Genesis 35: Jacob's Return to Bethel and the Birth of Benjamin

Jacob's Return to Bethel and Purification

• 🏠 Jacob is instructed by God to return to Bethel and build an altar.
• 🚫 He commands his household to get rid of foreign gods, purify themselves, and change their clothes before departing.
• 🌳 Jacob buries all the foreign gods and rings under the oak at Shechem, and the terror of God prevents pursuit.

God's Covenant Renewal at Bethel

• ⚡ Upon arriving at Bethel, Jacob builds an altar and renames the place El Bethel (God of Bethel).
• 💔 Deborah, Rebecca's nurse, dies and is buried, with the place named Allon Bacuth (Oak of Weeping).
• 📜 God appears to Jacob again, renames him Israel, and reaffirms the covenant, promising the land to his descendants.

The Death of Rachel and Birth of Benjamin

• 🤰 Rachel gives birth to her second son, Benjamin, with great difficulty, and dies shortly after.
• 💔 She names him Ben-Oni (son of my sorrow), but Jacob renames him Benjamin (son of my right hand).
• 📍 Rachel is buried on the way to Ephrath (Bethlehem), and Jacob sets up a pillar over her tomb.

Jacob's Sons and Isaac's Death

• ⚠️ Reuben sleeps with Bilhah, his father's concubine, an act noted without further immediate consequence.
• 👨‍👦‍👦 The text lists Jacob's twelve sons and their mothers (Leah, Rachel, and their servants Bilhah and Zilpah).
• ⚰️ Jacob returns to his father Isaac in Mamre, and Isaac dies at 180 years old, buried by his sons Esau and Jacob.