Genesis 35

Chap. XXXV. Ver. 1-15. Jacob returns to Bethel.—After some years residence at Shechem, Jacob, being directed to return to Bethel, and to dwell there, commands his family to purify themselves and put away ‘‘the strange (or foreign) gods that were among them;” meaning, doubtless, those taken in the plunder of the Shechemites, and probably those also Rachel purloined from her father, Laban; and on their being delivered up to him, he buries them all under an oak near Shechem, that they should no longer remain in his rear a monument of his sons’ guilt, or a temptation to idolatry and superstition. For it were inconsistent for Jacob, when he erected a public altar to the true God, to allow his family to worship idols secretly within their tents.

Consistency is a great point in religion; and it is a great affliction to a good man, when his exertions to preserve it are counteracted by the conduct of his own family. Jacob and his family now set out upon their journey, under the protecting wing of divine providence, the terror of which prevented their being pursued, as Jacob had anticipated. Soon after their settlement at Bethel, Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died who had accompanied her from Padan-aram, and who had since been incorporated into Jacob’s family. She must have now been very aged and infirm; but she was highly respected and beloved, and her death was deeply regretted: she was honourably buried, and the oak under which she was entombed was called Allon-Bachuth, “the oak of weeping;”

from the general lamentation at her funeral. Tender nurses and faithful servants should never be slighted, nor soon forgotten. Jacob had now another heavenly communication, in which the promises made to him when he was before at Bethel, and also at Peniel, were repeated and confirmed. It may seem strange to us that such extraordinary interviews with the Almighty should so frequently occur: but they seem to form the distinguishing feature of the patriarchal dispensation, when the faithful had no written word to direct or to console them, or even an oracle to recur to, as under the Mosaic economy: we have, however, vastly the advantage of both since divine revelation has been completed, for in the sacred volume we possess the whole.

((Genesis 27:11-19). xxxii. 27—30.) Ver. 16—29. Rachel’s travail and death; also the death of Isaac.—This is a chapter on death. The decease and burial of Deborah we have already noticed, and that of Rachel seems to have followed shortly after. This is the woman who, but a short time before, had complained that she should die for want of children; and, with the second child she bears, she dies in childbirth. So little do we know the effects and consequences of our own wishes! This should teach us to moderate our desires, and submit all our temporal circumstances to a wisdom infinitely superior to our own. Thoughts like these probably occupied her last moments. The midwife now tells her she is about to have another son, according to her wish, ((Genesis 30:24);) and, in the moment of her departure, she names the newborn infant Ben-oni, ‘‘ the son of my sorrow.” Jacob, however, calls him Benjamin, “the son of the right hand,” which seems to express affection—dear to him as his right hand; and so indeed he was, as we shall see in his subsequent history. This was the only one of the twelve Patriarchs born in Canaan. As Jacob had repeatedly set up a pillar to commemorate his mercies, so now he erects one to be the memorial of his loss. To forget our mercies is ingratitude; to forget our afflictions, Another calamitous event now visits Israel. Two of his sons have been already murderers; a third, even Reuben his firstborn, becomes an adulterer, and commits incest with one of his father’s concubines!

For this they obtained a curse instead of a blessing with their brethren: and Reuben also lost his birthright. ((Genesis 49:4). (1 Chronicles 5:1).) The chapter closes with the death of Isaac, at the age of 180, old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him, a circumstance, that is to be remarked with the same pleasure as we noticed the meeting of Isaac and Ishmael at the funeral of Abraham. (See (Genesis 25:1-11).) The sacred historian seems to have anticipated this event, to prevent its interrupting the life of Joseph; for, by the dates, it does not appear to have taken place till some years after Joseph was sold into Egypt. “Isaac (as Fuller remarks) appears to have lived 57 years in a state of blindness and inactivity.

This is one of the mysteries of Providence which often strikes us: an aged and afflicted person, whose usefulness appears to us at an end, shall have his life prolonged, while a hundred active young people around him shall be cut off? When we can no longer do the will of God, we may be called to suffer it.

Notes on the verses

Chap. XXXV. Ver. 2. Put away the strange gods.—Or, “ gods of the strangers;” that is, of the Hivites, &c. All were strange gods, but Jehovah, the God of Israel. See Stackhouse. Ver. 4. Their ear-rings.—These, and jewels for the forehead, reaching from ear to ear, were dedicated to their idols, and sometimes inscribed with astrological and mystical characters, and worn as amulets and charms. They are traced back to the Syrians, and were in the early times of Christianity, introduced into Africa. Augustine severely condemns them as instruments of superstition and idolatry. Biblioth. Bib.—Stackhouse. Chardin says, “I have seen some of these ear-rings with figures upon them, and strange characters, which I believe, may be talismans, or charms,”

&c.— Harmer. Dr A. Clarke mentions a beautiful one in his possession, brought from Egypt, cut out of a solid piece of cornelian, and engraved all over with characters and images, which prove it was intended for a talisman, or amulet. Ver. 7. El-beth-el—That is, ‘‘The God of Bethel.” But the first El is wanting in some MSS., in LXX., Vulgate, Syriac, and some copies of the Arabic; and is therefore omitted by Boothroyd, Clarke, &c. as redundant. But the God of Jacob had before designated himself as ‘‘ the God of Bethel.” (Genesis 31:13). Ver. 8. And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died.—Nurses were formerly held in very high esteem, and considered as being entitled to constant and lasting regard. The nurse in an eastern family is always an important personage. Modern travellers inform us, that in Syria she is considered as a sort of second parent, whether she has been fostermother or otherwise.

She always accompanies the bride to her husband’s house, and ever remains there an honoured character. Thus it was in ancient Greece.— Orient. Cust. Ver. 9. When he came out.—Rather, “ when he was come out.” The Greek addeth, “in Luz,” i.e. Bethel.—Ainsworth. “God appeared to Jacob (after that he had come from Padan-aram) in Luz.”—Boothroyd. Ver. 11. A company of nations.— Chaldee, ‘‘ An assembly of tribes.”—Ainsworth, ‘‘A church of nations.” Compare (Genesis 28:3). Ver. 16. But a little way to come to Ephrath.—Margin, “ A little piece of ground.” The Chaldee paraphrase explains it, ‘‘about a mile.” Ephrath is Bethlehem. See ver. 19. also (Genesis 48:7). Ver. 18. Benjamin.—[The son of the right hand.

‘The Samaritan has ben yamin, ‘‘the son of days,” i.e. of his old age, (ch. xliv. 20.) which Houwaldigant contends is the true reading, and that the present is a corruption; but if it be a corruption, it is as old as Jerome, who renders Benjamin, “ the son of the right hand’’]— Bagster. Ver. 20. Rachel’s grave unto this day.—Meaning the days of Moses. Buckingham found hereabouts a Mahometan building, in which was a square piece of masonry, supposed to enclose this ancient pillar, or at least some fragment of it. Ver. 21. Tower of Edar—Or, ‘ Tower of the flock.”—Mich. iv. 8. Ver. 22. Now the sons.—{In the Hebrew text, a break is here left in the verse, opposite to which there is a Masoretic note, which states that “ there is a hiatus in the verse.’ This hiatus the LXX.

thus supplies: ‘and it appeared evil in his sight.”’].—Bagster. Ver. 26. Born in Padan-aram.—Except Benjamin, as above stated, verse 18.