Bible Strands
Genesis 35:9
After Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God appears to Jacob immediately after his return from Paddan-aram, following the burial of Rebekah’s nurse Deborah beneath an oak at Bethel. The encounter occurs as Jacob relocates to Canaan, directly preceding the formal bestowal of the name Israel.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיֵּרָא (va-yere) translates literally as "and he appeared," indicating a visible manifestation. The adverb עוֹד (od) means "again," explicitly marking this as a repeat divine visitation rather than an initial meeting.
The thread — This narrative pattern of divine appearance repeats with Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18:1) and Isaac in the land of Gerar (Genesis 26:2). It directly fulfills the command given in Genesis 35:1 for Jacob to return to Bethel, the location where God previously manifested to him.
Why it lands — The text records a factual divine visitation that precedes a covenantal renaming, establishing a sequence of appearance followed by declaration. It requires the reader to note that God initiates contact at specific geographical and historical junctures without prescribing an emotional response.
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 God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan–aram, and blessed him.
Cross-references
- Genesis 18:1 Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent.
- Genesis 26:2 The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Settle in the land where I tell you.
- Genesis 35:1 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”
- Genesis 12:7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
- Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
- Genesis 28:13 And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie.
- Genesis 31:3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”
- Genesis 31:11 In that dream the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ And I replied, ‘Here I am.’
- Genesis 32:1 Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
- Genesis 32:24 So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.