Well this is a bit odd. At first I thought that this was God speaking in the third person however the specificity leads me to the conclusion that this is one god telling Jacob (are we really going to continue to ignore that his name has changed) to build an alter to an other god, specifically the god that he built the first pillar for after his ladder dream.

What does gods mean in this sentence? Are we talking Idols? or are there living, strange gods among his people? If they are idols, he has only asked them to be put away and not destroyed. Clearly the concept of many gods is not troubling to these people, are there any stories that aren't in this book about some of the other gods talking to people? Do people dream of these other gods? Does Jacob or did Isaac or Abraham speak with these other gods?

The specificity with which Jacob identifies precisely which god he intends to build an alter to is confirmation that he acknowledges more than one god.

Ok, so these strange gods were idols. What is the deal with the earrings? Does the God of Jacob not like earrings? Is hiding the idols really enough? Can Jacob's god not see through oak?

That's an interesting, if short sentence. What this sentence tells us is that there is some reason why all of the cities that Jacob and his household pass by have reason to want to pursue them and that they are only prevented from doing this by the fear of God. Why would everyone want to pursue Jacob? Is it because he is the leader of a murderous tribe? The sentence has further implications. It seems that while Jacob's god can't see items hidden by oak, he does have the capability of protecting Jacob and all of his sons from cities full of people. I wonder if this kind of act will be consistent throughout the narrative or if the things that this god does for Jacob's progeny will be wildly inconsistent and have no detectable pattern.

Good good.

So is this the site of the ladder dream? He's already erected a stone pillar here which I suppose is how he recognizes the place. He calls the place "El" Bethel, this is the god who is called El that he is referring to, but it is specifically stated that the dream he had was of the God of Abraham, The LORD. Are El and The LORD the same god?

What was Rebekah's nurse called? Her death is mentioned, is she important? Why was she buried under oak? We know that if you want to hide things from God, like your household gods, you should put them under oak, is it so that she is hidden from God? Why do they want to hide her from God?

Was it in a dream this time or a physical manifestation? What was the nature of the blessing?

Didn't God already change his name Jacob's name to Israel? Is this a retelling of the renaming story with the wrestling removed for younger audience, or has God actually forgotten that he changed Jacob's name? Perhaps God took a blow to the dead during his grappling session with Jacob giving him amnesia.

This is is the same old promise doled out to Isaac and to Abraham before him. It's not much of a prediction either, Jacob has a lot of children who are proven capable of wiping out whole populations of cities, the vast likelihood is that they will at least briefly be locally important enough to be called kings.

Ok, is this more about which son of Isaac inherits the promise? We knew at least one of them would as that was what the promise was. I suppose God has to affirm the new head of the line at each generation?

Where did God go up to? Did he use a ladder?

Another pillar? this place is going to be littered with pillars and altars.

Beth-El? another reference to the name of this God?

Rachel is pregnant again? I lost count, has she won the baby battle with Leah?

Ok, So her labour was difficult but the midwife was confident that the baby would be born safely.

The midwife was right, however Rachel has died. Why did Jacob (assuming he's the father, it doesn't say specifically) rename his son? Was the name his wife chose not good enough? Anyway. Benjamin is born and I have no good dating information to say when. Ho hum.

OK.

Unto this day again? When was this written?

So we are calling him Israel now, it only took him being renamed twice for it to take.

Was he married to her? I'm guessing not. I wonder what Simeon and Levi had to say about this. Did plan to punish their brother for premarital sex? Well it doesn't say so I can't condemn them as hypocrites however I suspect that if they did punish Reuben it would have been written about here. That being said, the text does say that Israel heard it, now, weather that means he heard the actual act of lovemaking or heard about it later the statement does seem oddly truncated. Was there more, now missing text that dealt with how Israel reacted to his son's transgression?

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OK, Leah clearly won that one.

Wait! Isaac is still alive? After all this time. When we last saw Isaac he was on his death-bed and that has to be at least thirty years ago. Has he been at death's door all this time?

At last, another datable event! Isaac was born in 2048AE and so died in 2228AE having lived one-hundred -and-eighty years, only out-living Eber by forty or so years.

As is fitting I suppose.

God cannot see things that are hidden behind or under oak, it might be though that it is only gods that can be hidden from God with the use of oak. I wonder then if the oak is applies universally to the ability of one god to see another. Can the gods being hidden under the oak see the god they are hidden from?

The tribe of Jacob (Israel) are hated by their neighbours. God intervenes to save them from probably just retribution by leveraging terror. Another demonstration that God favours liars and murderers.

Israel, who is Jacob, is renamed Israel again. Is god forgetful, surely he remembers that he already did this.

For some reason the burial of an unnamed hand-maiden is important to the narrative. I can't think why though.

Leah clearly won the baby making race against her sister. I wonder if this granted her the favour she was expecting from her husband.

Genesis 35.So what have we learned this chapter?Moving on then... Next: Genesis 36.