1 And God (Elohim) said to Jacob (see 32:28; 43:8; 45:26,28), "Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar to God, That appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother."
2 Then Jacob said to his household, and to all that were with him, "Put away the strange gods that are among you (purification necessary in going up to Beth-el the house of God. The gods doubtless part of the spoils taken from the house of Shechem. Cp. v.4, and see 34:28,29), and be clean, and change your garments: (First occ. Here and always used of ceremonial cleansing)
3 And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar to God, Who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went." (cp.28:20; 31:3,42)
4 And they gave to Jacob (=supplanter, or contender. Cp. 32:28; 43:8; 45:26,28) all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears (showing that "strange gods" were part of the booty: probably of precious metals); and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
5 And 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.
6 So Jacob came to Luz (cp. 28:19), which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Beth-el, he and all the people that were with him.
7 And he built there an altar, and called the place
El-beth-el (= God of the house of God): because there God revealed Himself to him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
8 But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died (we hear no more of Rebekah from the time Jacob left home-27:45, not even of her death! Deborah may have come with a message, or she may, on Rebekah's death, have joined his household), and she was buried beneath Beth-el under the oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bachuth. (= the oak of weeping)
9 And God appeared to Jacob again, when he came out of the plain of Syria, and blessed him.
10 And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob: your name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel (= God rules, see 32:28. His name Israel can have to meanings. Look for context which one is being applied. 1 = a pushy type & 2 = the prince that prevails with God [i.e. not against, as though standing with) shall be your name:" and He called his name Israel.
11 And God said to him, I am GOD ALMIGHTY (El Shaddai = GOD-the all-bountiful or all-sufficient. The title which best accords with the promise here given): be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of you, and kings shall come out of your loins; (Always has & always will until Christ returns)
12 And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to you I will give it, and to your seed after you will I give the land."
13 And God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.
14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, even a pillar of stone (Jacob's pillar, see 31:13 & Num. 20:7): and he poured a drink offering thereon (first occ., afterward provided for in Lev. 23:13,18,37 and in Num. 15:5-10. Always "poured out" never drunk), and he poured oil thereon.
15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Beth-el.
16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath (= fertility): and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor.
17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, "Fear not; you shall have this son also."
18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing (= ebbing away or failing [42:28. Song 5:6]. In Ezek 7:10 rendered "gone forth"; Ex.23:26. In Ezek 26 :18 rendered "departure"), {for she died} that she called his name Benoni (= son of my sorrows): but his father called him Benjamin. (= Son of my right hand. The word rendered sorrow is a Homonym, the other meaning being "strength" and is so rendered in Gen.49:3, Deut. 26:14, Hos.9:4. This Homonym is the basis of Jacob's change of Benjamin's name)
1728 B.C.
19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem. (= house of bread. Same place Christ was born Who is the Bread of Life.)
20 And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave (first occ. 23:4 = a sepulcher, from kabar to bury. Not sheol, which = THE grave = hell): that is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this day. (Well-known in the days of Samuel-1 Sam. 10:2)
21 And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar. (= a flock, 1,000 paces from Beth-lehem)
1728 B.C.
22 And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land,
that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine (cp. 49:4): and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: (#12 = the number of governmental perfection, or completeness)
23 The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun:
24 The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin:
25 And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:
26 And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in the plains of Syria.
27 And Jacob came to Isaac his father to Mamre, to the
city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac
sojourned. (It does not follow that Jacob did not often see Isaac. As son as Isaac was married, Abraham disappears from the history. It is the same with Isaac when Jacob married: and the same with Jacob when Joseph comes into prominence. They do not appear together in history: but Abraham is described as "dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob"-Heb.11:9)
28 And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. (= 180)
29 And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died (for great emphasis, they all mean the same thing, repeated in other words, to add solemnity to the event), and was gathered to his people (see 49:33, 2 Sam.12:23), being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. (5 "ands", #5 = grace)