Gen 35.1-29 tells us that Jacob finally returns to Bethel where it all started started; Jacob’s family puts away their idols and there is revival; the death of Deborah Rebekah’s nurse; God speaks to Jacob again at Bethel; the birth and naming of Benjamin and the death and burial of Rachel; Reuben’s sin with Bilhah; Jacob’s twelve sons; the death of Isaac and Jacob and Esau bury him.
v 1…Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, and go up to Bethel (the “house of God” and fulfill your vow made there in Gen 28.22; the whole Shechem incident happened because Jacob went to Shechem instead of Bethel; Bethel is near where Yeshua will be crucified and there is a picture here with Jacob’s return; man’s “flight” began in Eden which was a garden, and man must return to a garden-John 19.41) and remain (wait for further instruction) there (to purify the family from the defilement of idols) and make an altar (after they have made the necessary spiritual changes needed) to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”
v 2…So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away (discard, remove) the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves (from idolatry by immersing and abstaining from any act that would defile them) and change your clothes (that were not suitable for appearing before God; all this symbolizes a change in status),
v 3…and let us arise and go up to Bethel (house of God), and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress (a term for the birth-pains or tribulation-Jer 30.7; after Yeshua returns on Yom Kippur after the tribulation, and we enter the kingdom, symbolized by Sukkot, he will build the house of God and the altar), and has been with me wherever I have gone.”
v 4…So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had (of his family, or his servants, or any captives with them) and the rings which were in their ears (in a superstitious way that had images, etc); and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem (he did this alone in an area that will not be tilled or sown, and consequently dug up again; his alludes to the cross of Yeshua).
v 5…As they journeyed, there was a great terror upin the cities which were around them (God caused this fear by the military skill of Jacob and his sons), and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob (they would not dare to do it).
v 6…So Jacob came to Luz (almond, the hastening fruit-Jer 1.11-12), that is, Bethel (the southern part of Moriah near the Gihon Spring), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.
v 7…And he built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel (God of the house of God; he had already named it Bethel, but added the “El”), because there God revealed himself to him, when he had fled from his brother.
v 8…Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named Allon-bacuth (oak of weeping).
v 9…Then God appeared to Jacob again (at Bethel) when he came from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him (with the same blessings as before).
v 10…And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; you shall no longer be called Jacob (only), but Israel shall be your name.” Thus he called him Israel (as a confirmation).
v 11…God also said to him, “I am God Almighty (El Shaddai-Jacob’s source). Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company (kahal; congregation) of nations shall come from you (the twelve tribes), and kings shall come from you (through the Davidic line, ultimately the Messiah).
v 12…And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you.”
v 13…Then God went up (ascended) from him (the visible appearance of the Shekinah, whatever it was) in the place where he had spoken with him (then he left for Haran).
v 14…And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a libation (of wine) on it; he also poured oil on it (like he did in Gen 28.18; the stone is a picture of the Messiah, who is anointed by the Ruach Ha Kodesh).
v 15…So Jacob named the place where God had spoken to him Bethel (confirming the name from Gen 28.22, and a suitable place for the Temple of God).
v 16…Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth (Rev 12.1-5) and suffered severe labor (Mic 4.9-10-a type of the birth-pains of the Messiah).
v 17…And it came about when she was in severe labor that the midwife (a type of the Ruach Ha Kodesh who helps birth Messiah in us) said to her, “Do not fear, for now you have another son).”
v 18…And it came about as her life was departing from her, for she died, that she named him Ben-oni (son of my birth-pains), but his father called him Benjamin (“Ben-yamin” or son of the last days or “right hand”-there is an eschatological picture her; her son Joseph is a type of the suffering servant, the first coming of the Messiah; but Benjamin is a picture of the second coming of the Messiah in the last days, who sits at the right hand of his father).
v 19…So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem (meaning “house of bread” and another allusion to Messiah-Mic 5.1-5; outside of Bethlehem Yeshua will be born in what is called Migdal Eder or the “tower of the flock” where shepherds watched the sheep from watchtowers-Mic 4.8).
v 20…And Jacob set up a pillar over her grave; that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day (at the time of Moses and at least to Samuel-1 Sam 10.2).
v 21…Then Israel (the first time Jacob is called Israel by Moses) journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder (Migdal Eder-Mic 4.8 near Bethlehem).
v 22…And it came about that while Israel was dwelling in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Israel heard (the subject is abruptly dropped but Jacob never forgot and it will influence his death-bed blessings in Gen 49.4). Now there were twelve sons of Jacob-
v 23…the sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob’s first-born, the Simeon (Shimon) and Levi and JUdah and Issachar and Zebulon;
v 24…the sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin;
v 25..the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali;
v 26…and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram (in general; the only exception was Benjamin).
v 27…And Jacob came to his father (inferring that Rebekah had already died) to Mamre (the plain) of Kiriath-arba (a city near it ), that is Hebron (called that later), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.
v 28…Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years.
v 29…And Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people (his spirit went to the righteous dead, and his body was buried with Abraham and Sarah), and old man full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him (this shows there was a reconciliation between the two and the relationship continued; this also indicates that Jacob did not decline the visit to Seir and knew how to find bhim to bring him the notification that his father had died).
Gen 36.1-43 tells us about how Esau had separated from Jacob; Esau’s descendants; the sons of Seir the Horite the original inhabitants before Esau’s descendants arrive.
v 1…Now these are the records of the generations (“toldot” has a missing vav denoting man’s generations are diminished/defective since Adam), of Esau, that is, Edom (he acquired that name at an early age-Gen 25.30).
v 2…Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan (much to the disappointment of Isaac and Rebekah-Gen 26.35): Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite (also known as Base math-Gen 26.34) and Oholibama the daughter of Anah and the grandaughter of Zibeon the Hivite;
v 3…aalso Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth (eldest son of Ismael).
v 4…And Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau (possibly the grandfather of the Eliphaz in Job) and Basemath bore Reuel;
v 5…and Oholibamah bore Jeush and Jalam and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan (Esau had five sons; and we do not read of any born elsewhere).
v 6…Then Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all his household, his livestock and all his cattle and all his goods which he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to another land (Seir) away from his brother Jacob.
v 7…For their property had become to great for them to live together (like Abraham and Lot did), and the land where they sojourned could not sustain them because of the livestock (not enough pasturage for them all).
v 8…So Esau lived in Mount Seir; Esau is Edom.
v 9…Now these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir.
v 10…These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz the son of Esau’s wife Adah, Reuel the son of Esau’s wife Basemath.
v 11…And the sons of eliphaz were Teman (Eliphaz in Job is called a Temanite), Omar, Zepho and Gatan and Kenaz.
v 12…And Timna was a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz and she bore Amalek (where th Amalekites come from, the perpetual enemy of Israel-Exo 17.14; 1 Sam 15.18) to Eliphaz. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Adah.
v 13…And these are the sons of Reuel: Nahath and Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the sons of esau’s esau’s wife basemath.
v 14…And these were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon; she bore to Esau Jeush and Jalam and Korah.
v 15…These are the chiefs of the sons of esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the first-born of Esau, are chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz,
v 16…chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These are the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah.
v 17…And these are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These are the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath.
v 18…And these are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These are the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.
v 19…These are the sons of Esau, that is edom, and these are their chiefs.
v 20…These are the sons of Seir the Horite (the original settlers before Esau’s clans), the inhabitants of the land: Lotan and Shobal and Zibeon and Anah;
v 21…and Dishon and Ezer and Dishan. These are the chiefs descended from the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom.
v 22…And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam, and Lotan’s sister was Timna (the concubine of Eliphaz in v 12).
v 23…And these are the sons of Shobal: Alvan and Manahath and Ebal, Shepho and Onam.
v 24…And these are the sons of Zibeon: Alah and Anah; he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness when he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon.
v 25…And these are the children of Anah: Dishon, and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.
v 26…And these are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan and Eshban and Ithran and Chereh.
v 27…These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan and Zaavah and Akan.
v 28…These are the sons of Dishan: Uz (the country of Job-Job 1.1; Lam 4.21) and Aran.
v 29…These are the chiefs descended from the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah,
v 30…chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief Dishan. These are the chiefs descended from the Horites, according to their chiefs in the land of Seir.
v 31…Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the sons of Israel (the first Jewish king).
v 32…Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
v 33…Then Bela died, and Jobab the son on Bera of Bozrah became king in his place.
v 34…Then Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites became king in his place.
v 35…Then Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the field of Moab, became king in his place; and the name of his city was Avith.
v 36…Then Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah became king in his place.
v 37…Then Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the River (Euphrates) became king in his place.
v 38…Then Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor became king in his place.
v 39…Then Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar became king in his place; and the name of his city was Pau; and his wife’s name was Mehetabel the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab.
v 40…Now these are the names of the chiefs descended from Esau, according to their families and their localities, by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth,
v 41…chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon,
v 42…chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar,
v 43…chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These are the chiefs of edom, that is Esau, the father of the Edomites, according to their habitation in the land of their possession.
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