GENESIS CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE OVERVIEW
Overall what is happening in this chapter is that Jacob’s name is reconfirmed as Israel.
Thomas Coke (1801) – Genesis 35
Jacob, having purged his house of idols, builds an altar at Beth-el. Rachel dies, in childbirth of Benjamin. Reuben lieth with Bilhah. The sons of Jacob are enumerated. The death of Isaac.
Thomas Constable (2012) – Genesis 35
After God reminded Jacob of his previous commitment to Him (Genesis 28:20-22), the patriarch returned to Bethel to worship Yahweh, bringing closure to the past. There the Lord reconfirmed the promises to him and completed his family by the birth of Benjamin. However, Jacob also experienced three deaths and rebellion against himself by Reuben. The deaths of Deborah, Rachel, and Isaac signal the end of an era.
Joseph Benson’s Commentary (1857) – Genesis 35
(1) Three instances of communion between God and Jacob.
1. God ordered Jacob to Beth-el, and, in obedience to this order, he purged his house of idols, and prepared for that journey, (Genesis 35:1-5).
2. Jacob built an altar at Beth-el to the honor of God that had appeared to him, and in performance of his vow, (Genesis 35:6-7).
3. God appeared to him again, and confirmed the change of his name, and the covenant with him, (Genesis 35:9-13); of which appearance Jacob made a grateful acknowledgment, (Genesis 35:14-15).
(2) Three funerals.
1. Deborah’s, (Genesis 35:8).
2. Rachel’s, (Genesis 35:16-20).
3. Isaac’s, (Genesis 35:27-29).
(3) Here is also Reuben’s incest, (Genesis 35:22), and an account of Jacob’s sons, (Genesis 35:23-26).
John Gill (1746) – Genesis 35
This chapter gives an account of Jacob's going to Bethel, and building an altar there by the order and direction of God, (Genesis 35:1), where Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried, (Genesis 35:8), and where God appeared to Jacob, confirmed the new name of Israel he had given him, and renewed to him the promises of the multiplication of his seed, and of their inheriting the land of Canaan, (Genesis 35:9); all which is gratefully acknowledged by Jacob, who erected a pillar in the place, and called it Bethel, in memory of God's gracious appearance to him there, (Genesis 35:14); from hence he journeyed towards his father's house, and on the way Rachel his wife fell in travail, and bore him a son, and died, and was buried near Ephrath, (Genesis 35:16); near this place Reuben committed incest with Bilhah, (Genesis 35:22), and the names of the twelve sons of Jacob are given, (Genesis 35:23); and the chapter is closed with an account of Jacob's arrival at his father's house, of the death of Isaac, and of his burial at the direction of his two sons, (Genesis 35:27).
Matthew Henry (1714) – Genesis 35
In this chapter we have three communions and three funerals.
I. Three communions between God and Jacob.
1. God ordered Jacob to Beth-el; and, in obedience to that order, he purged his house of idols, and prepared for that journey (Genesis 35:1-5).
2. Jacob built an altar at Beth-el, to the honor of God that had appeared to him, and in performance of his vow (Genesis 35:6-7).
3. God appeared to him again, and confirmed the change of his name and covenant with him (Genesis 35:9-13), of which appearance Jacob made a grateful acknowledgment (Genesis 35:14-15).
II. Three funerals.
1. Deborah's (Genesis 35:8).
2. Rachel's (Genesis 35:16-20).
3. Isaac's (Genesis 35:27-29).
Here is also Rueben's incest (Genesis 35:22), and an account of Jacob's sons (Genesis 35:23-26).
KEY VERSE
Genesis 35:1 Then God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
KEY EVENT
The deaths of Deborah, Rachel and Isaac.
KEY CROSS-REFERENCE
Genesis 31:13 'I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.'
KEY THOUGHT
All humans have trouble in this world – the believer is not excluded.
KEY QUOTE
“Human life begins with sorrow, and the roses of its joy are surrounded with thorns.” Matthew Henry
