What does Genesis 35:14 mean?
God appeared to Jacob more than twenty years earlier (Genesis 28:10–12), as he fled from his brother Esau (Genesis 27:42). In that first meeting, the Lord promised Jacob he would share in the blessings given to his ancestors (Genesis 28:13–14). More recently, God encountered Jacob and changed his name to Israel (Genesis 32:28). When Jacob returned to the place of his first divine meeting (Genesis 35:1), God reminded Him of these events and confirmed those promises (Genesis 35:9–13).Now Jacob follows his pattern of worship following an appearance from the Lord. This is similar to what he did when God first appeared to him in Bethel, as he was leaving the land of Canaan (Genesis 28:18). Jacob now builds a stone pillar in worship to God. Then he pours over it both a drink offering and oil. This is the first mention of a drink offering in the Old Testament. Similar acts of worship will later be included, in various forms, in the law of Moses given to Jacob's descendants as instructions for worshiping God.