Genesis 35:4 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 35:4
And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
to give · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Jacob
יַעֲקֹ֗בya.'a.Ko
H3290
Jaakob · proper noun, a man's name
strange
הַנֵּכָר֙ha.ne.Khar
H5236
foreign · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
gods
אֱלֹהֵ֤י'e.lo.Hei
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct
hand
בְּיָדָ֔םbe.ya.Dam
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
earrings
הַנְּזָמִ֖יםha.ne.za.Mim
H5141
a nose-ring · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
ears
בְּאָזְנֵיהֶ֑םbe.'a.ze.nei.Hem
H241
broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in ma… · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Jacob
יַעֲקֹ֔בya.'a.Ko
H3290
Jaakob · proper noun, a man's name
hid
וַיִּטְמֹ֤ןvai.yit.Mon
H2934
to hide (by covering over) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
oak
הָאֵלָ֖הha.'e.Lah
H424
an oak or other strong tree · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Shechem
שְׁכֶֽםshe.Khem
H7927
Shekem · 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
Judges 9:6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that…
Exodus 32:2-4 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring…
Exodus 32:20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the chi…
Deuteronomy 7:25 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, le…
Judges 8:24-27 And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden e…
Isaiah 30:22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away a…
Isaiah 2:20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and t…
Hosea 2:13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, a…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 35:1-5
Here, I. God reminds Jacob of his vow at Beth-el, and sends him thither to perform it, Gen 35:1. Jacob had said in the day of his distress, If I come again in peace, this stone shall be God's house, Gen 28:22. God had performed his part of the bargain, and had given Jacob more than bread to eat and raiment to put on - he had got an estate, and had become two bands; but, it should seem, he had forgotten his vow, or at least had too long deferred the performance of it. Seven or eight years it was now since he came to Canaan; he had purchased ground there, and had built an altar in remembrance of God's last appearance to him when he called him Israel (Gen 33:19, Gen 33:20); but still Beth-el is…
they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods . . . and earrings--Strange gods, the "seraphim" (compare Gen 31:30), as well, perhaps, as other idols acquired among the Shechemite spoil--earrings of various forms, sizes, and materials, which are universally worn in the East, and, then as now, connected with incantation and idolatry (compare Hos 2:13). The decided tone which Jacob now assumed was the probable cause of the alacrity with which those favorite objects of superstition were surrendered.
Jacob hid them under the oak--or terebinth--a towering tree, which, like all others of the kind, was a striking object in the scenery of Palestine; and beneath which, at Shechem, the patriarch had pit…
And - ear-rings which were in their ears - Whether these rings were in the ears of the gods, or in those of Jacob's family, we may rest assured that they were not mere ornaments, but served for superstitious purposes. Ear-rings were certainly worn as amulets and charms, first consecrated to some god, or formed under some constellation, on which magical characters and images were drawn. A very ancient and beautiful one of this kind brought from Egypt, cut out of a solid piece of cornelian, now lies before me. It was evidently intended for the ear, as the opening is too small for any human finger; and it is engraved all over with strange characters and images, which prove that it was intended…
Dictionary and topics
Amulets — were ornaments, gems, scrolls. etc.. worn as preservatives against the power of enchantments, and generally inscribed with mystic forms or characters. The “earrings” in (Genesis 35:4) were obviously…
Bethel — House of God. (1.) A place in Central Palestine, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, at the head of the pass of Michmash and Ai. It was originally the royal Canaanite city of Luz (Gen. 28:19). The…
Earrings — Rings properly for the ear (Gen. 35:4; Num. 31:50; Ezek. 16:12). In Gen. 24:47 the word means a nose-jewel, and is so rendered in the Revised Version. In Isa. 3:20 the Authorized Version has…
Elm — Hos. 4:13; rendered “terebinth” in the Revised Version. It is the Pistacia terebinthus of Linn., a tree common in Palestine, long-lived, and therefore often employed for landmarks and in designating…
Handicraft — (Acts 18:3; 19:25; Revelation 18:22) A trade was taught to ail the Jewish boys as a necessary part of their education. Even the greatest rabbis maintained themselves by trades (Delitzsch). Says Rabbi…
Jotham — Jehovah is perfect. (1.) The youngest of Gideon’s seventy sons. He escaped when the rest were put to death by the order of Abimelech (Judg. 9:5). When “the citizens of Shechem and the whole house of…
Meonenim — (Judg. 9:37; A.V., “the plain of Meonenim;” R.V., “the oak of Meonenim”) means properly “soothsayers” or “sorcerers,” “wizards” (Deut. 18:10, 14; 2 Kings 21:6; Micah 5:12). This may be the oak at…
Oak — There are six Hebrew words rendered “oak.” (1.) ‘El occurs only in the word El-paran (Gen. 14:6). The LXX. renders by “terebinth.” In the plural form this word occurs in Isa. 1:29; 57:5 (A.V. marg.…
Ornaments, Personal — The number, variety and weight of the ornaments ordinarily worn upon the person form one of the characteristic features of Oriental costume, in both ancient and modem times. The monuments of ancient…
Shechem — Shoulder. (1.) The son of Hamor the Hivite (Gen. 33:19; 34). (2.) A descendant of Manasseh (Num. 26:31; Josh. 17:2). (3.) A city in Samaria (Gen. 33:18), called also Sichem (12:6), Sychem (Acts…
They gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hands,.... Whether in the hands of his servants or of the captives taken at Shechem, or in the hands of his sons, who had them along with the spoil they took there; so the Targum of Jonathan,"they delivered, into the hand of Jacob all the idols of the people which were in their hands, which they had took of the idols of Shechem:"
and all their earrings which were in their ears; not the earrings that women wore in common, such as Abraham's servant gave to Rebekah, and which Jacob's wives might wear, for such were not unlawful; but either which were worn in the ears of the strange gods or idols; for such used, it seems, according t…
And they gave unto Jacob. Though the holy man had his house in suitable subordination; yet as all yielded such prompt obedience to his command by casting away their idols, I doubt not that they were influenced by the fear of danger. Whence also we infer how important it is for us to be aroused from slumber by suffering. For we know how pertinacious and rebellious is superstition. If, in a peaceful and joyous state of affairs, Jacob had given any such command, the greater part of his family would have fraudulently concealed their idols: some, perhaps, would have obstinately refused to surrender them; but now the hand of God urges them, and with ready minds they quickly repent. It is also prob…
Teil tree — (an old name for the lime-tree, the tilia), Isa. 6:13, the terebinth, or turpentine-tree, the Pistacia terebinthus of botanists. The Hebrew word here used (elah) is rendered oak (q.v.) in Gen. 35:4;…
Altar · Built by Jacob — Built by Jacob
Beth-El · .And builds an altar at — .And builds an altar at
Ear-Ring · Worn for idolatrous purposes — Worn for idolatrous purposes
Iconoclasm · .Jacob — .Jacob
Idolatry · Objects of described as: Strange gods — Objects of described as: Strange gods
Jewels · Regar — Regar
Oak · Grew in Palestine — Grew in Palestine
Oak Tree, The · Jacob buried his family idols under — Jacob buried his family idols under
Patriarchal Government · Exercised in: Acting as priests — Exercised in: Acting as priests
Polytheism · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Teraphim · Con — Con
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).
