Jacob was afraid of the *Canaanites who lived near to Shechem. (See Genesis 34:30.) He might be safer if he moved away from Shechem. Perhaps that was the reason why God told Jacob to move away from Shechem. But that was certainly not the main reason. Jacob had met God at the place that he named ‘Be... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD’S ANCIENT PEOPLE GENESIS _ALUN OWEN_ CHAPTER 35 JACOB MOVES TO BETHEL V1 God said to Jacob, ‘Move away from here. Go to Bethel and live there. Make an *altar there for me. I am God. I appeared to you when you ran away from your brother Esau.’ V2 So Jacob spoke to his relatives. And he spoke... [ Continue Reading ]
Probably these foreign gods included the gods that Rachel had stolen from Laban. (See Genesis 31:19 and the comment.)... [ Continue Reading ]
This is the answer to Jacob’s fear. (See Genesis 34:30.) They were safe because God protected them. V6 And Jacob came to Luz, which is also called Bethel. It is a city in the country that is called *Canaan. Jacob and all the people who were with him came there. V7 And Jacob built an *altar there. H... [ Continue Reading ]
‘El-bethel’ means ‘God of Bethel’ or ‘God of God’s house’. ‘God had shown himself.’ (See Genesis 28:13.)... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Allon-bacuth’ means ‘the tree of weeping’. GOD APPEARS TO JACOB V9 God appeared to Jacob again, when Jacob came from Paddan-aram. And God promised good things to him. V10 And God said to him, ‘You are called Jacob. But you shall not be called Jacob. You shall be called Israel.’ So he was called I... [ Continue Reading ]
Before this time, God spoke to Jacob at this same place, Bethel. (See Genesis 28:13-15.) And when Jacob returned to Bethel, God spoke to him again (in these verses). God repeated some of the things that he had said earlier. He repeated Jacob’s new name, Israel. (For ‘Israel’ see Genesis 32:28 and th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Bethel’ means ‘God’s house’. Jacob had already named this place ‘Bethel’. (See Genesis 28:19.) So ‘Bethel’ was not a new name. But Jacob had just met God there. So he called the place Bethel again. He might have said, ‘When I was here 20 years ago, I named this place “God’s house”. Now I have met G... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Ben-oni’ means ‘son of my pain’. ‘Benjamin’ may mean ‘son of my right hand’. V21 Israel travelled on and he put his tent beyond Migdal-Eder. V22 While Israel lived in that district, Reuben had sex with Bilhah. Bilhah was an extra wife of Reuben’s father. And Israel heard what Reuben had done. No... [ Continue Reading ]
Most of these sons were born in the district that is called Paddan-aram. But Benjamin was not born in Paddan-aram. He was born in the country that is called *Canaan. These verses do not name the sons in the order of their birth. The order of their birth was this: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, N... [ Continue Reading ]
‘His fathers’ means his father and his grandfather and those who had lived before them. ALTAR ~ a table where one burned an animal as an offering to God. An altar is usually several large stones that form a pile. OFFERING ~ a gift to God. An offering may be an animal. People killed the animal and bu... [ Continue Reading ]