Jacob Returns to Bethel

God tells Jacob to return to Bethel and build an altar, so Jacob calls his household to purification and the burial of foreign gods. As they travel, God protects them by placing fear on the surrounding cities.

T¹hen God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” ²So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments. ³Then let us arise and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to God, who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.” ⁴So they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and all their earrings, and Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem. ⁵As they set out, a terror from God fell over the surrounding cities, so that they did not pursue Jacob’s sons.

Jacob arrives at Bethel, builds an altar, and names the place for the God who revealed Himself there. The notice of Deborah's death adds a quiet note of mourning beside this return.

⁶So Jacob and everyone with him arrived in Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. ⁷There Jacob built an altar, and he called that place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed Himself to Jacob as he fled from his brother. ⁸Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bacuth.

God appears again, blesses Jacob, names him Israel, and renews the promises of descendants, kings, and land. Jacob answers by setting up a pillar, pouring out an offering, and naming the place Bethel.

⁹After Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. ¹⁰And God said to him, “Though your name is Jacob, you will no longer be called Jacob. Instead, your name will be Israel. ” So God named him Israel. ¹¹And God told him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation — even a company of nations — shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you. ¹²The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.” ¹³Then God went up from the place where He had spoken with him. ¹⁴So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where God had spoken with him— a stone marker— and he poured out a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil. ¹⁵Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.