translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: GEN

label: NET study note

text: God is calling on Jacob to fulfill his vow he made when he fled from…Esau (see Gen 28:20-22 ).


text: The actions of removing false gods, becoming ritually clean, and changing garments would become necessary steps in Israel when approaching the Lord in worship.


text: On the basis of a comparison with and , G. J. Wenham argues that the foreign gods and the rings could have been part of the plunder that came from the destruction of Shechem ( Genesis [WBC], 2:324).


text: Jacob buried them . On the burial of the gods, see E. Nielson, “The Burial of the Foreign Gods,” ST 8 (1954/55): 102-22.


text: The name El-Bethel means “God of Bethel.”


text: Deborah . This woman had been Rebekah’s nurse, but later attached herself to Jacob. She must have been about one hundred and eighty years old when she died.


text: Called the name of the place . In view of the previous naming of Bethel in Gen 28:19 , here Jacob was confirming or affirming the name through an official ritual marking the fulfillment of the vow. This place now did become Bethel, the house of God.


text: Another son . The episode recalls and fulfills the prayer of Rachel at the birth of Joseph ( Gen 30:24 ): “may he add” another son.


text: The name Ben-Oni means “son of my suffering.” It is ironic that Rachel’s words to Jacob in Gen 30:1 , “Give me children or I’ll die,” take a different turn here, for it was having the child that brought about her death.


text: This explanatory note links the earlier name Ephrath with the later name Bethlehem . map For location see Map5-B1 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-E2 ; Map10-B4 .


text: The location of Migdal Eder is not given. It appears to be somewhere between Bethlehem and Hebron. Various traditions have identified it as at the shepherds’ fields near Bethlehem (the Hebrew name Migdal Eder means “tower of the flock”; see Mic 4:8 ) or located it near Solomon’s pools.