Genesis Chapter 35 v.1-29

God conveniently told Jacob at this time that getting out of the area would be a good idea. You know, after the massacre and all.

Jacob was told to go to Bethel, and so he got his family together and told them to get rid of all their petty gods because they were going to go to a new place, presumably where god cared about such things. He made them all bathe and change their clothes, and give him their earrings (?) and they set out.

While they were on their way no one confronted them. The author assumes it is because of god, but I'm wondering if word had spread of Jacob's insane sons.

When they got there, Rebekah's nurse died and they buried her. Then god renamed Jacob, telling him that he would refer to him from now on as Israel.

Then the usual: you will be king, kings will come from your body, blah blah blah, I will give you the land I gave Abraham and Isaac, blah blah blah. Jacob-oops, Israel-built a stone pillar in the place where all this happened.

Then they all left, I guess to go set up shop in the land that god promised Israel. On the trip away from Bethel, Rachel died in childbirth, and named the son she had Ben-Oni before she expired. But Jacob named the child Benjamin anyway.

So Rachel was buried and they continued their trip.

While stopping to rest, Reuben slept with his father's concubine. The author doesn't seem to care which one. Or why.

Then we get a neat list of all of Jacob's sons. I will not bother re-listing them here.

When Israel finally returned home, his father Isaac died, at the ripe age of 180. Why does the bible constantly shoot down hopes of credibility with these insane life spans? Must be part of the mystery of god.

Esau and Israel ne Jacob buried their father.