Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 35:1-29

"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. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments: and let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. And they journeyed: and a terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan (the same is Beth-el), he and all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el; because there God was revealed unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. And Deborah Rebekah`s nurse died, and she was buried below Beth-el under the oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bacuth. And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave unto Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in the place where he spake with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spake with him, a pillar of stone: and he poured out a drink-offering thereon, and poured oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Beth-el. And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was still some distance to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; for now thou shalt have another son. And it came to pass, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath (the same is Beth-lehem). And Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave: the same is the Pillar of Rachel`s grave unto this day. And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder. And it came to pass, while Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father`s concubine: and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: The sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob`s first-born, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun; the sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin; and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel`s handmaid: Dan and Naphtali; and the sons of Zilpah, Leah`s handmaid: Gad and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, that were born to him in Paddan-aram. And Jacob came unto Isaac his father to Mamre, to Kiriath-arba (the same is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. And the days of Isaac were a hundred and fourscore years. And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, old and full of days: and Esau and Jacob his sons buried him." — Genesis 35:1-29 (ASV)

THE TÔLDÔTH ISAAC (Genesis 25:19 – 35:29).

THE BIRTH OF ISAAC’S SONS.

Abraham begot Isaac —The Tôldôth in its original form probably gave a complete genealogy of Isaac, tracing his descent up to Shem, and showing thereby that the right of primogeniture belonged to him; but the inspired historian uses only as much of this as is necessary for tracing the development of the Divine plan of human redemption.

The Syrian. —Really, the Aramean, or descendant of Aram . The name of the district is also correctly “Paddan-Ararn,” and far from being identical with Aram-Naharaim (Genesis 24:10), it is strictly the designation of the region immediately in the neighbourhood of Charran.

The assertion of Gesenius that it meant “Mesopotamia, with the desert to the west of the Euphrates, in opposition to the mountainous district towards the Mediterranean,” is devoid of proof (see Chwolsohn, Die Ssabier, 1, p. 304).

In Syriac, the language of Charran, padana means a plough (1 Samuel 13:20) or a yoke of oxen (1 Samuel 11:7); and this also suggests that it was the cultivated district close to Charran.

In Hosea 12:12 it is said that Jacob fled to the field of Aram; but this is a very general description of the country in which he found refuge, and provides no basis for the assertion that Padan-aram was the level region.

Finally, the assertion that it is an ancient name used by the Jehovist is only an assertion. It is the name of a special district, and the knowledge of it was the result of Jacob’s prolonged stay there. Chwolsohn says that traces of the name still remain in Faddân and Tel Faddân, two places close to Charran, mentioned by Yacut, the Arabian geographer, who flourished in the thirteenth century.

Isaac entreated the Lord. —This barrenness lasted twenty years (Genesis 25:26) and must have greatly troubled Isaac. However, it would also compel him to reflect deeply on the purpose for which he had been given to Abraham and afterwards rescued from death on Mount Jehovah-Jireh.

When offspring finally came, in answer to his earnest pleading of the promise, the delay would serve to impress upon both parents the religious significance of their existence as a separate race and family, and the necessity of training their children worthily.

The derivation of the verb to entreat, from a noun signifying incense, is uncertain but made probable by the natural connection between the idea of the ascending fragrance and that of prayer mounting heavenward (Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:4).

The children struggled together.—Two dissimilar nations sprang from Abraham, though from entirely different mothers. Similarly, from the peaceful Isaac two distinct races of men were to originate, but from the same mother, and the contest began while they were still unborn.

Rebekah, apparently unaware that she was pregnant with twins but harassed by the pain of strange jostlings and thrusts, grew despondent and exclaimed—

If it be so, why am I thus? —Literally, If so, why am I this? Some explain this as meaning, “Why do I still live?”

More probably, however, she meant: If I have conceived in this way, in answer to my husband’s prayers, why do I suffer in this strange manner? This prepares for what follows, namely, that Rebekah wished to have her condition explained to her and therefore went to inquire of Jehovah.

She went to enquire of the Lord. —Not to Shem, nor Melchizedek, as many think, nor even to Abraham, who was still alive, but, as Theodoret suggests, to the family altar. Isaac had several homes, but probably the altar at Bethel, erected when Abraham first took possession of the Promised Land (Genesis 12:7) and therefore especially holy, was the place indicated. If Abraham were there, he would doubtless join his prayers with those of Rebekah.