MPV Commentary

1. God said to Jacob, "Arise and go up to Beth-el." This command was timely and tenderly phrased. The recent events in Jacob's family had left him feeling a strong desire to leave the area around Shechem as soon as possible. Overwhelmed by his sons' wrongdoing and anxious about potential consequences from the Canaanite people, he must have felt this call as a great relief for his troubled feelings. It also conveyed a gentle rebuke.

Go up to Beth-el, where he would be released from painful associations and established on a spot that would revive joyful memories. However, this pleasure was not unalloyed.

Make there an altar unto God, who had appeared to him earlier. Jacob had neglected his early vow at Beth-el, made in a time of great crisis (Genesis 28:20-22). The Lord now reminded him of his duty in mild terms, awakening more the memory of His kindness than Jacob's fault. This appeal to their memorable scene at Beth-el is evident in Jacob's immediate preparations to arise and go up there.

2. Then Jacob said to his household, "Put away the strange gods that are among you." These were idols brought by Mesopotamian retainers who practiced superstitious rituals. Jacob had been too lenient in tolerating these evils or may have only learned about them upon arriving in Canaan (Genesis 31:34). He resolved to reform his household immediately and thoroughly, commanding them to put away the strange gods.

Be clean and change your garments, as if some defilement from contact with idolatry still lingered. This was a figurative representation of purification, teaching the doctrines of Christ's atonement and our sanctification (compare Leviticus 12-15).

4. They gave Jacob all the strange gods and earrings. These were idols acquired among the Shechemite spoil, often connected with incantation and idolatry (Hosea 2:13). The decided tone Jacob now assumed likely contributed to the alacrity with which those favorite objects of superstition were surrendered.

Jacob hid them under an oak tree, a towering object in Palestinian scenery. He buried the images and amulets at its root, considering it a consecrated tree where no bold hand would disturb the ground. This place was later called "the plain of Meonenim" or "the oak of enchantments" (Judges 9:37).

5. The terror of God was upon the cities. There was reason to fear that a storm of indignation would burst from all quarters upon Jacob's family, but a supernatural panic seized them instead. This was for the sake of the "heir of the promise," and the protecting shield of Providence was held over his family.

6. So Jacob came to Luz, which is Beth-el. It is possible that this place was unoccupied ground when Jacob first went there, and after that period, the Canaanites built a town called Luz (Genesis 28:19). The name of Beth-el did not supersede the original one until long afterward.

7. El-Beth-el, meaning "the God of Beth-el."

8. Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died. This event occurred before the solemnities began. Deborah had lived to be a hundred eighty years old and was buried under the oak tree, which became known as "the terebinth of tears" (1 Kings 13:14). God appeared to Jacob again after the solemn rites were over, testifying His acceptance of Jacob's sacrifice and renewing the promise made to Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 35:11-12).

The patriarch observed the ceremony with which he had formerly consecrated the place, including a sacramental cup and oil poured on the pillar. He reimposed the memorable name given to this place earlier (Genesis 35:14). This scene was characteristic of the patriarchal dispensation, where great truths were exhibited to the senses.

13. God went up from him. The presence of God was indicated in some visible form, and His acceptance of the sacrifice shown by the miraculous descent of fire from heaven, consuming it on the altar.