Genesis 35
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God’s Word Translation

Genesis 35:5-22

5As they moved on, God made the people of the cities that were all around them terrified so that no one pursued them.

6Jacob and all the people who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.

7He built an altar there and called that place El Bethel [God of the House of God]. That’s where God had revealed himself to Jacob when he was fleeing from his brother.

8Rebekah’s nurse Deborah died and was buried under the oak tree outside Bethel. So Jacob called it the Tree of Crying.

9Then God appeared once more to Jacob after he came back from Paddan Aram, and he blessed him.

10God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. You will no longer be called Jacob, but your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.

11God also said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fertile, and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from you.

12I will give you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac. I will also give this land to your descendants.”

13Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him.

14So Jacob set up a memorial, a stone marker, to mark the place where God had spoken with him. He poured a wine offering and olive oil on it.

15Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him Bethel [House of God].

16Then they moved on from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor and was having severe labor pains.

17During one of her pains, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid! You’re having another son!”

18Rachel was dying. As she took her last breath, she named her son Benoni [Son of My Sorrow], but his father named him Benjamin [Son of My Right Hand].

19Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

20Then Jacob set up a stone as a marker for her grave. The same marker is at Rachel’s grave today.

21Israel moved on again and put up his tent beyond Migdal Eder.

22While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went to bed with his father’s concubine  Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had 12 sons.

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Commentaries on Genesis 35

God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society