Returning to Bethel

Genesis 35 follows the disaster at Shechem with a call to renewal: Arise, go up to Bethel. God calls Jacob back to the place of his first encounter and his unfulfilled vow. Jacob's response is a family reformation: Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. Jacob testifies that God answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me on the way which I went. The idols are buried, and God's protection surrounds them.

At Bethel, God appears again, confirming Jacob's new name, Israel, and restating the covenant in language that echoes Genesis 1 and 17: I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your body. The land promise passes to Jacob and his offspring. Jacob sets up a pillar, as he had years before, and pours out a drink offering in worship.

The chapter then records three deaths: Deborah, Rebekah's nurse; Rachel, who dies near Bethlehem after naming her son Ben-oni, which means son of my sorrow; and Isaac, at 180 years old. Jacob renames his son Benjamin, which means son of my right hand, turning sorrow into hope. The twelve sons are listed, completing the family of Israel. Esau and Jacob together bury their father, a sign of their reconciliation. In the New Testament, Matthew recalls Rachel weeping (Matthew 2:18) in the story of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem.