Jacob

Jacob
1. Jacob Departs For Paddan-Aram (Haran)
2. Jacob's Dream Of The Ladder To Heaven
3. Jacob Makes A Vow To God
4. Jacob Comes To Paddan-Aram (Haran)
5. Jacob Bargains For A Wife
6. Jacob Gets Married
7. Leah Has Children
8. Rachel Gives Jacob Her Maid Bilhah To Have A Child
9. Leah And Rachel Vie For Jacob's Affection
10. Laban Makes A Contract With Jacob
11. Jacob Becomes Very Rich
12. Jacob Considers Returning To The Land Of His Birth
13. Jacob Takes His Family And Heads For His Home
14. Laban Accuses Jacob Of Stealing His Gods
15. Jacob Is Angry With Laban
16. Laban And Jacob Make A Covenant
17. Jacob Sends A Message To Esau
18. Jacob Sends Gifts To Esau
19. The Angel Changes Jacob's Name
20. Jacob Meets Esau
21. Jacob Buys A Piece Of Land
22. Dinah Gets In Trouble And Her Brothers Make A Proposal
23. Simeon And Levi Take Revenge For Their Sister
24. Jacob Has Everyone Get Rid Of Their Foreign Gods And Jewelry
25. Everyone Left Jacob Alone
26. God Appeared To Jacob
27. Rachel Dies Giving Birth To Benjamin
28. Jacob's Twelve Sons
29. Jacob Comes To His Father Isaac

1. Jacob Departs For Paddan-Aram (Haran) - Back to Page Index
Genesis 28:1-9
Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and told him that he must not take a wife from among the Canaanites. He said, "I want you to go to Paddan-Aram to the house of Bethuel who is your mother's father. Get a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. And may God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful, multiplying you so that you become a company of people. May He give you and your descendants the blessing of Abraham, so that you may possess the land God gave to Abraham." So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-Aram to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, Rebekah's brother. Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to get a wife from Paddan-Aram, saying, "You shall not take a wife from Canaan," and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother by going there. Esau knew that the young women of Canaan displease his father Isaac. So he went to Ishmael and arranged to marry his daughter, Mahalath, who had a sister named Nebaioth. This was Esau's third wife.

2. Jacob's Dream Of The Ladder To Heaven - Back to Page Index
Genesis 28:10-17
By now Jacob had departed from Beersheba for Haran. Finding himself in a deserted place when the sun went down, he found a stone to use as a pillow for his head.

Jacob had a dream in which he saw a ladder reaching up to heaven. Angels of God were going up and down this ladder. He saw the LORD standing at the top of the ladder. He said, "I am the LORD God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I am going to give you and your descendants the land where you are now lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth in number. They will spread out to the west and the east, to the north and the south. Through you and your descendants all the earth will be blessed. Behold, I am with you. I will keep you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you. Everything I have promised I will do for you." Jacob woke up and said to himself, "Surely the LORD is in this place and I was not aware of it." Fear filled him as he considered the awesomeness of the place."Surely," he thought, "This must be the gate to heaven and the house of God."

3. Jacob Makes A Vow To God - Back to Page Index
Genesis 28:18-22
Jacob got up early the next morning and took the stone he had used as a pillow. Setting it up as a pillar, he poured oil on top of it. This place had previously been known as Luz. Jacob named the place Bethel.

Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and keep me while I am on my journey, providing me with food and clothing, and bring me safely back to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God. This stone which I have set up as a pillar will be God's house and of everything He gives me I will surely give a tenth back to Him."

4. Jacob Comes To Paddan-Aram (Haran) - Back to Page Index
Genesis 29:1-12
Jacob continued his journey until he came to the land of the people of the east. He saw a well in the field with three flocks of sheep lying beside it. The sheep would be watered from the well but a stone covered the mouth of the well. When all the flocks had come to the well the shepherds would get together to remove the stone that covered the well. After the sheep had been watered the shepherds would replace the stone over the well.

Jacob said to them, "My brothers, where are you from?" They said, "Haran." He said, "Are you acquainted with Laban the son of Nahor?" They said, "Yes." Then he asked, "Is all well with him?" They said, "It is well. His daughter Rachel is just now coming with his sheep." Jacob said, "The sun is still high. It is not time for the livestock to be here. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture." They answered, "We have to wait for all the flocks to be here before we roll the stone off of the well." As they spoke, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess.

When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban who was his mother's brother, and the sheep she was bringing, he rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock. Then he kissed Rachel and wept. He explained to her that he was a relative of her father since he was Rebekah's son. She then ran to tell her father.

5. Jacob Bargains For A Wife - Back to Page Index
Genesis 29:13-20
When Laban heard that Jacob, Rebekah's son had come, he ran to meet him. He embraced and kissed him, and brought him home. And Jacob told him all the news. Looking at Jacob, Laban said, "You surely are bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." And Jacob stayed with him for a month.

Then Laban said, "You are my relative and cannot serve me for nothing. What should your wages be?" Now Laban had two daughters. The older was Leah and the younger was Rachel. Leah's eyes were delicate but Jacob was more attracted to Rachel's beauty, and he immediately loved her. So he said to Laban, "I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter, Rachel." Laban replied, "Better that I give her to you than anyone else. Stay with me."

So Jacob serve Laban for seven years. His love for Rachel was so great that the time seemed like only a few days to him.

6. Jacob Gets Married - Back to Page Index
Genesis 29:21-30
When the seven years were completed, Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for I have completed my time."

Laban made a feast for all the men of the place, and that evening brought his older daughter, Leah, to Jacob, but Jacob did not know it was Leah. Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to be Leah's maid.

In the morning Jacob discovered that Laban had given him Leah to be his wife instead of Rachel. He said to Laban, "What have you done to me? Did I not serve you seven years for Rachel? Why have you deceived me?" Laban answered, "It is not our practice to marry off the younger before the older. Complete the first week with Leah and, if you like, and I will give you Rachel for an additional seven years of service." Jacob agreed and after a week Laban gave him Rachel as his wife. Laban gave Bilhah to Rachel to be her maid.

Jacob served Laban another seven years for Rachel and he loved her more than Leah.

7. Leah Has Children - Back to Page Index
Genesis 29:31-35
The LORD saw that Leah was not loved and he opened her womb while Rachel remained childless. Leah bore a son and named him Reuben, for she said, "The LORD has seen my affliction and now my husband will love me." Then she had another son and said, "Because the LORD has heard that I am not loved, He has given me another son." So she named him Simeon. Then she bore yet another son and said, "Surely my husband will love me because I have given him three sons." She named this one Levi. And she conceived once more and said, "I will praise the LORD." And she named him Judah. After that she stopped having children.

8. Rachel Gives Jacob Her Maid Bilhah To Have A Child - Back to Page Index
Genesis 30:1-8
Rachel saw that Leah had children and she did not. She said to Jacob, "Give me children or I will die." This made Jacob angry. He said, "Am I in the place of God and able to grant or deny you children?" So Rachel offered her maid Bilhah, to Jacob, saying to him, "Go in to her so that she may conceive and bear a child on my knees, that I, too, may have children." So Jacob did as Rachel asked and took her as his wife, and she conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me. He has surely heard my voice and given me a son." And she named him Dan. Then Bilhah conceived a second time and bore Jacob a second son. Rachel said, "With mighty wrestling I have contended with my sister, Leah, and I have prevailed." She named this son Naphtali.

9. Leah And Rachel Vie For Jacob's Affection - Back to Page Index
Genesis 30:14-24
In the days of the wheat harvest Reuben found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother. When Rachel saw the mandrakes, she said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes." Leah said, "Isn't it enough that you have taken my husband. Now you are asking for my son's mandrakes?" So Rachel said, "Give me the mandrakes and Jacob can sleep with you tonight." That evening when Jacob came in from the field, Leah went out to meet him, and told him of the deal that she had made with Rachel by giving her the mandrakes. So Jacob stayed with her that night.

God saw Leah's need and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Then Leah said, "God has rewarded my struggle." She named the boy Issachar. Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. She said, "God has endowed me with a great gift. Now my husband will stay with me because I have given him six sons." She named this one Zebulun. Next she bore him a daughter and named her Dinah.

Then God remembered Rachel and opened her womb. She conceived a son and said, "God has taken away my reproach." She named the boy Joseph and added, "May the LORD give me another son."

10. Laban Makes A Contract With Jacob - Back to Page Index
Genesis 30:25-36
It was after Joseph's birth Jacob said to Laban, "Send me back to my father and my own country. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you and let me go, for I have fulfilled the contract you made with me." But Laban said to him, "Please stay with me, for I have observed that the LORD has blessed me because of you. If you will stay with me, you can name your wages and I will pay them." Jacob said, "You know full well of how I have served you and how your cattle have fared with me. You had little before I came and it has now increased many times over. The LORD has blessed you since I arrived. But now I need to provide for my own future." Laban said, "What shall I give you?" Jacob replied, "You will not give me anything. Just do this one thing for me, and I will continue to manage your flocks. Let me pass through your entire flock today and remove the speckled and spotted sheep and all the black ones, too. And I will use the same culling standards for the goats. These will be my wages. My honesty and the justness of my wages will be easy to determine. If any in my flock is found to not have spot or speckles, it will be the same as if I stole it from you."

Laban agreed to these wages, and on that day he (Laban) removed the striped and spotted male goats, all the speckled and spotted female goats, and all the black ones, putting them in the care of his sons. Laban put a distance of three days journey between their two flocks, and Jacob continued to care for Laban's flocks.

11. Jacob Becomes Very Rich - Back to Page Index
Genesis 30:37-43
After this Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and other local trees and peeled strips of bark from them exposing the white beneath the bark. He set these rods with missing bark in front of the troughs where the flocks were watered. When they came to drink in the evening, they would mate. So the flocks that mated by those rods brought forth striped, spotted and speckled offspring. Jacob then separated out all those that were not white and moved them to his own herds which were kept separate from Laban's. Jacob noticed when the stronger animals were mating, and would then set the striped and spotted rods where the flocks would see them when they mated. If the weaker of the flock were being watered, he did not put the pealed rods where they could be viewed by the flocks. So the feeble were Laban's and the stronger were Jacob's. And Jacob grew very rich with large flocks. He had male and female servants, camels and donkeys.

12. Jacob Considers Returning To The Land Of His Birth - Back to Page Index
Genesis 31:1-16
Jacob became aware that Laban's sons were saying that he had stolen the wealth of their father. He also noticed that Laban's attitude was not as friendly as it had once been. Then the LORD spoke to Jacob saying, "Return to the land of your fathers, and I will be with you."

When Jacob was out in the field with his flock he called for Rachel and Leah. He said to them, "I see that your father's attitude has changed toward me. But the God of my fathers had been with me. You know that I have served your father with all my strength. Yet he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God has kept him from doing me harm. When he agreed that the speckled should be my wages, only speckled were born to the flock. If he decided that the striped should be my wages, the flock brought forth striped. So you see, God has given me your father's livestock. At those times when the flock was mating, I had a dream. The male goats were mating with the striped, speckled and mottled. The angel of the God spoke to me in a dream, saying, 'Jacob,' and I replied, 'Here I am.' He said, 'Notice that it is the striped, speckled and mottled male goats that mate? For I have seen how Laban has treated you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the stone you set up as a pillar, the place where you made a vow to Me. It is now time for you to leave this land return to the land of your birth." Rachel and Leah said to him, "Is any of our inheritance left for us in our father's house? He treats us like foreigners. He has not only sold us, but has also used up our dowry. Without question the wealth which God has taken from our father belongs to us and our children. Do whatever God has told you to do."

13. Jacob Takes His Family And Heads For His Home - Back to Page Index
Genesis 31:17-21
So Jacob put his children and his wives on camels. He started out for Canaan where his father Isaac lived. And he drove all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan-Aram.

Laban had gone to shear his flock and while he was away, Rachel stole her father's household idols. Jacob did not tell Laban the Aramean that he was leaving. He took everything he had and crossed the Euphrates River and headed for the hill country of Gilead.

14. Laban Accuses Jacob Of Stealing His Gods - Back to Page Index
Genesis 31:22-35
It wasn't until the third day that Laban learned that Jacob had fled. Taking his kinsmen Laban pursued Jacob for seven days. When he finally caught up with him he was in the hill country of Gilead. That night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream, saying, "Be careful not to say anything good or bad to Jacob."

When Laban overtook Jacob he was camped in the hill country. Laban said to Jacob, "Why did you leave secretly and carry away my daughters like stolen captives? If you had told me you were leaving I could have sent you away with celebration and music. You didn't even allow me the opportunity to kiss my grandchildren. You did foolishly. I have the power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night. He said, 'Do not speak anything good or bad to Jacob.'"

"I understand that you are leaving because you want to see your father's house. But why did you steal my gods?"

Jacob said, "I left without telling you because I thought you would not let your daughters go with me. But whoever has stolen your gods shall not live. While everyone watches, search wherever you wish and take what is yours." Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen her father's idols.

So Laban went into Jacob's tent, and then Leah's, and each of the two maids. But he did not find his idols. Then he went to Rachel's tent. She had hidden his household idols in the camel's saddle and she was sitting on it. Laban looked all through the tent and did not find them. Rachel said to her father, "Please, my lord, do not be angry with me for not getting up. It is that time of the month for me." So he did not find the idols.

15. Jacob Is Angry With Laban - Back to Page Index
Genesis 31:36-42
Now Jacob was angry with Laban."What is my offence that you have hotly pursued me? You have search through all my goods and have not found anything of yours. Let's get this straightened out between us in the presence of everyone here today. For twenty years I have been with you. I have watched over your ewes and female goats. I have not eaten the rams of your flock. If an animal was torn by the wild beasts, I bore the loss myself. If anything was stolen, day or night, you required it of my hand. I lost sleep and suffered from the cold. During the twenty years I have been in your house I served fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock. And you changed my wages ten times. If it were not for the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, I think you would have sent me away empty handed. God has seen my affliction and toil, and has rendered His judgment by rebuking you last night."

16. Laban And Jacob Make A Covenant - Back to Page Index
Genesis 31:43-55
Laban replied, "These daughters are mine and their children are mine. So are the flocks. Everything you see is mine. But what can I do about my daughters or the children born to them?"

"Come, let's make a covenant that it may always be a witness between us." So Jacob set up a stone as a pillar, and he invited his kinsmen to gather more stones and make a heap. Then they ate together by the heap. Laban called the place JegarSahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me." The heap was called Galeed, and Mizpah, for he said, "May the LORD watch between you and me while we are absent from each other. If you mistreat my daughters, or take other wives, though no man knows about it, God will be witness between you and me. And take note of this heap and this pillar which I have set up between you and me. It is a witness to remind us that neither of us is to pass by it to harm the other. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." And so Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac."

" Jacob then offered a sacrifice on the mountain, calling his kinsmen to the meal. They ate and spent the night on the mountain. Early the next morning Laban arose and kissed his grandchildren and blessed them. After that he left for his own home.

17. Jacob Sends A Message To Esau - Back to Page Index
Genesis 32:1-12
As Jacob went on his way, God's angels met him. When he saw them he said, "This is God's camp." So he named the place Mahanaim. Then he sent messengers on ahead to his brother Esau in Edom. He instructed them, "This is what you are to say to my lord Esau, 'Your servant Jacob has sojourned with Laban until now.' I have acquired my own things. I have sent to tell my lord that I want to find favor in his sight." The messengers returned to Jacob to say that Esau was coming to meet him and he had four hundred men with him. This made Jacob afraid. He divided his people and his flocks into two groups. He thought, "If Esau attacks one of the companies, the other may escape." Then he prayed, "O God of my father Isaac, You told me to return to my country and my relatives and you would prosper me. I am not worthy of all Your loving kindness and faithfulness to me. I only had a staff when I crossed the Jordan. Now I am two companies. Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau. I am afraid he will attack me and my family. You said that You would surely prosper me and make my descendants to be without number."

18. Jacob Sends Gifts To Esau - Back to Page Index
Genesis 32:13-21
So Jacob spent the night there. The next day he prepared a present to send to Esau. He sent two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milking camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. He had his servants deliver these in separate droves with some distance between each drove. He told the driver of the first drove what to say when Esau asked who the animals belonged to? "You shall say, 'These are a present from Jacob to my lord Esau. He is coming behind us.'" Jacob told the second and third groups of servants of each drove to give the same answer. "Always say, 'Your servant Jacob is behind us.' Perhaps he will be appeased with these presents and think well of me." So his presents went before him while he spent the night camped in that place.

19. The Angel Changes Jacob's Name - Back to Page Index
Genesis 32:22-32
During the night he got up and took his two wives, their maids and their children across the Jabbok. He sent across the stream whatever he had. Then he remained alone and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. As they wrestled, neither prevailed against the other. Finally Jacob's opponet touched the socket of his thigh and dislocated it. The Man said, "Let me go for dawn is coming." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." The Man asked him, "What is your name?" And he replied, "Jacob." And the Man said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel. For you have wrestled with God and with men, and have prevailed." Then Jacob said, "Please tell me Your name." But the Man said, "Why do you ask my name?" And he blessed him there.

So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face and I did not die." The sun was rising as he crossed Penuel and dislocated thigh made him limp. For this reason the children of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because God had touched Jacob's thigh in the sinew of his hip that night.

20. Jacob Meets Esau - Back to Page Index
Genesis 33:1-17
And Jacob looked in the distance and saw Esau coming with four hundred men. So he decided to divide the children and put them with their mothers. He placed the maids with their children in front followed by Leah with her children and Rachel and Joseph last of all. Jacob went on ahead of them, bowing to the ground seven times until his brother came near. Esau ran to meet him and fell on his neck, embracing and kissing him as they both wept.

Esau looked up and seeing the women and children, asked, "Whose are these with you?" Jacob said, "They are the children God has graciously given to your servant." Then Leah and Rachel's maids came near with their children and they all bowed down. Next Leah came with her children and they bowed down. Last of all came Rachel and Joseph and they bowed down.

Esau asked, "What do you mean by all the animals which I have met along the way?" Jacob replied, "I sent them that I might find favor in your sight, my lord." Esau said, "But I have plenty of my own. Keep them for yourself." Jacob answered, "If I have found favor in your sight, please take this present from me, for I see your face as one who sees the face of God, because you have received me with favor. Please accept this gift for God has dealt graciously with me. I have plenty. So Esau accepted the gifts."

Then Esau said, "Let us be on our way. I will go before you." But Jacob replied, "My lord knows that the children are small and the flocks and herds are nursing and require much care and watching. If I drive them too hard even one day, they will die." Please let my lord pass on his way and I will proceed at my leisure, according to the pace the children and the cattle can endure. I will come to my lord at Seir. Esau said, "Let me leave some men to help you, But Jacob replied, "There is no need for that."

" So Esau returned to his home in Seir, and Jacob journeyed to Succoth where he built a house and shelter for his livestock.

21. Jacob Buys A Piece Of Land - Back to Page Index
Genesis 33:18-20
Jacob made it safely to Shechem in the land of Canaan, and camped near the city, having come all the way from Paddan-Aram. He bought a piece of land from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money, and there he pitched his tent. He erected an alter and called it ElEloheIsrael.

22. Dinah Gets In Trouble And Her Brothers Make A Proposal - Back to Page Index
Genesis 34:1-17
Dinah, Leah's daughter, went to visit the daughters of the land. Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, who was the prince of the land, saw her and took her by force and lay with her. He was very attracted to Dinah, Jacob's daughter, and loved her and spoke tenderly to her. So Shechem asked his father to arrange for the girl to be his wife. When Jacob heard that Dinah had been defiled, his sons were with his livestock in the field, so he kept quiet until they came in from their work.

Then Hamor, Shechem's father, went to speak with Jacob. When the sons of Jacob had come in from the field and heard about the disgraceful thing that Shechem had done to their sister Dinah, they were incensed.

But Hamor spoke with them saying, "My son Shechem loves Dinah very much. Please give her to him in marriage. Intermarry with us by giving your daughters to us and taking our daughters for yourselves. The land will be open to you and you may live among us. We can live together and trade with each other, and you can acquire property in the land." Shechem then spoke up, saying, "If I have found favor in your sight, ask what you will for your daughter and I will give it. I am willing to give any bridal payment you specify for the privilege of marrying your daughter."

But since Shechem had defiled their sister Dinah, Jacob's sons answered him deceitfully. They said, "It would be a disgrace to us to give our sister to an uncircumcised man. You can marry our sister on one condition. You and every Noe of your men must be circumcised. Then we will give our daughters to you and take your daughters for ourselves, and live together as one people. But unless you do this you cannot have Dinah."

23. Simeon And Levi Take Revenge For Their Sister - Back to Page Index
Genesis 34:18-31
What Jacob's sons said seemed reasonable to Hamor and his son Shechem. The young man readily agreed to the idea because he was so taken with Dinah. And he was greatly respected in the city. So when Hamor and Shechem spoke to the men of the city, saying, "These men are friendly toward us. Let them live in the land trade with us. There is room enough for us and them as well. We can take their daughters and give them our daughters. But it will only happen on one condition. Everyone of us must be circumcised just as they are circumcised. Will not their livestock and property, including all their animals, become ours? Let's consent to their request so that they will live among us." Everyone coming and going through the gate of the city listened to Hamor and Shechem, and every male agreed to be circumcised.

On the third day after they were circumcised, and their pain was at its height, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and went into the city and killed every male, including Hamor and Shechem. They took Dinah from Shechem's house and left. Then Jacob's sons looted the city because of what had been done to their sister. They took their flocks, herds and donkeys. They took whatever they wanted from the city and the field. They also took their women and children along with everything in their houses.

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You are bringing trouble on me by making me loathsome to the inhabitants of the land. I am a small company. What if the Canaanites and the Perizzites attack me? I and my household will be destroyed." His sons answered, "Should he have treated our sister like a harlot?"

24. Jacob Has Everyone Get Rid Of Their Foreign Gods And Jewelry - Back to Page Index
Genesis 35:1-4
God said to Jacob, "Arise and go up to Bethel, live there and make an alter to me. It was there that I appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau."

So Jacob said to his household, "Put away your foreign gods. Purify yourselves and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel. There I will make an alter to God, Who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me since that day." So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears. Jacob hid these under the oak near Shechem.

25. Everyone Left Jacob Alone - Back to Page Index
Genesis 35:5-8
As they journeyed a great terror fell on the cities they passed so that no one bothered them. And Jacob and his people came to Luz, now known as Bethel. There Jacob built an alter and called the place Elbethel, because God had revealed Himself to him there when he was fleeing from his brother.

Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried below Bethel under an oak. The place was named Allon-Bacuth.

26. God Appeared To Jacob - Back to Page Index
Genesis 35:9-15
God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-Aram, and He blessed him. God told him that his name had been Jacob, but he should no longer go by that name. His name was now Israel. God said to him, "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. More than one nation will come from you. And kings will be among your descendants. The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you and your descendants." Then God went up from that place where He had spoken to him. So Jacob set up a pillar of stone in the place where God had spoken and he poured a drink offering and oil over it. And he called the place Bethel because God had spoken to him there.

27. Rachel Dies Giving Birth To Benjamin - Back to Page Index
Genesis 35:16-20
They journeyed from Bethel to Ephrath and as they traveled, Rachel went into hard labor. When her labor became very severe, the midwife told her not to be afraid for she was having another son. As Rachel was dying she named him Benoni, but Jacob called him Benjamin. So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath. The place is now known as Bethlehem. And Jacob set up a pillar over her grave.

28. Jacob's Twelve Sons - Back to Page Index
Genesis 35:21-26
Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. It was during this time that Reuben lay with his father's concubine and Israel learned of what he has done. Israel had twelve sons.

Reuben was Leah's firstborn. Then she bore Jacob Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. And Rachel bore him Joseph and Benjamin. Bilhah, Rachel's maid, bore him Dan and Naphtali. And Zilpah, Leah's maid, bore him Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob born to him in Paddan-Aram.

29. Jacob Comes To His Father Isaac - Back to Page Index
Genesis 35:27-29
Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre of KiriathArba, known now as Hebron. Both Abraham and Isaac had sojourned here. Isaac was one hundred and eighty years old. He breathed his last, died and was gathered to his people having lived a long time. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

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