(7) El-beth-el.--That is, the God of the house of God: the God into whose house he had been admitted, and seen there the wonders of His providence.

God appeared.--The verb here, contrary to rule, is plural (see Note on Genesis 20:13), but the Samaritan Pentateuch has the singular. No argument can be drawn either way from the versions, as the word for God is singular in them all, and the verb necessarily singular also. In no other language but Hebrew is the name of God plural, but joined with verbs and adjectives in the singular.

Verse 7. - And he built there an altar, - thus redeeming his vow (cf. Ecclesiastes 5:4) - and called the place El-beth-el: - i.e. God of Bethel. Not he called the place of God, or the place sacred to God, Bethel (Michaelis, 'Suppl.,' p. 2174), nor he called the altar (Keil, Kalisch, Gerlach, etc.), but he called the place where the altar was El-beth-el; i.e. either he devoted the place as sacred to the El of Bethel (Rosenmüller), or he gave to the place the name of (so. the place of) the El of Bethel, reading the first El as a genitive (Lange); or he called it El-Beth-el metaphorically, as Jerusalem afterwards was styled Jehovah Tsidkenu (Jeremiah 33:16) and Jehovah Shammah (Ezekiel 48:35; Inglis). It has been proposed, after the LXX., to avoid the seeming incongruity of assigning such a name to a place, to read, he invoked upon the place the El of Bethel (Quarry, p. 513) - because there God appeared unto him, - the El of Bethel was Jehovah (vide Genesis 28:13; Genesis 31:13) - when he fled from the face of his brother.

35:6-15 The comfort the saints have in holy ordinances, is not so much from Beth-el, the house of God, as from El-beth-el, the God of the house. The ordinances are empty things, if we do not meet with God in them. There Jacob buried Deborah, Rebekah's nurse. She died much lamented. Old servants in a family, that have in their time been faithful and useful, ought to be respected. God appeared to Jacob. He renewed the covenant with him. I am God Almighty, God all-sufficient, able to make good the promise in due time, and to support thee and provide for thee in the mean time. Two things are promised; that he should be the father of a great nation, and that he should be the master of a good land. These two promises had a spiritual signification, which Jacob had some notion of, though not so clear and distinct as we now have. Christ is the promised Seed, and heaven is the promised land; the former is the foundation, and the latter the top-stone, of all God's favours.And he built there an altar,.... As he was bid to do, and as he promised he would, Genesis 35:1,

and called the place Elbethel; the God of Bethel; a title which God takes to himself, Genesis 31:13; or rather the sense is, that he called the place with respect God, or because of his appearance to him there, Bethel, confirming the name he had before given it, Genesis 36:19; see Genesis 35:15; as the following reason shows:

because there God appeared; or the divine Persons, for both words are plural that are used; the Targum of Jonathan has it, the angels of God, and so Aben Ezra interprets it; but here, no doubt, the divine Being is meant, who appeared

unto him; to Jacob in this place, as he went to Mesopotamia, and comforted and encouraged him with many promises:

when he fled from the face of his brother; his brother Esau, who was wroth with him, and sought to take away his life, and therefore was forced to flee for it.