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Genesis 35:11 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

11 And God saith to him, `I `am' God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply, a nation and an assembly of nations is from thee, and kings from thy loins go out;

Cross Reference

Genesis 17:5-7 YLT

and thy name is no more called Abram, but thy name hath been Abraham, for father of a multitude of nations have I made thee; and I have made thee exceeding fruitful, and made thee become nations, and kings go out from thee. `And I have established My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, to their generations, for a covenant age-during, to become God to thee, and to thy seed after thee;

1 Samuel 1:1-28 YLT

And there is a certain man of Ramathaim-Zophim, of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name `is' Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, and Ephrathite, and he hath two wives, the name of the one `is' Hannah, and the name of the second Peninnah, and Peninnah hath children, and Hannah hath no children. And that man hath gone up out of his city from time to time, to bow himself, and to sacrifice, before Jehovah of Hosts, in Shiloh, and there `are' two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to Jehovah. And the day cometh, and Elkanah sacrificeth, and he hath given to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions, and to Hannah he giveth a certain portion -- double, for he hath loved Hannah, and Jehovah hath shut her womb; and her adversity hath also provoked her greatly, so as to make her tremble, for Jehovah hath shut up her womb. And so he doth year by year, from the time of her going up into the house of Jehovah, so it provoketh her, and she weepeth, and doth not eat. And Elkanah her husband saith to her, `Hannah, why weepest thou? and why dost thou not eat? and why is thy heart afflicted? am I not better to thee than ten sons?' And Hannah riseth after eating in Shiloh, and after drinking, and Eli the priest is sitting on the throne by the side-post of the temple of Jehovah. And she is bitter in soul, and prayeth unto Jehovah, and weepeth greatly, and voweth a vow, and saith, `Jehovah of Hosts, if Thou dost certainly look on the affliction of Thy handmaid, and hast remembered me, and dost not forget Thy handmaid, and hast given to Thy handmaid seed of men -- then I have given him to Jehovah all days of his life, and a razor doth not go up upon his head.' And it hath been, when she multiplied praying before Jehovah, that Eli is watching her mouth, and Hannah, she is speaking to her heart, only her lips are moving, and her voice is not heard, and Eli reckoneth her to be drunken. And Eli saith unto her, `Until when are thou drunken? turn aside thy wine from thee.' And Hannah answereth and saith, `No, my lord, A woman sharply pained in spirit I `am', and wine and strong drink I have not drunk, and I pour out my soul before Jehovah; put not thy handmaid before a daughter of worthlessness, for from the abundance of my meditation, and of my provocation, I have spoken hitherto.' And Eli answereth and saith, `Go in peace, and the God of Israel doth give thy petition which thou hast asked of Him.' And she saith, `Let thy handmaid find grace in thine eyes;' and the woman goeth on her way, and eateth, and her countenance hath not been `sad' for it any more. And they rise early in the morning, and bow themselves before Jehovah, and turn back, and come in unto their house in Ramah, and Elkanah knoweth Hannah his wife, and Jehovah remembereth her; and it cometh to pass, at the revolution of the days, that Hannah conceiveth, and beareth a son, and calleth his name Samuel, `for, from Jehovah I have asked him.' And the man Elkanah goeth up, and all his house, to sacrifice to Jehovah the sacrifice of the days, and his vow. And Hannah hath not gone up, for she said to her husband, `Till the youth is weaned -- then I have brought him in, and he hath appeared before the face of Jehovah, and dwelt there -- unto the age.' And Elkanah her husband saith to her, `Do that which is good in thine eyes; abide till thy weaning him; only, Jehovah establish His word;' and the woman abideth and suckleth her son till she hath weaned him, and she causeth him to go up with her when she hath weaned him, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and she bringeth him into the house of Jehovah at Shiloh, and the youth `is but' a youth. And they slaughter the bullock, and bring in the youth unto Eli, and she saith, `O, my lord, thy soul liveth! my lord, I `am' the woman who stood with thee in this `place', to pray unto Jehovah; for this youth I prayed, and Jehovah doth give to me my petition which I asked of Him; and also I have caused him to be asked for Jehovah, all the days that he hath lived -- he is asked for Jehovah;' and he boweth himself there before Jehovah.

Numbers 1:1-26 YLT

And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first of the second month, in the second year of their going out of the land of Egypt, saying: `Take ye up the sum of all the company of the sons of Israel by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names -- every male by their polls; from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host in Israel, ye do number them by their hosts, thou and Aaron; and with you there is a man for a tribe, each is a head to the house of his fathers. `And these `are' the names of the men who stand with you: `For Reuben -- Elizur son of Shedeur. `For Simeon -- Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. `For Judah -- Nahshon son of Amminadab. `For Issachar -- Nathaneel son of Zuar. `For Zebulun -- Eliab son of Helon. `For the sons of Joseph -- for Ephraim: Elishama son of Ammihud: for Manasseh -- Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. `For Benjamin -- Abidan son of Gideoni. `For Dan -- Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. `For Asher -- Pagiel son of Ocran. `For Gad -- Eliasaph son of Deuel. `For Naphtali -- Ahira son of Enan.' These `are' those called of the company, princes of the tribes of their fathers; they `are' heads of the thousands of Israel. And Moses taketh -- Aaron also -- these men, who were defined by name, and all the company they assembled on the first of the second month, and they declare their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names from a son of twenty years and upward, by their polls, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses; and he numbereth them in the wilderness of Sinai. And the sons of Reuben, Israel's first-born -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, by their polls, every male from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host -- their numbered ones, for the tribe of Reuben, are six and forty thousand and five hundred. Of the sons of Simeon -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, its numbered ones in the number of names, by their polls, every male from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host -- their numbered ones, for the tribe of Simeon, `are' nine and fifty thousand and three hundred. Of the sons of Gad -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host -- their numbered ones, for the tribe of Gad, `are' five and forty thousand and six hundred and fifty. Of the sons of Judah -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host --

Genesis 48:3-4 YLT

And Jacob saith unto Joseph, `God Almighty hath appeared unto me, in Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blesseth me, and saith unto me, Lo, I am making thee fruitful, and have multiplied thee, and given thee for an assembly of peoples, and given this land to thy seed after thee, a possession age-during.

Genesis 28:3-4 YLT

and God Almighty doth bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and thou hast become an assembly of peoples; and He doth give to thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee, to cause thee to possess the land of thy sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.'

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 35

Commentary on Genesis 35 Matthew Henry Commentary


Chapter 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 (v. 1-5).
    • 2. Jacob built an altar at Beth-el, to the honour of God that had appeared to him, and in performance of his vow (v. 6, 7).
    • 3. God appeared to him again, and confirmed the change of his name and covenant with him (v. 9-13), of which appearance Jacob made a grateful acknowledgment (v. 14, 15).
  • II. Three funerals.

Gen 35:1-5

Here,

  • I. God reminds Jacob of his vow at Beth-el, and sends him thither to perform it, v. 1. Jacob had said in the day of his distress, If I come again in peace, this stone shall be God's house, ch. 28:22. God had performed his part of the bargain, and had given Jacob more than bread to eat and raiment to put on-he had got an estate, and had become two bands; but, it should seem, he had forgotten his vow, or at least had too long deferred the performance of it. Seven or eight years it was now since he came to Canaan; he had purchased ground there, and had built an altar in remembrance of God's last appearance to him when he called him Israel (ch. 33:19, 20); but still Beth-el is forgotten. Note, Time is apt to wear out the sense of mercies and the impressions made upon us by them; it should not be so, but so it is. God had exercised Jacob with a very sore affliction in his family (ch. 34), to see if this would bring his vow to his remembrance, and put him upon the performance of it, but it had not this effect; therefore God comes himself and puts him in mind of it: Arise, go to Beth-el. Note,
    • 1. As many as God loves he will remind of neglected duties, one way or other, by conscience or by providences.
    • 2. When we have vowed a vow to God, it is best not to defer the payment of it (Eccles. 5:4), yet better late than never. God bade him go to Beth-el and dwell there, that is, not only go himself, but take his family with him, that they might join with him in his devotions. Note, In Beth-el, the house of God, we should desire to dwell, Ps. 27:4. That should be our home, not our inn. God reminds him not expressly of his vow, but of the occasion of it: When thou fleddest from the face of Esau. Note, The remembrance of former afflictions should bring to mind the workings of our souls under them, Ps. 66:13, 14.
  • II. Jacob commands his household to prepare for this solemnity; not only for the journey and remove, but for the religious services that were to be performed, v. 2, 3. Note,
    • 1. Before solemn ordinances, there must be solemn preparation. Wash you, make you clean, and then come, and let us reason together, Isa. 1:16-18.
    • 2. Masters of families should use their authority for the promoting of religion in their families. Not only we, but our houses also, should serve the Lord, Jos. 24:15. Observe the commands he gives his household, like Abraham, ch. 18:19.
      • (1.) They must put away the strange gods. Strange gods in Jacob's family! Strange things indeed! Could such a family, that was taught the good knowledge of the Lord, admit them? Could such a master, to whom God had appeared twice, and oftener, connive at them? Doubtless this was his infirmity. Note, Those that are good themselves cannot always have those about them so good as they should be. In those families where there is a face of religion, and an altar to God, yet many times there is much amiss, and more strange gods than one would suspect. In Jacob's family, Rachel had her teraphim, which, it is to be feared, she secretly made some superstitious use of. The captives of Shechem brought their gods along with them, and perhaps Jacob's sons took some with the plunder. However they came by them, now they must put them away.
      • (2.) They must be clean, and change their garments; they must observe a due decorum, and make the best appearance they could. Simeon and Levi had their hands full of blood, it concerned them particularly to wash, and to put off their garments that were so stained. These were but ceremonies, signifying the purification and change of the heart. What are clean clothes, and new clothes, without a clean heart, and a new heart? Dr. Lightfoot, by their being clean, or washing themselves, understands Jacob's admission of the proselytes of Shechem and Syria into his religion by baptism, because circumcision had become odious.
    • 3. They must go with him to Bethel, v. 3. Note, Masters of families, when they go up to the house of God, should bring their families with them.
  • III. His family surrendered all they had that was idolatrous or superstitious, v. 4. Perhaps, if Jacob had called for them sooner, they would sooner have parted with them, being convicted by their own consciences of the vanity of them. Note, Sometimes attempts for reformation succeed better than one could have expected, and people are not so obstinate against them as we feared. Jacob's servants, and even the retainers of his family, gave him all the strange gods, and the ear-rings they wore, either as charms or to the honour of their gods; they parted with all. Note, Reformation is not sincere if it be not universal. We hope they parted with them cheerfully, and without reluctance, as Ephraim did, when he said, What have I to do any more with idols? (Hos. 14:8), or that people that said to their idols, Get you hence, Isa. 30:22. Jacob took care to bury their images, we may suppose in some place unknown to them, that they might not afterwards find them and return to them. Note, We must be wholly separated from our sins, as we are from those that are dead and buried out of our sight, cast them to the moles and the bats, Isa. 2:20.
  • IV. He removes without molestation from Shechem to Bethel, v. 5. The terror of God was upon the cities. Though the Canaanites were much exasperated against the sons of Jacob for their barbarous usage of the Shechemites, yet they were so restrained by a divine power that they could not take this fair opportunity, which now offered itself, when they were upon their march, to avenge their neighbours' quarrel. Note, The way of duty is the way of safety. While there was sin in Jacob's house, he was afraid of his neighbours; but now that the strange gods were put away, and they were all going together to Bethel, his neighbours were afraid of him. When we are about God's work, we are under special protection. God is with us, while we are with him; and, if he be for us, who can be against us? See Ex. 34:24, No man shall desire thy land, when thou goest up to appear before the Lord. God governs the world more by secret terrors on men's minds than we are aware of.

Gen 35:6-15

Jacob and his retinue having safely arrived at Bethel, we are here told what passed there.

  • I. There he built an altar (v. 7), and no doubt offered sacrifice upon it, perhaps the tenth of his cattle, according to his vow, I will give the tenth unto thee. With these sacrifices he joined praises for former mercies, particularly that which the sight of the place brought afresh to his remembrance; and he added prayers for the continuance of God's favour to him and his family. And he called the place (that is, the altar) El-beth-el, the God of Bethel. As, when he made a thankful acknowledgment of the honour God had lately done him in calling him Israel, he worshipped God by the name of El-elohe Israel; so, now that he was making a grateful recognition of God's former favour to him at Bethel, he worships God by the name of El-beth-el, the God of Bethel, because there God appeared to him. Note, The comfort which the saints have in holy ordinances is not so much from Bethel, the house of God, as from El-beth-el, the God of the house. The ordinances are but empty things if we do not meet with God in them.
  • II. There he buried Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, v. 8. We have reason to think that Jacob, after he came to Canaan, while his family dwelt near Shechem, went himself (it is likely, often) to visit his father Isaac at Hebron. Rebekah probably was dead, but her old nurse (of whom mention is made ch. 24:59) survived her, and Jacob took her to his family, to be a companion to his wives, her country-women, and an instructor to his children; while they were at Bethel, she died, and died lamented, so much lamented that the oak under which she was buried was called Allon-bachuth, the oak of weeping. Note,
    • 1. Old servants in a family, that have in their time been faithful and useful, ought to be respected. Honour was done to this nurse, at her death, by Jacob's family, though she was not related to them, and though she was aged. Former services, in such a case, must be remembered.
    • 2. We do not know where death may meet us; perhaps at Beth-el, the house of God. Therefore let us be always ready.
    • 3. Family-afflictions may come even when family-reformation and religion are on foot. Therefore rejoice with trembling.
  • III. There God appeared to him (v. 9), to own his altar, to answer to the name by which he had called him, The God of Bethel (v. 7), and to comfort him under his affliction, v. 8. Note, God will appear to those in a way of grace that attend on him in a way of duty. Here,
    • 1. He confirmed the change of his name, v. 10. It was done before by the angel that wrestled with him (ch. 32:28), and here it was ratified by the divine Majesty, or Shechinah, that appeared to him. There it was to encourage him against the fear of Esau, here against the fear of the Canaanites. Who can be too hard for Israel, a prince with God? It is below those who are thus dignified to droop and despond.
    • 2. He renewed and ratified the covenant with him, by the name El-shaddai. I am God Almighty, God all-sufficient (v. 11), able to make good the promise in due time, and to support thee and provide for thee in the mean time. Two things are promised him which we have met with often before:-
      • (1.) That he should be the father of a great nation, great in honour and power-a company of nations shall be of thee (every tribe of Israel was a nation, and all the twelve a company of nations), great in honour and power-kings shall come out of thy loins.
      • (2.) That he should be the master of a good land (v. 12), described by the grantees, Abraham and Isaac, to whom it was promised, not by the occupants, the Canaanites in whose possession it now was. The land that was given to Abraham and Isaac is here entailed on Jacob and his seed. He shall not have children without an estate, which is often the case of the poor, nor an estate without children, which is often the grief of the rich; but both. These two promises had a spiritual signification, of which we may suppose Jacob himself had some notion, though not so clear and distinct as we now have; for, without doubt, Christ is the promised seed, and heaven is the promised land; the former is the foundation, and the latter the top-stone, of all God's favours.
    • 3. He then went up from him, or from over him, in some visible display of glory, which had hovered over him while he talked with him, v. 13. Note, The sweetest communions the saints have with God in this world are short and transient, and soon have an end. Our vision of God in heaven will be everlasting; there we shall be ever with the Lord; it is not so here.
  • IV. There Jacob erected a memorial of this, v. 14.
    • 1. He set up a pillar. When he was going to Padan-aram, he set up for a pillar that stone on which he had laid his head. This was agreeable enough to his low condition and his hasty flight; but now he took time to erect one more stately, more distinguishable and durable, probably placing that stone in it. In token of his intending it for a sacred memorial of his communion with God, he poured oil and the other ingredients of a drink-offering upon it. His vow was, This stone shall be God's house, that is, shall be set up for his honour, as houses to the praise of their builders; and here he performs it, transferring it to God by anointing it.
    • 2. He confirmed the name he had formerly given to the place (v. 15), Beth-el, the house of God. Yet this very place afterwards lost the honour of its name, and became Beth-aven, a house of iniquity; for here it was that Jeroboam set up one of his calves. It is impossible for the best man to entail upon a place so much as the profession and form of religion.

Gen 35:16-20

We have here the story of the death of Rachel, the beloved wife of Jacob.

  • 1. She fell in travail by the way, not able to reach to Bethlehem, the next town, though they were near it; so suddenly does pain sometimes come upon a woman in travail, which she cannot escape, or put off. We may suppose Jacob had soon a tent up, convenient enough for her reception.
  • 2. Her pains were violent. She had hard labour, harder than usual: this was the effect of sin, ch. 3:16. Note, Human life begins with sorrow, and the roses of its joy are surrounded with thorns.
  • 3. The midwife encouraged her, v. 17. No doubt she had her midwife with her, ready at hand, yet that would not secure her. Rachel had said, when she bore Joseph, God shall add another son, which now the midwife remembers, and tells her her words were made good. Yet this did not avail to keep up her spirits; unless God command away fear, no one else can. He only says as one having authority, Fear not. We are apt, in extreme perils, to comfort ourselves and our friends with the hopes of a temporal deliverance, in which we may be disappointed; we had better found our comforts on that which cannot fail us, the hope of eternal life.
  • 4. Her travail was to the life of the child, but to her own death. Note, Though the pains and perils of childbearing were introduced by sin, yet they have sometimes been fatal to very holy women, who, though not saved in childbearing, are saved through it with an everlasting salvation. Rachel had passionately said, Give me children, or else I die; and now that she had children (for this was her second) she died. Her dying is here called the departing of her soul. Note, The death of the body is but the departure of the soul to the world of spirits.
  • 5. Her dying lips called her new-born son Ben-oni, The son of my sorrow. And many a son, not born in such hard labour, yet proves the son of his parent's sorrow, and the heaviness of her that bore him. Children are enough the sorrow of their poor mothers in the breeding, bearing, and nursing of them; they should therefore, when they grow up, study to be their joy, and so, if possible, to make them some amends. But Jacob, because he would not renew the sorrowful remembrance of the mother's death every time he called his son by his name, changed his name, and called him Benjamin, The son of my right hand; that is, "very dear to me, set on my right hand for a blessing, the support of my age, like the staff in my right hand.'
  • 6. Jacob buried her near the place where she died. As she died in child-bed, it was convenient to bury her quickly; and therefore he did not bring her to the burying-place of his family. If the soul be at rest after death, it matters little where the body lies. In the place where the tree falls, there let it be. No mention is made of the mourning that was at her death, because that might easily be taken for granted. Jacob, no doubt, was a true mourner. Note, Great afflictions sometimes befal us immediately after great comforts. Lest Jacob should be lifted up with the visions of the Almighty with which he was honoured, this was sent as a thorn in the flesh to humble him. Those that enjoy the favours peculiar to the children of God must yet expect the troubles that are common to the children of men. Deborah, who, had she lived, would have been a comfort to Rachel in her extremity, died but a little before. Note, When death comes into a family, it often strikes double. God by it speaks once, yea, twice. The Jewish writers say, "The death of Deborah and Rachel was to expiate the murder of the Shechemites, occasioned by Dinah, a daughter of the family.'
  • 7. Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave, so that it was known, long after, to be Rachel's sepulchre (1 Sa. 10:2), and Providence so ordered it that this place afterwards fell in the lot of Benjamin. Jacob set up a pillar in remembrance of his joys (v. 14), and here he sets up one in remembrance of his sorrows; for, as it may be of use to ourselves to keep both in mind, so it may be of use to others to transmit the memorials of both: the church, long afterwards, owned that what God said to Jacob at Bethel, both by his word and by his rod, he intended for their instruction (Hos. 12:4), There he spoke with us.

Gen 35:21-29

Here is,

  • 1. Jacob's removal, v. 21. He also, as his fathers, sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, and was not long in a place. Immediately after the story of Rachel's death he is here called Israel (v. 21, 22), and not often so afterwards: the Jews say, "The historian does him this honour here because he bore that affliction with such admirable patience and submission to Providence.' Note, Those are Israel's indeed, princes with God, that support the government of their own passions. He that has this rule over his own spirit is better than the mighty. Israel, a prince with God, yet dwells in tents; the city is reserved for him in the other world.
  • 2. The sin of Reuben. A piece of abominable wickedness it was that he was guilty of (v. 22), that very sin which the apostle says (1 Cor 5:1) is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. It is said to have been when Israel dwelt in that land; as if he were then absent from his family, which might be the unhappy occasion of these disorders. Though perhaps Bilhah was the greater criminal, and it is probable was abandoned by Jacob for it, yet Reuben's crime was so provoking that, for it, he lost his birthright and blessing, ch. 49:4. The first-born is not always the best, nor the most promising. This was Reuben's sin, but it was Jacob's affliction; and what a sore affliction it was is intimated in a little compass, and Israel heard it. No more is said-that is enough; he heard it with the utmost grief and shame, horror and displeasure. Reuben thought to conceal it, that his father should never hear of it; but those that promise themselves secresy in sin are generally disappointed; a bird of the air carries the voice.
  • 3. A complete list of the sons of Jacob, now that Benjamin the youngest was born. This is the first time we have the names of these heads of the twelve tribes together; afterwards we find them very often spoken of and enumerated, even to the end of the Bible, Rev. 7:4; 21:12.
  • 4. The visit which Jacob made to his father Isaac at Hebron. We may suppose he had visited him before since his return, for he sorely longed after his father's house; but never, till now, brought his family to settle with him, or near him, v. 27. Probably he did this now upon the death of Rebekah, by which Isaac was left solitary, and not disposed to marry again.
  • 5. The age and death of Isaac are here recorded, though it appears, by computation, that he died not till many years after Joseph was sold into Egypt, and much about the time that he was preferred there. Isaac, a mild quiet man, lived the longest of all the patriarches, for he was 180 years old; Abraham was but 175. Isaac lived about forty years after he had made his will, ch. 27:2. We shall not die an hour the sooner, but abundantly the better, for our timely setting our heart and house in order. Particular notice is taken of the amicable agreement of Esau and Jacob, in solemnizing their father's funeral (v. 29), to show how wonderfully God had changed Esau's mind since he vowed his brother's murder immediately after his father's death, ch. 27:41. Note, God has many ways of preventing bad men from doing the mischief they intended; he can either tie their hands or turn their hearts.