Genesis 35:1

The Return to Bethel

35:1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up at once 1  to Bethel 2  and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 3 

Genesis 35:3

35:3 Let us go up at once 4  to Bethel. Then I will make 5  an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress 6  and has been with me wherever I went.” 7 

Genesis 35:7

35:7 He built an altar there and named the place El Bethel 8  because there God had revealed himself 9  to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9 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.