NOTES for Gen 35:1-29
In a certain sense, this chapter is the completion of an entire stage in the life of God's people and in how the people called by God to preserve and pass on the faith changed. Only at this moment does the final renunciation of idolatry take place by all who make up Jacob's family. The idols Rachel stole from her father are destroyed. Everything that had previously been important and valuable is rejected. And immediately after this Jacob receives the blessing in the same form in which Abraham once received it. The promise of the land, of an innumerable people, and of protection given by God - all this makes Jacob strong and fearless. He goes to live wherever he considers necessary. And in the end, the last son, Benjamin, is born. Thus Israel receives a name, a designation, and the foundation for the twelve tribes.