Genesis 31:13

31:13 I am the God of Bethel, ¹  where you anointed ²  the sacred stone and made a vow to me. ³  Now leave this land immediately ⁴  and return to your native land.’”

Genesis 35:1

The Return to Bethel

35:1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up at once ⁵  to Bethel ⁶  and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” ⁷ 

Genesis 35:3

35:3 Let us go up at once ⁸  to Bethel. Then I will make ⁹  an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress ¹⁰  and has been with me wherever I went.” ¹¹ 

Genesis 35:7-8

35:7 He built an altar there and named the place El Bethel ¹²  because there God had revealed himself ¹³  to him when he was fleeing from his brother. 35:8 (Deborah, ¹⁴  Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel; thus it was named ¹⁵  Oak of Weeping.) ¹⁶ 

Genesis 35:16

35:16 They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, ¹⁷  Rachel went into labor ¹⁸  – and her labor was hard.

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¹ map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

² sn You anointed the sacred stone. In Gen 28:18 the text simply reported that Jacob poured oil on top of the stone. Now that pouring is interpreted by the Lord as an anointing. Jacob had consecrated the place.

³ sn And made a vow to me. The second clause reminds Jacob of the vow he made to the Lord when he anointed the stone (Gen 28:20-22). God is now going to take him back to the land, and so he will have to fulfill his vow.

⁴ tn Heb “arise, leave!” The first imperative draws attention to the need for immediate action.

sn Leave this land immediately. The decision to leave was a wise one in view of the changed attitude in Laban and his sons. But more than that, it was the will of God. Jacob needed to respond to God’s call – the circumstances simply made it easier.

⁵ tn Heb “arise, go up.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.

⁶ map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

⁷ sn God is calling on Jacob to fulfill his vow he made when he fled from…Esau (see Gen 28:20-22).

⁸ tn Heb “let us arise and let us go up.” The first cohortative gives the statement a sense of urgency.

⁹ tn The cohortative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or consequence.

¹⁰ tn Heb “day of distress.” See Ps 20:1 which utilizes similar language.

¹¹ tn Heb “in the way in which I went.” Jacob alludes here to God’s promise to be with him (see Gen 28:20).

¹² sn The name El-Bethel means “God of Bethel.”

¹³ tn Heb “revealed themselves.” The verb נִגְלוּ (niglu), translated “revealed himself,” is plural, even though one expects the singular form with the plural of majesty. Perhaps אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is here a numerical plural, referring both to God and the angelic beings that appeared to Jacob. See the note on the word “know” in Gen 3:5.

¹⁴ sn Deborah. This woman had been Rebekah’s nurse, but later attached herself to Jacob. She must have been about one hundred and eighty years old when she died.

¹⁵ tn “and he called its name.” There is no expressed subject, so the verb can be translated as passive.

¹⁶ tn Or “Allon Bacuth,” if one transliterates the Hebrew name (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). An oak tree was revered in the ancient world and often designated as a shrine or landmark. This one was named for the weeping (mourning) occasioned by the death of Deborah.

¹⁷ tn Heb “and there was still a stretch of the land to go to Ephrath.”

¹⁸ tn Normally the verb would be translated “she gave birth,” but because that obviously had not happened yet, it is better to translate the verb as ingressive, “began to give birth” (cf. NIV) or “went into labor.”