ויאמר אלוקים, an angel appeared to him while he was at Shechem and told him to proceed to Bet El, and to redeem his vow there. Regarding the words of the angel: ושב שם, “and settle down there!,” this did not mean that Yaakov was to settle there permanently, but that he was to remain there long enough to build the house of G’d which he had undertaken to do as part of his original vow. The angel on this occasion hinted that Yaakov’s “dream” with the ladder had in fact been more than a dream, it had been the first vision of the Divine he had experienced. The incident with Dinah’s rape and the subsequent upheaval had delayed Yaakov’s progress in the direction of his father’s home. Yaakov’s having built himself a house in Sukkot and his purchase of real estate had given the impression that he intended to settle in that vicinity permanently. His duty at that time had been to proceed to Bet El and to pay his vow of 34 years ago. He was supposed to proceed directly in the direction of his father’s home without allowing himself to be distracted on the way. Having failed to do this, G’d punished him with the incident involving Dinah. Even though we explained that Yaakov’s punishment was due to his having experienced fear in spite of repeated assurances by G’d that He would be with him, this delay he had allowed himself was an additional reason for his being punished.

לא-ל הנראה אליך, a reference to what he saw in his dream when G’d appeared to him to be standing on top of the ladder (28,13). At this juncture, the angel addressing him told him to build there an altar to the attribute of G’d Who had appeared to him at that location. The reason for the angel adding: בברחך, “when you were fleeing, etc.,” was a reminder to him that at that time he had been all alone and that G’d had given him His assurance that He would look after him and would bring him back to the land of Canaan. Seeing that G’d had kept His promise, it was now Yaakov’s turn to keep his vow.

אל ביתו, to his children.

ואל כל אשר לו, to his men and maidservants.

הסירו את אלוהי הנכר, the silver and gold the sons of Yaakov had looted from Shechem had idolatrous images engraved upon them, as had the various pieces of jewelry they had taken with them from there. Even though Yaakov’s sons had not taken these items in order to worship them but in order to melt them down and to put them to other uses, i.e. to use the melted down gold and silver, [something halachically acceptable as the idolatrous nature of these artifacts had been nullified through the melt down, Ed.] Yaakov did not want his children or household to benefit from anything which had once served idolatrous purposes although it was no longer recognisable as something that had once served such a purpose. Moses is on record as expressing similar sentiments when he said (Deuteronomy 7,25) “do not covet the silver or gold which was upon them.” (after the idols themselves had already been destroyed) He repeated this sentiment even more strongly in Deuteronomy 13,18 when he said “no part of the banned property may adhere to your hand, etc.” [these injunctions were especially called for after the Israelites had not only been allowed to loot the property of the former owners, but other Torah legislation such as even the eating of pig had been temporarily suspended during the years when the conquered the land of Canaan and had not yet settled there and received their tribal heritage. Ed.]

והטהרו; they needed to purify themselves as contact with idolatrous objects confers ritual impurity on the person who had been in touch with it.

והחליפו שמלותיכם, your garments too have become contaminated by the same ritual impurity so that you have to put on others. Alternatively, what is meant are the garments of the people of Shechem which were part of the loot.

ויטמן, he did not leave them above ground so as not to become the indirect cause of someone retrieving the items and using them in an idolatrous fashion.

אשר עם שכם, near Shechem; we have a similar construction involving the preposition עם in 25,11 וישב יצחק עם באר לחי רואי, “Yitzchok settled near the place named Beer Lachay Ro-i.

לוזה אשר בארץ כנען, this teaches that there was a second place or town called “Luz.”

הוא וכל העם, the Torah wants to inform us that Yaakov had not suffered a single casualty among his servants, even, as a negative fallout of the killing of all the males in Shechem, not even on the way. This was all due to the intense fear of retribution by the G’d of Yaakov which had gripped the Canaanites of the region. They did not even dare pursue the family, [which might have been perceived as retreating, seeing that they had not made an attempt to take over the city, Ed.]

ויבן שם מזבח, this means that he built the altar in the house he had built there at the site of the original monument of which he had said in 28,22 “this will become a house of G’d.” We explained this on that verse. It does not matter that the house itself was not mentioned here separately.

ויקרא למקום א-ל בית א-ל. He had already called it Bet El on a previous occasion, Now he only expanded the name. Compare our commentary on 33,20.

כי שם נגלו אליו האלוקים, a reference to the angels ascending and descending the ladder whom he had seen in his dream. Alternatively, the meaning of the word ה-אלוקים is a reference to G’d, Himself, not an intermediary. The reason why he used the plural mode נגלו instead of נגלה when the subject is only G’d Himself, is that this is a form of great respect and honour for the subject [known as pluralis majestatis when a king refers to himself in the plural. Ed.] compare Psalms 149,2 ישמח ישראל בעושיו, “Let Israel rejoice in its Maker.” A similar construction is found in Job 35,10 איה אלו-ה עושי?, “Where is the Lord, My Maker?” There are more such examples in Scripture.

ותמת דבורה, according to Rashi, Rivkah had sent word to Yaakov by means of Devorah in accordance with her promise at the time that as soon as Esau’s anger would subside she would recall him from his exile. (27,45) When Devorah delivered the message at Bet El she died forthwith.

תחת האלון, beneath the oak. This category of tree also appears in Hoseah 4,13 and in Ezekiel 27,6. According to Onkelos the word is the same as אלוני ממרא with the vowel tzeyreh, i.e. it describes a certain valley or a grove of trees. In Bereshit Rabbah 81,5 Rabbi Shemuel bar Nachman understands the meaning of the word alon as derived from the Greek, where it means “double, additional,” The Torah hints that before the mourning for Deborah was over, news reached Yaakov that his mother Rivkah had died.

וירא אלוקים, G’d appeared to Yaakov again; after the mourning. אל יעקב עוד, the reason why the Torah writes עוד, again, is so that we know that this was not an angel, but G’d Himself, Who had already previously appeared to Yaakov as such in 28,13. Just as He had appeared to him on his way to Padan Aram, He now appeared to him when Yaakov was returning from Padan Aram. [I wonder if the fact that on the two occasions when our author emphasises the appearance of G’d without intermediary, were chosen because both took place on the holy soil of the land of Israel, whereas in the Diaspora G’d at best reveals Himself through an intermediary. Ed.]

וברך אותו, the blessing consisted of the verses 10-13. ויאמר...כי אם ישראל, the new name is to be used additionally, as we explained already.

ויאמר...אני א-ל שדי; strong and self-sufficient, able to guide all of history, in charge of all developments. We explained this on 17,1. The three matriarchs had all been genetically barren, and G’d overcame their genetic handicaps so that each bore children. This was a display of the attribute א-ל שדי at work.

פרה ורבה, (a promise) you will be fruitful and you will multiply. We explained this in connection with Genesis 1,22. G’d gave a similar promise to Avraham in 17,7 where the promise applied to Avraham’s offspring. Seeing that Yaakov did not have another child after this blessing was pronounced, it is clear that in his case just as in Avraham’s case the promise applied to the next generation, i.e. all of Yaakov’s children were included in this blessing.

גוי וקהל גוים, they will all belong to one distinctive nation. This is stated in Chronicles I 17,21 ומי כעמך ישראל גוי אחד בארץ, “and who is like Your people Israel, a unique nation on earth?” This nation will develop into a community of nations i.e. 12 tribes including the son that is about to be born to you now. ומלכים, as per its plain meaning, i.e. “kings.” Basically G’d blessed Yaakov with the same blessing as the one He had bestowed on Avraham, seeing Yaakov was Avraham’s special seed. [of Avraham’s 8 sons, only Yaakov carried on the tradition. Ed.] In Bereshit Rabbah 82,4 our verse is understood as referring specifically to Rachel’s sons. The word גוי is understood as referring to Binyamin, whereas the words קהל גוים are understood as referring to Menashe and Ephrayin, whereas the word מלכים is understood as referring to the two kings from the tribe of Binyamin, Sha-ul and Ish Boshet. Is it possible that Avner who was a righteous man should have rejected the Kingdom of David and appointed Ish Boshet instead? We must answer that he found this Midrash and based himself on that, appointing a king who was a descendant of Binyaim. [and who would be putty in his hands. Ed.]

ואת...לך אתננה, as of now.

ולזרעך אחריך אתן את הארץ, for they will inherit it and settle it.

ויעל מעליו, just as we have been told in 17,22 when G’d departed from Avraham. The manifestation of His Presence revealed to the patriarchs in a vision came to an end. Yaakov had a visual impression of G’d as He was withdrawing His presence from him. In Bereshit Rabbah 82,6 Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish points out the appropriate nature of this expression for G’d “rising, as it confirms that the patriarchs were the “carriers” of G’d’s Presence on earth (merkavah).

במקום אשר דבר אתו, to inform us that the site in question was especially suitable for receiving prophetic insights. G’d spoke to Yaakov at this site already for a second time, as pointed out to him by the angel. He would speak to prophets at that location also in the future as we know from Hoseah 12,5. The site under discussion here is the one where Yaakov at the time when he had the dream with the ladder had anointed the stone which had served as his pillow. The words ויעל מעליו, are a hint that the day would come-after the sin of the golden calf- when the Presence of G’d will withdraw from the Jewish people.

ויצב, the reason why the Torah repeats once more “in the place where He had spoken to him,” is to tell us that Yaakov had come to realise that that place was singularly suitable for deserving people to receive prophetic insights. Even though Yaakov had already said on the original occasion that this place must be designated as a house of G’d, now that G’d’s promises to him had materialised, seeing that G’d had spoken to him in that very place this was even plainer.

מצבת אבן, a different stone, not the one he had anointed at the time, 34 years ago. He added one more stone to the monument he had erected then.

ויסך עליה נסך, a libation consisting of wine.

ויצוק עליה שמן, also intended as a gift offering.

ויקרא יעקב, this has now been mentioned already a third time, all in order to make sure that we understand that the site at which Yaakov had built the house of G’d, the monument, and the altar he called Bet El, in addition to the fact that originally the name of the whole city had been Bet El. Now the name of the town reflected what had occurred nearby repeatedly.

ויסעו...כברת, the meaning of the word כברת הארץ is equivalent to approximately 1200 meters. I believe that the letter כ here is a preposition, the name of the word describing the distance being ברת. We find a similar construction in Samuel II 12,17 ולא ברה אתם לחם “he did not even eat a little amount with them. [I do not understand the relevance of this verse to the word כברת in our verse. Ed.] The letter כ may be a כף הדמיון a letter introducing an estimate, such as כעשרים איש, about 20 men, or כאלפים אמה, approximately 2000 cubits.

ותקש בלדתה, she endured great pain during her birthing. The word ותקש may be an intransitive mode of the verb in spite of the dagesh in the letter ת, or it may be in the transitive mode meaning that the pains caused her body to become rigid, interfering with the birthing process. At any rate, she suffered extreme pain.

כי גם זה לך בן, “as you had said when you gave birth to Joseph, when you asked G’d to grant you another son. (30,24.) Now get hold of yourself.”

ויהי בצאת נפשה, while her soul was about to depart from her body,

כי מתה, ,for she was dying and there was no hope for her, she called him

בן אוני, for I gave birth to him in great pain;

ואביו קרא לו בנימין, meaning “the son of my right hand.” The name suggested that the child is especially beloved seeing that he was born when his father was already advanced in years. We find the word ימין used in the sense of being especially beloved in Psalms 80,18 וכן תהי ידך על איש ימינך, “grant Your help to the man at Your right hand, etc.” The end of the verse על בן אדם אמצת לך, “the one You have adopted as Your own,” spells out this meaning beyond any doubt.

ויסע, on his way to his father’s house.

ויהי בשכון, Yaakov did not reside anywhere until he came to his father; however, seeing that he had so many animals and possessions that he moved extremely slowly, it appeared as if he was actually settling down.

וילך ראובן, he went to Bilhah’s tent and slept with her.

פלגש אביו, his father’s concubine. Actually, she was his father’s wife, but in Reuven’s view she was no better than a concubine. Reuven did not consider her as out of bounds to him as she had been a slave woman originally, and his father had subsequently taken her to be his concubine. The Torah clearly states that she had become Yaakov’s proper wife in all matters legal. (30,4) As such Bilhah was totally out of bounds to him. Even before the giving of the Torah, the laws of incest governing all of mankind (Noachide laws) included the prohibition of sleeping with one’s father’s wife. (compare our commentary on 20,24) If such legislation applied to all of mankind, how much more so did it apply to the sons of Yaakov. As a result of this trespass Reuven’s status as Yaakov’s legal firstborn was revoked on Yaakov’s deathbed when he publicly announced his unfitness for the title as we also know from Chronicles I 5,1, and his position was given to Joseph instead.

וישמע ישראל, he stopped living with Bilhah as a result of this. The meaning of the line ויהיו בני יעקב שנים עשר, is that from that time on Yisrael had no further children. He no longer slept with any woman for the remainder of his life. In fact, he basically became a recluse, not attending to mundane activities but concentrating on serving G’d directly. This is what he had meant when he said in his vow, that once he would return safely to his father’s house, והיה ה' לי לאלוקים, “the Lord will be my G’d.” According to the Talmud Shabbat 55 Reuven had not actually slept with Bilhah at all, but had only made her bed look slept in, disturbed, to give the impression that intimacy had taken place there. This was a protest against his father not only having spent most of his married life with Rachel, but even now after her death spending his time with Rachel’s maidservant instead of with his mother, with Leah.

בני לאה, seeing that Binyamin had by now been born, the Torah enumerates all the sons.

בכור יעקב ראובן, even though he had sinned and Yaakov had deprived him of the birthright on account of his sin, the Torah still refers to him as “the firstborn.” We are told in Bereshit Rabbah 82,11 that Rabbi Shimon said that it is legally difficult for G’d to tamper with the chronological chain of ancestry. How do we know this? Because we find the following verse in Chronicles I 5,1 ובני ראובן בכור ישראל כי הוא הבכור ובחללו יצועי אביו נתנה בכורתו לבני יוסף, “and the sons of Reuven, Yisrael’s firstborn, for he (Reuven) was the firstborn even though because he had mounted the bedstead of his father his birthright had been given to the sons of Joseph.” This appears to mean that Reuven forfeited the material advantages associated with the birthright, i.e. double portion of an inheritance; but he was not deprived of his status as the biological firstborn, in fact he could not be deprived of it. Rabbi Yitzchok, on the same folio of the Midrash, adds that even in his hour of disgrace, the Bible refers to Reuven with the attribute “the firstborn.”

אשר ילד לו בפדן ארם, the word yulad (instead of yuldu) occurs generally in the singular mode though applying to a number of births. The Torah speaks of all of these children having been born in Padan Aram although we know that Binyamin was born in the land of Israel, quite close to Bethlehem. The reason is that the Torah was concerned with where most of the children had been born.

ויבא..קרית הארבע, we explained the meaning of this on 23,2. The reason for the definitive article in front of the word ארבע, i.e. הארבע, something strange seeing that it refers to the name of a human being, is justified as the name itself is symbolic, i.e. is in reality an attribute, describing the “foursome,” the father and his three sons, all of whom giants.

אשר גר שם אברהם ויצחק, this is mentioned seeing that now Yaakov also sojourned there. It teaches that it is appropriate for a person to be buried in the town where his ancestors had lived as it is a sign of honour for his ancestors who were also buried there. Nechemyah speaks repeatedly of “the city where my fathers have been buried;” he attributed the significance to the fact that several generations of his ancestors had been buried in the same place. (Nechemyah 2,3 and 2,5)

ויגוע...עשו ויעקב, Esau is mentioned first, seeing that he was the firstborn although he had sold his birthright to Yaakov. Moreover, Yaakov had been in the habit of according the honour due to a firstborn to Esau, ever since the two had made peace between themselves. On the other hand, when describing the funreal of Avraham, the Torah names Yitzchok first, seeing that Yitzchok had been the son by the major wife of Avraham, Sarah, whereas Yishmael had only been the son of the servant maid (25,9)