Bible Strands
Genesis 35:4
So they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and all their earrings, and Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Following Jacob’s command to depart for Bethel and rebuild an altar, his household and all accompanying persons surrender their idols and earrings to him for disposal.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיִּתְּנוּ (va-yi-t-tə-nū) translates literally as “and they gave,” marking a completed transfer of possession. The phrase אֱלֹהֵי הַנֵּכָר (’ĕlōhê hannēḵār) literally means “gods of foreignness,” identifying the surrendered objects as alien deities rather than cultural artifacts.
The thread — The oak near Shechem reappears in Judges 9:6 as a civic landmark, while the collection of earrings echoes Exodus 32:2’s gathering of gold for idolatry. The burial of these items establishes a physical removal of foreign worship that precedes the altar’s construction in the immediate context.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to recognize that covenant renewal demands the tangible disposal of competing allegiances, not merely verbal renunciation. It asks the reader to account for how physical actions like surrender and burial function as necessary prerequisites to restored worship.
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 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.
Cross-references
- Judges 9:6 Then all the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo gathered beside the oak at the pillar in Shechem and proceeded to make Abimelech their king.
- Exodus 32:2 So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold earrings that are on your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”
- Exodus 32:20 Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink it.
- Deuteronomy 7:25 You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it is detestable to the LORD your God.
- Judges 8:24 Then he added, “Let me make a request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his plunder.” (For the enemies had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)
- Isaiah 30:22 So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”
- Isaiah 2:20 In that day men will cast away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and gold—the idols they made to worship.
- Hosea 2:13 I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she adorned herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 7:5 Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.
- Joshua 24:25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he established for them a statute and ordinance.