The KJV Holy Bible

 

Genesis Chapter Thirty Five

 

1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:

3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.

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.

5 And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.

7 And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

8 But Deborah, Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.

9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.

10 And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.

11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;

12 And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

13 And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.

14 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.

15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.

16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.

17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.

18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.

19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

20 And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.

21 And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.

22 And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

23 The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun:

24 The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin:

25 And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:

26 And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid: Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram.

27 And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

28 And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.

29 And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

 

 

Esoteric Interpretation & Commentary

 

The Hermetic Blueprint of Genesis: The Final Purification and the Ascension to Bethel

"Genesis Chapter Thirty-Five represents the ultimate consolidation of spiritual power and the final shedding of the old, transitional forms. Following the disaster at Shechem, the spiritualized mind (Jacob/Israel) is commanded to ascend back to its highest energetic center, Bethel. To do this, the entire psychological house must be purged of all remaining earthly attachments. This chapter illustrates the absolute purification required to permanently anchor the Divine presence, the tragic but necessary dissolution of the old contemplative soul (Rachel), and the birth of the final, active faculty of the Great Work."

 

 

Verses 1-4: The Call to Bethel and the Burial of the False Gods - "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments... And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods... and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem."

The Divine Voice commands Jacob to return to Bethel (the House of God, the highest spiritual center or Pineal gland). Before the intellect can ascend to this exalted frequency, a massive internal housecleaning must occur. Jacob demands that all "strange gods" (remnants of lower materialistic thinking, psychic attachments, and the stolen idols from Laban) be handed over. He commands his faculties to "change their garments"—esoterically meaning to shift their auric vibration and mental atmosphere. By burying these idols under the oak at Shechem, the Adept permanently entombs the heavy, earthly vibrations in the ground where they belong, leaving them behind forever.

 

 

Verses 5-7: The Aura of Protection - "And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob."

Because the spiritual vehicle has been completely purged of its dense, matching vibrations, the surrounding material world (the cities) can no longer interface with it. The "terror of God" is an esoteric description of an incredibly high-frequency spiritual aura. When the mind achieves this level of absolute purification, the lower, hostile elements of the material matrix are naturally repelled by its intense light and cannot pursue or attach to the Adept.

 

 

Verses 9-15: The Anointing of the Pillar and the Reiteration of Sovereignty - "And God appeared unto Jacob again... and said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name."

Upon reaching Bethel, the Divine officially seals the alchemical transformation that began at the river Jabbok. Jacob sets up a pillar of stone and pours a drink offering and oil upon it. In the Hermetic and yogic traditions, setting up the stone pillar represents the raising of the vital spiritual fire (Kundalini) up the spinal column. The anointing with oil (the chrism) signifies the permanent illumination of the highest consciousness. The wandering, calculating mind is gone forever; only Israel—the spiritual sovereign—remains.

 

 

Verses 16-20: The Birth of the Right Hand and the Dissolution of the Vessel - "And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin."

This is one of the most poignant alchemical transitions in the text. Rachel (the higher, contemplative, emotional soul) goes into hard labor to birth the final son. As she dies, she names him Ben-oni (Son of my sorrow), but Israel renames him Benjamin (Son of the right hand). Esoterically, the contemplative, receptive phase of the soul has completed its immense cosmic task: it has gestated and brought forth the final, active, manifesting Will (the right hand). Having birthed this ultimate faculty, the temporary psychological vehicle (Rachel) dissolves. The transitional phase is over, and the new, fully formed spiritual faculties must now stand on their own.

 

 

Verses 27-29: The Death of Isaac and the Completion of the Cycle - "And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people... and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him."

Jacob finally returns to his father Isaac at Hebron. Isaac (representing the previous foundational generation of spiritual light) passes away at the age of 180 and is gathered to his source. Notice the profound harmony at the end: both Esau (the physical body) and Jacob (the spiritualized mind) come together in absolute unity to bury their father. The internal war is over. The previous cycle of energy has fully transferred its authority to the current, awakened state, completing this massive era of the Great Work.

With the foundation of Isaac passing away and the internal faculties of Israel fully established, the esoteric narrative is about to make a massive shift in focus toward the ultimate master of internal alchemy: Joseph.