Bible Strands
Genesis 35:14
So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where God had spoken with him—a stone marker—and he poured out a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jacob acts alone at a site previously marked by divine speech, immediately after God departs from that location. The narrative records his physical response to a concluded encounter without addressing another person.
The words — The verb וַיַּצֵּב (va.ya.Tzev) means "he set up," and the noun מַצֵּבָה (ma.tze.Vah) translates to "a pillar" or standing stone. These terms describe Jacob's deliberate act of erecting a marker at the exact location of God's prior communication.
The thread — This pillar-setting practice recurs at Jacob's earlier encounters in Genesis 28:18 and 31:45, and reappears in Genesis 35:20 when he marks Rachel’s tomb. The repeated action functions as a consistent physical response to divine encounter.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to observe how physical markers are established to document where God spoke. It demands recognition that pouring drink offerings and anointing with oil serve as tangible, recorded responses to revealed presence.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.
Cross-references
- Genesis 28:18 Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it,
- Genesis 31:45 So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a pillar,
- Genesis 35:20 Jacob set up a pillar on her grave; it marks Rachel’s tomb to this day.
- Exodus 17:15 And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD Is My Banner.
- 1 Samuel 7:12 Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”