The big picture
Violence at Shechem, a city in Canaan, has left Jacob’s household exposed to revenge from nearby peoples. God tells Jacob, head of the household, to go to Beth-el, a place in Canaan where God had appeared to him years before. Jacob is also called Israel. His household removes foreign gods before leaving. The chapter then brings both promise and loss. Rachel, one of Jacob’s wives, dies near Bethlehem, a town in Canaan. Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn son, commits a sexual offense in the family. Isaac, Jacob’s elderly father, also dies.
In this chapter
- The Household Goes to Beth-El Genesis 35:1-15
God tells Jacob to move to Beth-el and build an altar there.
- Rachel Dies and Reuben Sins Genesis 35:16-22
Jacob’s household leaves Beth-el and travels toward Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.
- Isaac Dies and Is Buried Genesis 35:23-29
Genesis lists Jacob’s twelve sons by their mothers.
Central truth
God renews his name and promises to Jacob at Beth-el, while birth, death, and family betrayal continue around him.
Scripture beside the summary
Genesis · King James Version · 29Genesis 35:1-15
The Household Goes to Beth-El
God tells Jacob to move to Beth-el and build an altar there. Jacob tells everyone with him to remove their foreign gods, clean themselves, and change clothes. They give him the gods and their earrings, and he hides them under an oak near Shechem. As the household travels, nearby cities do not chase them because terror from God falls on them. Jacob reaches Beth-el and builds the altar. Deborah, the nurse who served Jacob’s mother Rebekah, dies and is buried there. God appears again, names Jacob Israel, and repeats promises of nations, kings, and land. Jacob marks the place with a stone pillar, a drink offering, and oil.
In everyday life
A father clears his family’s house after a violent crisis. He removes objects tied to the trouble and washes up. Then he returns with his family to an old memorial place. They mark that day as a new start. Jacob’s actions are acts of worship and cleansing before God, not ordinary home repair.
Notice
Genesis 35:5 Nearby cities do not pursue Jacob’s household after the killings at Shechem. Genesis credits their safety to terror from God, not to the family’s fighting strength.
Genesis 35:1-15
King James Version1And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.
2Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:
3And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.
4And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
5And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.
6So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Beth-el, he and all the people that were with him.
7And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
8But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Beth-el under an oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bachuth.
9And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan-aram, and blessed him.
10And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.
11And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
12And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.
13And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.
14And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.
15And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Beth-el.
Genesis 35:16-22
Rachel Dies and Reuben Sins
Jacob’s household leaves Beth-el and travels toward Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. Rachel goes into hard labor. The midwife tells her that she has another son, but Rachel dies during the birth. As she is dying, she names him Ben-oni. Jacob gives the child the name Benjamin instead. He buries Rachel beside the road and sets a pillar over her grave. The family moves on beyond the tower of Edar, a place named in the account. There Reuben has sex with Bilhah, his father’s concubine. Jacob hears about it, but no immediate response is recorded.
In everyday life
A widower signs his newborn son’s papers after his wife dies in childbirth. Before the household steadies, his adult son sleeps with the widower’s partner. Grief, birth, and betrayal strike the same family at once. Bilhah’s status as a concubine belongs to an ancient household system, not modern marriage law.
Notice
Genesis 35:18 Rachel names her son while dying, but Jacob gives him another name. The child’s birth is joined at once to his mother’s death and his father’s choice.
Genesis 35:16-22
King James Version16And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
17And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
18And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin.
19And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem.
20And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.
21And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.
22And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:
Genesis 35:23-29
Isaac Dies and Is Buried
Genesis lists Jacob’s twelve sons by their mothers. Leah and Rachel are Jacob’s wives. Bilhah and Zilpah are their handmaids and also mothers of Jacob’s sons. The list gathers the family into one record after Benjamin’s birth and Reuben’s offense. Jacob then comes to Isaac at Mamre, near Hebron, a place in Canaan where Isaac and his father had lived. Isaac is one hundred eighty years old when he dies. He has reached a full old age. Esau, Jacob’s twin brother, and Jacob bury their father together. They stand at the same grave after years of conflict and separation.
In everyday life
A daughter updates the family tree before her grandfather’s funeral. She groups every child under the right branch. Later, two brothers who once fought badly stand together at the grave. The record and burial show one generation ending and another named. Genesis records an ancient clan line, not a modern estate file.
Notice
Genesis 35:29 Esau and Jacob bury Isaac together. Their shared duty at their father’s death follows their earlier reconciliation and closes Isaac’s life with both sons present.
Genesis 35:23-29
King James Version23The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun:
24The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin:
25And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:
26And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padan-aram.
27And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.
28And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.
29And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Genesis 35:1 begins with “And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the…”
Where the chapter turns
Genesis 35:17 forms a natural hinge: “And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.”
The final note
Genesis 35:29 leaves the reader with “And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Jacob, Beth, sons, name, Isaac, Israel help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- strange gods
- Foreign or other gods worshipped within Jacob’s household.
- travailed
- Went through the pain and effort of childbirth.
- drink offering
- Liquid poured out as an offering in worship.
- concubine
- A woman in a recognized secondary union with a man, below a wife in status.
- fourscore
- Eighty in number; one score means twenty.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
