Genesis 35:6 ¶
So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel,
he and all the people that were with him. 7
And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because
there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. 8 But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was
buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.
9 And God appeared unto Jacob again,
when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. 10 And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy
name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he
called his name Israel. 11 And God said
unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company
of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; 12 And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac,
to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. 13 And God went up from him in the place where
he talked with him. 14 And Jacob set up
a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he
poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon. 15 And Jacob called the name of the place where
God spake with him, Bethel.
Luz
and Bethel are the same place.
Genesis
28:19 And he called the name of that
place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
Jacob
builds an altar and calls the place Elbethel.
El means God and Bethel means house of God.
Genesis
28:16 ¶ And Jacob awaked out of his
sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
17 And he was afraid, and said, How
dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. 18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and
took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and
poured oil upon the top of it. 19 And he
called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz
at the first.
Rebekah’s
nurse, mentioned when Rebekah left her family to marry Isaac, dies at this
point in the narrative. Strong says that Allonbachuth means, “oak of weeping.”
It is likely that Jacob had visited his former home and carried this elderly
nurse with him, as his parents were now dead.
Genesis
24:59 And they sent away Rebekah their
sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant, and his men.
We
are now reminded of God’s appearance to Jacob and his renaming to Israel.
Genesis
32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be
called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and
with men, and hast prevailed.
We
are now given more detail of the blessing and the promise that God bestowed on
Jacob. This is a similar device in the narrative to Paul’s Damascus road
conversion where on other occasions in which it is related we get more
information. It is important to take both accounts when we try to imagine what
went on here. Another possibility to consider is that in this visit to Bethel
these events occur a second time. So, you can view these as a recap or you can
see them as a second event of God’s repeating His blessing and His promise.
Either way would satisfy the demands of the overall narrative.
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