| << Gen 34 | |
| This is the New King James text of the passages. |
Genesis 35-37 Listen 
Jacob rededicates his life and gets a name change (Genesis 35:1-15)
1 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
2 ¶ And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.
3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.”
4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.
5 ¶ And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
6 So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.
7 And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.
8 ¶ Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth.
9 ¶ Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him.
10 And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel.
11 Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.
12 The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”
13 Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.
14 So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it.
15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.
We see in this passage that unloading false gods and idol worship from Jacob's household had apparently been a challenge. You will recall that Rachel had taken her Dad's idols upon departure from Haran. It would appear that she wasn't the only one with conflicted worship practices in the family. When God speaks once again to Jacob, it's time for all of that to go. Jacob collects the idols and buries them near Shechem, and it's moving time again. Why move? Well, Levi and Simeon had just wiped out the city of Shechem in Genesis 34 (see notes) and collected everything of value including the women and children. Jacob had expressed concern after the incident that, from now on, the other surrounding towns may jump to the wild conclusion that Jacob and his clan were not such good neighbors. As a matter of fact, verse 5 indicates that the neighbors were quite fearful of Jacob's family, so Jacob heads back to Bethel, about 20 miles south of Shechem. Upon arrival in Bethel, God renews all the "seed" promises given to Abraham and Isaac; Jacob is told that all of those promises will now be fulfilled through his descendants. (To learn more about the Abrahamic Covenant, click here.) Oh! One more thing - God changes Jacob's name to Israel. I doubt that the name change fooled his new neighbors. We do see in Genesis 37:12 (see below) that Jacob maintained his land in Shechem for the purpose of grazing his livestock.
God changes Jacob's name to "Israel" in verse 10. Hey...I thought we already went through that back in Genesis 32:28 (see notes)! That's true; it was back some ten years ago or so on the occasion of Jacob coming home from Haran...after he had that wrestling bout with God. After that incident, it appears that Jacob is still mostly referred to as "Jacob." However, after the declaration of the name change in this chapter, we see that the name "Israel" appears with significant frequency.
We see the naming of Bethel for the second time here, the first being in Genesis 28:19 (see notes), and the second being here in verse 15. While we see reference to Bethel in Genesis 12:8 and 13:3, apparently it was actually called "Luz" by the locals until Jacob renames it.
Isaac and Rachel die (Genesis 35:16-29)
16 ¶ Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor.
17 Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; you will have this son also.”
18 And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
20 And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.
21 ¶ Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
22 And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it. ¶ Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:
23 the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun;
24 the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin;
25 the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali;
26 and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.
27 ¶ Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt.
28 Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years.
29 So Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Rachel dies while bearing her last son, Benjamin. Actually, she names him Benoni, which means "son of my pain" - an appropriate name for the child whose birth results in her death. By the way, in Hebrew, the prefix "ben" means "son." I suppose Jacob is hesitant to let his son grow up with such a tag, Jacob changes his name to Benjamin, which means "son of my right hand." That's better. Then we have Reuben (son of Leah) taking advantage of Rachel's handmaid (Jacob's concubine, Bilhah) after Rachel's death (verse 22). As a matter of fact, Jacob never forgets Reuben's act - mentions it on his death bed in Genesis 49:3-4 (see notes) when he is passing out blessings. Now it's down to Hebron where Jacob's father, Isaac, finally passes away after 180 years. You will recall that Isaac apparently thought he was dying 43 years ago, back in Genesis 27 (see notes). Jacob and Esau bury their father.
We get a recap of the sons of Jacob again in verses 23-26 as follows:
Leah (Genesis 29:32-35, see notes)
Reuben
Simeon
Levi
Judah
The remaining childbirths are recorded in Genesis 30 (see notes), except for Benjamin.
Rachel's handmaid, Bilhah (Genesis 30:3-8)
Dan
Naphtali
Leah's handmaid, Zilpah (Genesis 30:9-13)
Gad
Asher
Leah (Genesis 30:14-20)
Issachar
Zebulun or Zebulon
Rachel (Genesis 30:21-24)
Joseph
Rachel (Genesis 35:16-18)
Benjamin
Esau moves away from the family farm (Genesis 36)
1 Now this is the genealogy of Esau, who is Edom.
2 Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite; Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;
3 and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth.
4 Now Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel.
5 And Aholibamah bore Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.
6 ¶ Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the persons of his household, his cattle and all his animals, and all his goods which he had gained in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from the presence of his brother Jacob.
7 For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together, and the land where they were strangers could not support them because of their livestock.
8 So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom.
9 ¶ And this is the genealogy of Esau the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir.
10 These were the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, and Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau.
11 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.
12 ¶ Now Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife.
13 ¶ These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.
14 ¶ These were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau’s wife, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon. And she bore to Esau: Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah.
15 ¶ These were the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn son of Esau, were Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zepho, Chief Kenaz,
16 Chief Korah, Chief Gatam, and Chief Amalek. These were the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. They were the sons of Adah.
17 ¶ These were the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: Chief Nahath, Chief Zerah, Chief Shammah, and Chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.
18 ¶ And these were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau’s wife: Chief Jeush, Chief Jaalam, and Chief Korah. These were the chiefs who descended from Aholibamah, Esau’s wife, the daughter of Anah.
19 These were the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these were their chiefs.
20 ¶ These were the sons of Seir the Horite who inhabited the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom.
22 ¶ And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam. Lotan’s sister was Timna.
23 ¶ These were the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
24 ¶ These were the sons of Zibeon: both Ajah and Anah. This was the Anah who found the water in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon.
25 These were the children of Anah: Dishon and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.
26 ¶ These were the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
27 These were the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
28 These were the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
29 ¶ These were the chiefs of the Horites: Chief Lotan, Chief Shobal, Chief Zibeon, Chief Anah,
30 Chief Dishon, Chief Ezer, and Chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, according to their chiefs in the land of Seir.
31 ¶ Now these were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel:
32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
33 And when Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place.
34 When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.
35 And when Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who attacked Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Avith.
36 When Hadad died, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place.
37 And when Samlah died, Saul of Rehoboth–by–the–River reigned in his place.
38 When Saul died, Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.
39 And when Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadar reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
40 ¶ And these were the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families and their places, by their names: Chief Timnah, Chief Alvah, Chief Jetheth,
41 Chief Aholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon,
42 Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar,
43 Chief Magdiel, and Chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession. Esau was the father of the Edomites.
Isaac has passed away, and the family farm had been given to Jacob by Isaac 43 years earlier. Not a big deal for Esau though; he's rich. As a matter of fact, he's so rich with cattle, there's not enough room to graze his cattle and Jacob's cattle in the same region. Esau moves east to what would become known as Edom. Esau is the father of the Edomites. The remainder of this chapter lists Esau's descendants. Take note of verses 8 and 20 compared to Deuteronomy 2:12 (see notes), "The Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the LORD gave them.) " It would appear that Esau drove out the previous inhabitants of the land that he occupied in Edom.
Later on, however, the Edomites would become a great nuisance to Israel. In Numbers 20:14-21 (see notes), the Edomites deny Israel passage through their land on the way to Canaan. Israel's relationship with them was always problematic. The entire Book of Obadiah (see notes) is a prophecy against the Edomites.
Note these future conflicts with the Edomites:
Later on, these prophets prophesied concerning Edom:
As you can see, the goodwill between Israel and Esau's descendants, Edom, eventually soured.
Joseph: I have a dream! (Genesis 37:1-11)
1 Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
2 This is the history of Jacob. ¶ Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.
3 ¶ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.
4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.
5 ¶ Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.
6 So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:
7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”
8 ¶ And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
9 ¶ Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”
10 ¶ So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”
11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
To fully appreciate Joseph's position in the family, we must recall that Rachel was Jacob's favorite wife, and she only had two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph is 17 in this passage (verse 2), so Benjamin is still a child at home. This passage tells us that Joseph is Jacob's favorite son (verse 3), and he has the new clothes (coat of many colors) to prove it. What's more, verse 2 tells us that he was a tattle tale on the other brothers. Of course his brothers don't like him, but it gets worse. Joseph has dreams - that's right, dreams. And they're not your ordinary dreams either; he interprets his dreams before his father and brothers as predictions that he'll be served by all his brothers, and he's only 17 years old. Jacob even rebukes Joseph for telling his dreams; it just causes deeper resentment from his brothers. As a matter of fact, verse 4 says, "...they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him." And after he told them his I'm-gonna-be-somebody dream, verse 5 says, "...they hated him even more." Joseph obviously lacked good social skills. Jacob attempts to head off the controversy when he speaks to Joseph in verse 10, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?" The resentment of his brothers toward Joseph continued to grow.
So, how much did Joseph's brothers hate him? (Genesis 37:12-36)
12 ¶ Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.
13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” ¶ So he said to him, “Here I am.”
14 ¶ Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.
15 ¶ Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”
16 ¶ So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”
17 ¶ And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
18 ¶ Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.
19 Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming!
20 Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, “Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”
21 ¶ But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.”
22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.
23 ¶ So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.
24 Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 ¶ And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt.
26 So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
27 Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened.
28 Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
29 ¶ Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes.
30 And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?”
31 ¶ So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood.
32 Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”
33 ¶ And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.”
34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
35 And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.
36 ¶ Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
The good news: Joseph found his brothers. The bad news: Joseph found his brothers. It was a twenty-mile trip from Hebron to Shechem where they were supposed to be. Then it was another 15 miles over to Dothan (northeast of Shechem) where he found them. They are NOT happy to see him in his colorful new set of clothing. All but two of the brothers want to just kill him. Reuben and Judah talk them out of it. They strip off his robe and drop him into a pit instead, presumably to die. However, that's apparently not Reuben's plan according to verse 22. He goes back to free him as he had planned when he persuaded his brothers to put him into the pit, but Joseph is not there. Judah had talked his brothers into selling Joseph as a slave to the Midianite traders. Maybe Reuben just wanted to teach Joseph a lesson on humility. Judah didn't want to have blood on his hands. The other brothers were just plain ol' ruthless people. When Reuben returns to the brothers in a panic, I don't see any indication that they ever told Reuben what had actually happened to Joseph. As a matter of fact, later in Genesis 42:22 (see notes), Reuben seems to indicate that he does think that Joseph is indeed dead. Nevertheless, Reuben does, however, participate in the cover up.
Well, they took Joseph's robe, put goat's blood on it and took it back to Jacob as evidence that Joseph was dead. This would have been a palatable story since a 35-mile trip alone through territories where Jacob's family was not particularly liked could be perceived as a treacherous journey. Joseph ends up as a servant in Potiphar's house in Egypt. So, who actually saved Joseph's life? Reuben's noble plan to save Joseph failed. Judah's intentions in verses 26-27 do not seem honorable, but you must admit that his initiative did save the life of Joseph from a certain death.
Here's a what-if brain teaser. If the brothers had not sold Joseph into slavery, he would not have been in charge of Pharaoh's food-for-money program in Egypt when the brothers later show up to buy food. They would not have left Canaan, the land of promise, and moved to Egypt under Joseph's protection. Furthermore, they would not have fallen into captivity under Egyptian rule. So, you might say that the evil deed of the brothers against Joseph resulted in the 430-year stay for their descendants. It should be remembered, however, that God told Abraham that all of this would happen in Genesis 15:13 (see notes), "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years."
Well, of course, this was all in God's plan.