Genesis 35:9-15

GOD APPEARS TO JACOB AGAIN

"And God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob; thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave unto Abraham and Isaac, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in the place where he spake with him. And Jacob set up a pillar where he spake with him, a pillar of stone: and he poured out a drink offering thereon, and poured oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel."

As anyone familiar with critical comment could have known in advance, there are all kinds of allegations about this being a "repeat" from a different source of the previous mention of God changing Jacob's name. But as Willis accurately discerned, "It is not inappropriate at all for God to repeat this."[21] The very terminology seems to say here, Look Jacob, you have still continued to live in your old character; but now, that you have returned to Bethel and have fulfilled your vow, purified your household, and put away the idols, you and yours must henceforth live as Israel. "God here summarized his previous revelations to Jacob: the name-blessing Israel, and the promise of nationhood in Abraham's land."[22] The command to be fruitful and multiply does not apply to Jacob personally but to his posterity, who are here reminded to continue in the original mandate for humanity announced in Genesis 1:28. "It is clear that the change of name and the reiteration of the promise are connected with Jacob's settlement in the land. Jacob settles in the land as Israel, claiming it by divine right."[23]

THE DEATH OF RACHEL

One tragic event after another was experienced by the patriarch Jacob, and one of the bitterest, perhaps, was that of the death of Rachel in childbirth, as the twelfth son of Jacob is born.