35:1 And a God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and
dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that
appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau
thy brother.
(a) God is ever at hand to comfort his people in their
troubles.
35:2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that [were]
with him, Put away the strange gods that [are] among you,
and be b clean, and change your garments:
(b) That by this outward act they should show their inward
repentance.
35:4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which [were]
in their hand, and [all their] c earrings which [were] in
their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which [was] by
Shechem.
(e) For in this was some sign of superstition, as in
tablets and Agnus deis (a cake of wax, stamped with a
lamb bearing a cross or flag, that has been blessed by
the Pope).
35:5 And they journeyed: and the (d) terror of God was upon the
cities that [were] round about them, and they did not
pursue after the sons of Jacob.
(d) Thus, despite the inconvenience that came before, God
delivered Jacob.
35:13 And God e went up from him in the place where he talked
with him.
(e) As God is said to descend, when he shows some sign of
his presence: so he is said to ascend when a vision is
ended.
35:16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a f
little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and
she had hard labour.
(f) The Hebrew word signifies as much ground as one can
cover from resting point to resting point, which is
taken for half a days journey.
35:20 And Jacob set a g pillar upon her grave: that [is] the
pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.
(g) The ancient fathers used this ceremony to testify
their hope of the resurrection to come, which was not
generally revealed.
35:22 And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that
Reuben went and h lay with Bilhah his father's
concubine: and Israel heard [it]. Now the sons of Jacob
were twelve:
(h) This teaches that the fathers were not chosen for
their merits, but only by God's mercies, whose
election was not changed by their faults.
