Study it in the app“So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their hands, and the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob buried them under the oak that was near Shechem.”
So they gaveוַיִּתְּנוּto Jacobאֶל יַעֲקֹבallאֵת כָּלthe foreign godsאֱלֹהֵי הַנֵּכָרthatאֲשֶׁרwere in their hands,בְּיָדָםand the ringsוְאֶת הַנְּזָמִיםthatאֲשֶׁרwere in their ears;בְּאָזְנֵיהֶםand Jacobיַעֲקֹבburiedוַיִּטְמֹןthemאֹתָםunderתַּחַתthe oakהָאֵלָהthatאֲשֶׁרwas nearעִםShechem.שְׁכֶם
give
To hand something over to someone: a gift, a payment, a charge or a land.
Where else “yitnu” appearsJacob
Jacob, the younger son of Isaac and Rebekah, twin brother of Esau and father of the twelve tribes. In Hebrew "Yaakov" sounds like "heel" and "supplant" (Genesis 25:26; 27:36). God later gave him the name Israel; the name also stands for his descendants, the people of Israel.
Where else “yaakov” appearsgods
The gods of other peoples.
Where else “elohe” appearsforeign
What is foreign; "son of a foreigner" is someone of another people.
Where else “nechar” appearspower
Literally "the hand": the strength and control someone has.
Where else “yada” appearsring, earring
Ring worn in the nose or the ear as an ornament.
Where else “nezamim” appearsear
The part of the head we hear with; where earrings were worn or a servant was marked.
Where else “azne” appearshide, bury
Hide by burying in the ground.
Where else “yitmon” appearsgreat tree, terebinth
A large, strong tree: an oak or terebinth.
Where else “ela” appearsShechem
See it on the mapWhere else “shechem” appearsShechem
Today: Tell Balata ruins, near Nablus, West Bank
A city in the hills of central Israel, between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Jerusalem.
Abram came there when he entered Canaan, and God promised him the land (Gen 12:6-7). Joshua gathered all Israel there to renew the covenant (Josh 24:1).
3Let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make there an altar to El who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me on the way that I have gone.”
4 · This verse (above)
5As they set out, the terror of Elohim came upon the cities that were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
1. What it says
What did Elohim tell Jacob to do at Bethel, and what did his household leave behind (vv. 1-4)?
2. What it means
What does it show about Jacob that he asks his household to put away the foreign gods (vv. 2-3)?
3. How I live it
What gets in the way of your trust in Elohim, and could you leave it behind?
