiness and renews them under His gracious promises, pointing forward to Christ who cleanses His people and secures their covenant inheritance.