Genesis 35:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.

NIV: So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.

NASB: So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, 'Remove the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments;

CSB: So Jacob said to his family and all who were with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes.

NLT: So Jacob told everyone in his household, 'Get rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and put on clean clothing.

KJV: Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:

NKJV: And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.

More than 20 years have passed since Jacob made vows to make the Lord his God and to recognize Bethel as God's house (Genesis 28:16–22). Now God has commanded Jacob to resettle his large company several miles south of their current location. They are to move to the unique location where the Lord had appeared to Jacob in a dream as he was fleeing the land of Canaan and his brother Esau (Genesis 27:42).

Jacob quickly sets about obeying God's commands. Before they go, however, Jacob issues commands of his own to his large company of family and servants. First, they are to gather up all their foreign gods. This would include house idols of the type that Jacob's wife Rachel had stolen from her father Laban (Genesis 31:19). Many people and households of the day would have had a collection of idols to worship as gods in the hopes of receiving blessing and protection. Jacob, however, had vowed to the Lord in Bethel to make the Lord his God, with the implication that he would have no other gods. Later, God would explicitly command Jacob's descendants, the people of Israel, to have absolutely no other gods or idols of any kind (Exodus 20:3).

Next, Jacob commands his company to purify themselves and change their clothes. In other words, they were to wash and put on clean garments in preparation for worshiping the Lord at Bethel.

Genesis 35:1–15 describes the fulfillment of Jacob's vows made to the Lord some twenty years earlier. Then, Jacob encountered God after fleeing from Esau (Genesis 27:42). Now that Jacob has returned safely to Canaan and resolved the conflict with Esau, God commands him to build an altar at the place of their earlier meeting. Jacob rids his family of all of their false idols and builds the altar. God appears to him, confirming the covenant promises once more. Jacob responds to God's appearance and blessing by building a stone pillar and pouring a drink offering and oil over it. This location is named Bethel, meaning "House of God."

God commands Jacob to build an altar to Him at Bethel. This will fulfill vows Jacob made after encountering the Lord for the first time, as he was fleeing for his life from Esau. Jacob rids his family of all their false idols and travels to Bethel. God appears to him again, reaffirming all the covenant promises. As they travel away, Rachel dies giving birth to Jacob's twelfth son. His first son, Reuben, sleeps with Jacob's servant-wife Bilhah, losing his birthright as a result. Finally, Jacob's father Isaac dies at 180 years old.

Recent events have left Jacob fearful of the people of the land. His sons slaughtered an entire town to avenge their sister's rape. However, God apparently uses this bloodshed to inspire fear. Nobody attacks Jacob's family as they travel to Bethel, setting up an altar and renewing their covenant with God. Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin. Jacob's eldest son sleeps with one of his servant-wives, losing his birthright. Isaac dies, and Jacob and Esau bury him in the family burial cave in Mamre. The story then focuses on Jacob's sons, primarily Joseph, as the family finds themselves drawn into Egypt.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.