Genesis 35:21

And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a man's name
journeyed	וַיִּסַּ֖ע vai.yi.Sa'	H5265	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
spread	וַיֵּ֣ט vai.Yet	H5186	to stretch or spread out · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
tent	אָֽהֳל֔וֹ 'o.ho.Lo	H168	a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
beyond	מֵהָ֖לְאָה me.Hal.'ah	H1973	to the distance · preposition + adverb
tower	מִגְדָּל migdâl	H4026	a tower (from its size or height)
Edar	לְמִגְדַּל le.mig.dal-	H4029	Migdal-Eder · preposition + proper noun, a place name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Micah 4:8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall…
Luke 2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 35:21–end

Here is, 1. Jacob's removal, Gen 35:21. He also, as his fathers, sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, and was not long in a place. Immediately after the story of Rachel's death he is here called Israel (Gen 35:21, Gen 35:22), and not often so afterwards: the Jews say, "The historian does him this honour here because he bore that affliction with such admirable patience and submission to Providence." Note, Those are Israel's indeed, princes with God, that support the government of their own passions. He that has this rule over his own spirit is better than the mighty. Israel, a prince with God, yet dwells in tents; the city is reserved for him in the other world. 2. The si…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 35:20

and Jacob set a pillar on her grave . . . unto this day--The spot still marked out as the grave of Rachel exactly agrees with the Scriptural record, being about a mile from Beth-lehem. Anciently it was surmounted by a pyramid of stones, but the present tomb is a Mohammedan erection.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 35:21

Tower of Edar - Literally, the tower of the flock, and so translated Mic 4:8. It is supposed that this tower was about a mile from Bethlehem, and to have been the place where the angels appeared to the shepherds. The Targum of Jonathan expressly says: "It is the place in which the King Messiah shall be manifested in the end of days." By the tower of the flock we may understand a place built by the shepherds near to some well, for the convenience of watering their flocks, and keeping watch over them by night.

John Gill on Genesis 35:21

And Israel journeyed,.... Having stayed near Bethlehem, as it is said, about two months (h); this is the first time Jacob is by Moses called Israel, after this name, was given him; the reason of which the Jews say is, because he bore the death of Rachel with so much patience: and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder; which was a place of pasturage, and fit for his flocks, see Micah 4:8; it was about a mile from Bethlehem to the south (i), and is supposed to be the place where the shepherds were watching their flocks, when the angel reported to them the birth of Christ, Luke 2:8; pretty remarkable are the words added here in the Targum of Jonathan,"the place from whence the King Messiah…

The Church Fathers

(Verse 21.) And Israel advanced and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. The Hebrews believe that this place is where the temple was later built, and the tower of Eder signifies the tower of the flock, that is, the congregation and assembly. This is also testified to by the prophet Micah, saying: And you, O cloudy tower of the flock, daughter of Zion (Micah 4:8), and so on. At that time, Jacob set up his tents across the place where the temple was later built. But if we follow the order of the way, there is a place near Bethlehem where the shepherds were, where even the King of the Angels sang at the birth of the Lord, or where Jacob fed his flock, giving the place its name, or what is more true, a certain prophecy was already then indicating the future mystery.
— Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Edar — Tower of the flock, a tower between Bethlehem and Hebron, near which Jacob first halted after leaving Bethlehem (Gen. 35:21). In Micah 4:8 the word is rendered “tower of the flock” (marg., “Edar”),…
Edar, Tower Of — (accur. Eder, a flock), a place named only in (Genesis 35:21) According to Jerome it was one thousand paces from Bethlehem.
Migdal-Edar — Tower of the flock, a place 2 miles south of Jerusalem, near the Bethlehem road (Gen. 35:21). (See EDAR.)
Shepherd — A word naturally of frequent occurence in Scripture. Sometimes the word “pastor” is used instead (Jer. 2:8; 3:15; 10:21; 12:10; 17:16). This word is used figuratively to represent the relation of…
Tower — Watch-towers or fortified posts in frontier or exposed situations are mentioned in Scripture, as the tower of Edar, etc., (Genesis 35:21; Isaiah 21:5,8,11; Micah 4:8) etc.; the tower of Lebanon. (2…
Towers — Of Babel (Gen. 11:4), Edar (Gen. 35:21), Penuel (Judg. 8:9, 17), Shechem (9:46), David (Cant. 4:4), Lebanon (7:4), Syene (Ezek. 29:10), Hananeel (Zech. 14:10), Siloam (Luke 13:4). There were several…
Edar · A tower — A tower
Eder · 1. A place near Ephrath — 1. A place near Ephrath
Tower · Of Edar — Of Edar
Towers · Mentioned in scripture: Edar — Mentioned in scripture: Edar

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 35:21

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 35:21–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 35:20

Adam Clarke on Genesis 35:21

John Gill on Genesis 35:21

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 35:21

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 35:21–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 35:20

Adam Clarke on Genesis 35:21

John Gill on Genesis 35:21

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 35:17-21

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 35:21-26

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 35:20

Rashi on Genesis 35:18