NOTES for Gen 35:1-29

The account of Jacob's second meeting with God is given twice in the Book of Genesis: in Jacob's own retelling and as part of an epic tradition explaining the origin of the name Beit-El (Bethel), which means "house of God." Philologists call such traditions toponymic, and they usually appear among peoples who are not native inhabitants of the places whose names figure in these traditions. Local, native peoples need no explanations; the origin of any local geographic name is clear to them without any traditions. Those who came from far away, however, need to explain to themselves why certain places are called what they are called. This is especially true when newcomers rename them, giving them their own names in place of earlier ones.

So it was with Beit-El, and this indicates that in Jacob's time Abraham's descendants had already not lived in Samaria for quite a long time, on the lands where Abraham had settled when he came to Palestine from Mesopotamia. Jacob and his contemporaries rediscover these places for themselves, as it were, returning to Abraham's altars, setting them in order again and settling anew the places Abraham had once abandoned. This became possible because the number of Abraham's descendants, Jacob's sons, had grown greatly by that time. Perhaps they were already becoming crowded in the oasis of Be'er Sheva (Beer-sheba). In any case, one thing is clear: Jacob returns to Samaria, to the land of Abraham. The author of Genesis describes this return as a triumphal procession, probably preserving here the pathos of the epic tradition underlying the account. That pathos was most likely connected with the promises God had given already to Abraham. Jacob's contemporaries would have looked at their return to Samaria as the fulfillment of these promises; such a view would have been quite understandable and natural.

At least they look at Jacob as a new Abraham; this can be seen even from how similar the structure and logic of the stories describing the theophanies connected with Abraham's name are to the structure and logic of the stories describing the theophanies connected with Jacob's name. In both cases there are two meetings, the first of which describes the establishment of a covenantal bond (in Abraham's case) or its renewal (in Jacob's case) with corresponding promises, while the second presupposes spiritual changes taking place in the person, whose sign is a change of name.

And the name of God also appears in both cases: God reveals it to Abraham, while Jacob asks about it and receives no answer. Such a perception of events is understandable: people often try to hurry history along. In reality, centuries will pass before God's promises are fulfilled, centuries of life in Egypt and in the wilderness. Only after a new revelation, unprecedented in its significance, will God's promises be fulfilled. Jacob only begins this path; others will complete it.