And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.
3. who answered me ] Jacob here refers to his flight from Esau (chap. 28), not, as some have supposed, to his flight from Laban (chap. 31).
in the day of my distress ] Cf. Psa 20:1, “The Lord answer thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob set thee up on high.”
was with me ] Cf. Gen 28:20, Gen 31:3.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 3. Answered me in the day of my distress] Not only when he fled from the face of his brother, but more particularly when he was in his greatest strait at the brook of Jabbok.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He takes Gods gracious promise, and the comfortable hope and assurance of Gods favour to him, and care of him, impressed by God upon his mind and heart, for an answer to his prayers, though he had then seen no success nor accomplishment of Gods word to him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And let us arise and go up to Bethel,…. Thus prepared and purged, their tents clear of idols, their bodies washed with pure water, and their garments new, neat, and clean; all symbolical of inward purity, and of freedom from idolatry and evil works, as became those who go to the house of God, and are his worshippers, see
Heb 10:22.
I will make there an altar unto God; as he has directed, and sacrifice to him, and worship him, and give the tenth unto him, and so make it a Bethel, an house of God indeed, as he had vowed, Ge 28:22;
who answered me in the day of my distress; on account of his brother Esau, from whose wrath he fled:
and was with me in the way which I went; from his father’s house to Padanaram; in which journey he was alone and destitute, and exposed to many difficulties and dangers, but God was with him, and preserved him, and directed and brought him to Laban’s house in safety.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(3) Who answered me . . . The narrative of Jacobs life, and the detail of Gods providential care of him, would doubtless affect strongly the minds of his followers, and make them ready to abandon their idols, and worship the God that was Israels God (Gen. 33:20).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. I will make there an altar Shechem had not been without its altar, (Gen 33:20,) but the one at Beth-el is to be a memorial altar, to the special honour of Him who answered Jacob in the day of his distress. All the awakened memories of God’s care are to enter into this new place of worship .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 66:13-14 . How charming is the like in Ephraim! Hos 14:8 . How amiable in the Prodigal! Luk 15:18 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 35:3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.
Ver. 3. And was with me in the way, &c. ] Deducendo, reducendo, fraenumque socero, fratri, finitimisque Shecemi inieciendo, ne me ullo pacto laederent, saith Junius. All this called for thankfulness. Prayer and thanks should be like the double motion of the lungs. The air that is sucked in by prayer should be breathed out again by praises. God had heard Jacob; now he should hear of him.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
with me. Compare Gen 28:20; Gen 3:3; Gen 3:42.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
who answered: Gen 28:12, Gen 28:13, Gen 32:7, Gen 32:24, Psa 46:1, Psa 50:15, Psa 66:13, Psa 66:14, Psa 91:15, Psa 103:1-5, Psa 107:6, Psa 107:8, Psa 116:1, Psa 116:2, Psa 116:16-18, Psa 118:19-22, Isa 30:19
was with: Gen 28:20, Gen 31:3, Gen 31:42, Pro 3:6, Isa 43:2
Reciprocal: Gen 12:8 – of Bethel Gen 35:7 – built Gen 46:1 – and offered Gen 49:25 – the God 1Sa 10:3 – Bethel Job 1:5 – sanctified Ecc 5:4 – vowest Oba 1:14 – in the day Jon 2:9 – I will sacrifice
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
BACK TO BETHEL
Let us arise, and go up to Bethel.
Gen 35:3
I. Bethel was the place of visions and of vows, and possessed sacred memories for Jacob. It was there he first came into touch with God, and vowed to become His servant. A long interval had passed that was not the most creditable to Jacob, and God had at last to thrust him out of the house of Laban in order that he might realise his early ideals. Between every Egypt and Canaan there lies a wilderness, and the journey from the house of Laban to the place of vision reflected much of the experience of those who set their face towards the place of full consecration and uninterrupted fellowship.
II. In getting back to Bethel Jacob found there were places to be left, things to be faced, and difficult and dangerous places to be passed. He had to leave the house of Laban, and there are associations that have to be broken up before we can be fully consecrated. The only way of safety lay in getting out of evil territory. Then there were things to be faced. If Laban was a difficulty, Esau was a greater. It was worse to have to face a wronged man than a bad man, for God puts Himself in the place of every wronged man. The wisest course is to settle the difficulty about the wronged man first with God in secret, and then to face the man himself. One must never seek to dodge Esau, for there can be no second blessing for the man with an unrequited wrong in his memory. Then Jacob found there were difficult places to be passed. Shechem was a place that appealed strongly to Jacob from a business point of view, for it offered numerous advantages and opportunities, and he stayed there for a time, and built an altar to satisfy his conscience. But he paid dearly for his compromise, for his children went to the devil and disgraced their father. Then in his extremity he set his face towards Bethel once more. Let us go back to Bethel, to our first love, to our early vows, to those holy moments when we thought we would be absolutely and irrevocably Christs. Let us stand where we stood, where it would have been well for us if we had never lost ground; but it is better with one great effort to regain the past than continue to drift.
III. Jacobs words sent a thrill of aspiration through his camp. They obeyed him, and renounced their strange gods, and put off their jewels, and the people arose with Jacob to a new life. It is a grand thing when a returning prodigal is able to influence many another to accompany him back to the Fathers house. And God appeared unto Jacob again. Oh, precious words! Take heart, beloved friend! It is long since you saw His face, and heard His voice, but it will all come back now, and you shall become fruitful, you shall multiply, spiritual children shall be given to you.
IV. Rachel died a few days after visiting Bethel. What a comfort it must have been to Jacob and to her to feel that their last common act was one of renewed religious life! It was easier for Jacob to bear all the trouble and sorrow that followed, with the inspiration of that one holy act lingering in his memory.
Illustration
My Christianity should be continually progressive. It should leave what is behind, and reach forward to what is before. To-day should be better than yesterday, and to-morrow better than to-day. I ought not to need the return to Bethel. I ought to be perpetually advancing to new revelations, new experiences, new achievements, new benedictions. Butlet me say it with regret and shameit is not so, I retrograde. I lose my first love, and forget my first works. I turn aside into Bypath Meadow. I linger in the delicate plain called Ease. I fall asleep in the Enchanted Ground. There are sad halts, relapses, falls, in my progress. Yet how good is my God to me! Since I will not go steadfastly forward in His name and through His grace, He conducts me back to Bethel. He converts me a second time. He restores my soul. He says to me, I heal thy backslidings, and now, My child, run the race more courageously and unfalteringly, looking unto Jesus.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Gen 35:3. Who answered me in the day of my distress He considers Gods gracious promise then made to him, and the assurance of his favour toward him, and care of him, impressed by God upon his mind, as an answer to his prayers, although he had then seen no success, nor any accomplishment of Gods word to him.