Discovery BoxGenesis 35:7-8 
Context35:7 He built an altar there and named the place El Bethel 1 because there God had revealed himself 2 to him when he was fleeing from his brother. 35:8 (Deborah, 3 Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel; thus it was named 4 Oak of Weeping.) 5
Genesis 35:16
Context35:16 They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, 6 Rachel went into labor 7 – and her labor was hard.
1 sn The name El-Bethel means “God of Bethel.”
2 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.
3 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.
4 tn “and he called its name.” There is no expressed subject, so the verb can be translated as passive.
5 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.
6 tn Heb “and there was still a stretch of the land to go to Ephrath.”
7 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.”
