Genesis 35:1
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 face of Esau thy brother.
Genesis 35:1 in other translations
| BSB | Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” |
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| WEB | God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.” |
| ASV | And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, who appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. |
| YLT | And God saith unto Jacob, ‘Rise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar to God, who appeared unto thee in thy fleeing from the face of Esau thy brother.' |
| DARBY | And God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar unto the God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. |
| BBE | And God said to Jacob, Go up now to Beth-el and make your living-place there: and put up an altar there to the God who came to you when you were in flight from your brother Esau. |
| Webster | And God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar to God, who appeared to thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. |
What does Genesis 35:1 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Ge 35:1-15. Removal to Bethel.
1. God said unto Jacob, Arise, &c.--This command was given seasonably in point of time and tenderly in respect of language. The disgraceful and perilous events that had recently taken place in the patriarch's family must have produced in him a strong desire to remove without delay from the vicinity of Shechem. Borne down by an overwhelming sense of the criminality of his two sons--of the offense they had given to God and the dishonor they had brought on the true faith; distracted, too, with anxiety about the probable consequences which their outrage might bring upon himself and family, should the Canaanite people combine to extirpate such a band of robbers and murderers; he must have felt this call as affording a great relief to his afflicted feelings. At the same time it conveyed a tender rebuke. go up to Beth-el--Beth-el was about thirty miles south of Shechem and was an ascent from a low to a highland country. There, he would not only be released from the painful associations of the latter place but be established on a spot that would revive the most delightful and sublime recollections. The pleasure of revisiting it, however, was not altogether unalloyed. make there an altar unto God, that appeared--It too frequently happens that early impressions are effaced through lapse of time, that promises made in seasons of distress, are forgotten; or, if remembered on the return of health and prosperity, there is not the same alacrity and sense of obligation felt to fulfil them. Jacob was lying under that charge. He had fallen into spiritual indolence. It was now eight or ten years since his return to Canaan. He had effected a comfortable settlement and had acknowledged the divine mercies, by which that return and settlement had been signally distinguished (compare Ge 33:19). But for some unrecorded reason, his early vow at Beth-el [Ge 28:20-22], in a great crisis of his life, remained unperformed. The Lord appeared now to remind him of his neglected duty, in terms, however, so mild, as awakened less the memory of his fault, than of the kindness of his heavenly Guardian; and how much Jacob felt the touching nature of the appeal to that memorable scene at Beth-el, appears in the immediate preparations he made to arise and go up thither (Psa 66:13).Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Introduction
Jacob is commanded of God to go to Beth-el, and to build an altar there, Gen 35:1. His exhortation to his family to put away all strange gods, etc., Gen 35:2, Gen 35:3. They deliver them all up, and Jacob hides them in the earth, Gen 35:4. They commence their journey, Gen 35:5; come to Luz, Gen 35:6; build there the altar El-beth-el, Gen 35:7. Burial place of Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, Gen 35:8. God appears again unto Jacob, Gen 35:9. Blesses him and renews the promises, Gen 35:10-13. To commemorate this manifestation of God, Jacob sets up a pillar, and calls the place Beth-el, Gen 35:14, Gen 35:15. They journey to Ephrath, where Rachel, after hard labor, is delivered of Benjamin, and dies, Gen 35:16-19. Jacob sets up a pillar on her grave, Gen 35:20. They journey to Edar, Gen 35:21. While at this place, Reuben defiles his father's bed, Gen 35:22. Account of the children of Jacob, according to the mothers, Gen 35:23-26. Jacob comes to Mamre to his father Isaac, who was probably then in the one hundred and fifty-eighth year of his age, Gen 35:27. Isaac dies, and is buried by his sons Esau and Jacob, Gen 35:29. Verse 1 Arise, go up to Beth-el - The transaction that had lately taken place rendered it unsafe for Jacob to dwell any longer at the city of Shechem; and it seems that while he was reflecting on the horrible act of Simeon and Levi, and not knowing what to do, God graciously appeared to him, and commanded him to go up to Beth-el, build an altar there, and thus perform the vow he had made, Gen 28:20, Gen 28:22.Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 35:1-5
Chapter Outline
God commands Jacob to go to Beth-el, He puts away idols from his family. (1-5)- Jacob builds an altar, Death of Deborah, God blesses Jacob. (6-15)
- Death of Rachel. (16-20)
- Reuben's crime, The death of Isaac. (21-29)
Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain
Genesis 35:1 in the original Hebrew
Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.
Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Cross references for Genesis 35:1
- Genesis 31:13
I am the God of Beth–el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.
- Hosea 12:4
Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Beth–el, and there he spake with us;
- Psalms 91:15
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
- Genesis 31:3
And the Lord said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.
- Genesis 35:7
And 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.
- Deuteronomy 32:36
For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
- Genesis 13:3-4
And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth–el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth–el and Hai; Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
- Genesis 12:8
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth–el, and pitched his tent, having Beth–el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord.
- Exodus 2:15
Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.
- Genesis 28:10-22
And Jacob went out from Beer–sheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; …
- Genesis 27:41-45
And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob. And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother’s fury turn away; …
- Psalms 47:4
He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2 He purges his house of idols.
6 He builds an altar at Bethel.
8 Deborah dies at Allon-bachuth.
9 God blesses Jacob at Bethel.
16 Rachel travails of Benjamin, and dies in the way to Edar.
22 Reuben lies with Bilhah.
23 The sons of Jacob.
27 Jacob comes to Isaac at Hebron.
28 The age, death, and burial of Isaac.
God said.
22:14; De 32:36; Ps 46:1; 91:15
Beth-el.
7; 12:8; 13:3,4; 28:10-22; 31:3,13; Ps 47:4; Ec 5:4-6; Ho 12:4
Na 1:15
when thou.
16:8; 27:41-45; Ex 2:15
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain
Context
- Genesis 35:1
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 face of Esau thy brother.
- Genesis 35:2
Then 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:
Genesis 35:1 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Y DIJO Dios á Jacob: Levántate, sube á Beth-el, y estáte allí; y haz allí un altar al Dios que te apareció cuando huías de tu hermano Esaú. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | *Et Dieu dit à Jacob: Lève-toi, monte à Béthel, et habite là, et fais-y un autel au ✶Dieu qui t’apparut comme tu t’enfuyais de devant la face d’Ésaü, ton frère. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Und Gott sprach zu Jakob: Mache dich auf, ziehe hinauf nach Bethel und wohne daselbst, und mache daselbst einen Altar dem Gott, der dir erschienen ist, als du vor deinem Bruder Esau flohest. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Interea locutus est Deus ad Jacob: Surge, et ascende Bethel, et habita ibi, facque altare Deo qui apparuit tibi quando fugiebas Esau fratrem tuum. |