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The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:1-15
God with us. Jacob's settlement with his family at Bethel. This was a solemn renewal of the covenant to the patriarch at the end of his pilgrimage. It was the occasion for a new dedication of himself and his household b…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:2
Jacob's preparation for acceptable worship. "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be ye clean, and change your garments: and let us arise, and go up to Bethel." "When thou vowest a vow, defer not to pay it,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:4
And they gave mate Jacob all the strange gods—Rosenmüller thinks these must have been many, since the historian would not otherwise have used the term כֹּל—which were in their hand (i.e. which they possessed), and all t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:5
And they journeyed (from Shechem, after the work of reformation just described): and the terror of God—meaning not simply a great terror, as in Genesis 23:6; Genesis 30:8 (Dathe, Bush), but either a supernatural dread i…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 35:6-15
The comfort the saints have in holy ordinances, is not so much from Beth-el, the house of God, as from El-beth-el, the God of the house. The ordinances are empty things, if we do not meet with God in them. There Jacob b…
Jacob's Arrival at Bethel. (b. c. 1732.)
JACOB'S ARRIVAL AT BETHEL. (B. C. 1732.) Jacob and his retinue having safely arrived at Beth-el, we are here told what passed there. I. There he built an altar (Genesis 35:7), and no doubt offered sacrifice upon it, per…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:6
So (literally, and) Jacob came to Luz (vide Genesis 28:19), which is in the land of Canaan (this clause is added to draw attention to the fact that Jacob had now accomplished his return to Canaan), that is, Bethel, he a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:7
And he built there an altar,—thus redeeming his vow (cf. Ecclesiastes 5:4)—and called the place El-beth-el:—i.e. God of Bethel. Not he called the place of God, or the place sacred to God, Bethel, nor he called the altar…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:8
But Deborah—Bee (Gesenius, Furst) Rebekah's nurse (vide Genesis 24:59) died—at a very advanced age, having left Padan-aram for Canaan along with Rebekah, upwards of 150 years ago. That she is now found in Jacob's househ…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:13
And God went up from him—showing this to have been a visible manifestation (cf. Genesis 17:22)—in the place where he talked with him.
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:14
And Jacob set up a pillar—the former pillar (Genesis 28:18) having probably fallen down and disappeared—in the place where he (God) talked with him (to commemorate the interview), even a pillar of stone. The setting up…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:15
And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel. This name was first given after the dream vision of the ladder (Genesis 28:19); already on this occasion it had been changed into El-beth-el (Gene…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 35:16-20
Rachel had passionately said, Give me children, or else I die; and now that she had children, she died! The death of the body is but the departure of the soul to the world of spirits. When shall we learn that it is God…
Death of Rachel. (b. c. 1732.)
DEATH OF RACHEL. (B. C. 1732.) We have here the story of the death of Rachel, the beloved wife of Jacob. 1. She fell in travail by the way, not able to reach to Bethlehem, the next town, though they were near it; so sud…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:16-29
These family records mingle well with the story of God's grace. The mothers "Ben-oni" is the father's "Benjamin." Out of the pain and the bereavement sometimes comes the consolation. A strange blending of joy and sorrow…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:16-29
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:16
And they journeyed—not in opposition to the Divine commandment (Genesis 35:1), which did not enjoin a permanent settlement at Bethel, but in accordance probably with his own desire, if not also Heaven's counsel, to proc…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:17
And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor (literally, in her laboring hard in her parturition), that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also—literally, for also this to thee a son; meani…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:18
And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing,—literally, in the departing of her soul; not into annihilation, but into another (a disembodied) state of existence (vide Genesis 25:3)—for she died (a pathetic comment…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:19
And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem—or House of Bread, about seven miles south of Jerusalem. It afterwards became the birthplace of David (1 Samuel 16:18) and of Christ (Matthew 2:1…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:20
And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave (vide on Genesis 35:14): that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day i.e. unto the times of Moses; but the site of Rachel's sepulcher was known so late as the age of Samuel (…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 35:21-29
What a sore affliction Reuben's sin was, is shown, “and Israel heard it.” No more is said, but that is enough. Reuben thought that his father would never hear of it; but those that promise themselves secrecy in sin, are…
The Disgrace of Reuben. (b. c. 1716.)
THE DISGRACE OF REUBEN. (B. C. 1716.) Here is, 1. Jacob's removal, Genesis 35:21. He also, as his fathers, sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, and was not long in a place. Immediately after the sto…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 35:21
And Israel (or Jacob) journeyed (from Ephrath, after the funeral of Rachel), and spread—i.e. unfolded (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 26:25)—his tent beyond the tower of Edar—literally, to, i.e. not trans (Vulgate), ultra (Dathe…