2 Then Jacob said to all his people, Put away the strange gods which are among you, and make yourselves clean, and put on a change of clothing:
And if it seems evil to you to be the servants of the Lord, make the decision this day whose servants you will be: of the gods whose servants your fathers were across the River, or of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living: but I and my house will be the servants of the Lord.
And the Lord said to Moses, Go to the people and make them holy today and tomorrow, and let their clothing be washed.
For I have made him mine so that he may give orders to his children and those of his line after him, to keep the ways of the Lord, to do what is good and right: so that the Lord may do to Abraham as he has said.
Then Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and made the people holy; and their clothing was washed.
Then, he said, put away the strange gods among you, turning your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.
Then Samuel said to all Israel, If with all your hearts you would come back to the Lord, then put away all the strange gods and the Astartes from among you, and let your hearts be turned to the Lord, and be servants to him only: and he will make you safe from the hands of the Philistines.
Be washed, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; let there be an end of sinning;
Be not unwise with your mouth, and let not your heart be quick to say anything before God, because God is in heaven and you are on the earth--so let not the number of your words be great.
How is it possible for you to have my forgiveness for this? your children have given me up, taking their oaths by those who are no gods: when I had given them food in full measure, they were false to their wives, taking their pleasure in the houses of loose women.
I have seen your disgusting acts, even your false behaviour and your cries of desire and your loose ways on the hills in the field. Unhappy are you, O Jerusalem, you have no desire to be made clean; how long will you be in turning back to me?
Put away all your evil-doing in which you have done sin; and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit: why are you desiring death, O children of Israel?
And I said to them, Let every man among you put away the disgusting things to which his eyes are turned, and do not make yourselves unclean with the images of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
They took their wine and gave praise to the gods of gold and silver, of brass and iron and wood and stone.
Jesus said to him, He who is bathed has need only to have his feet washed and then he is clean all over: and you, my disciples, are clean, but not all of you. (He had knowledge who was false to him; that is why he said, You are not all clean.)
Then do not go after false gods, as some of them did; as it is said in the holy Writings, After resting and feasting, the people got up to take their pleasure.
And what agreement is there between Christ and the Evil One? or what part has one who has faith with one who has not? And what agreement has the house of God with images? for we are a house of the living God; even as God has said, I will be living among them, and walking with them; and I will be their God, and they will be my people. For which cause, Come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord, and let no unclean thing come near you; and I will take you for myself,
But at that time, having no knowledge of God, you were servants to those who by right are no gods:
Let us go in with true hearts, in certain faith, having our hearts made free from the sense of sin and our bodies washed with clean water:
And to some give salvation, pulling them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the clothing which is made unclean by the flesh.
And Joshua said to all the people, These are the words of the Lord, the God of Israel: In the past your fathers, Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, were living on the other side of the River: and they were worshipping other gods.
Then all the men of the town gave ear to the words of Hamor and Shechem his son; and every male in the town underwent circumcision. But on the third day after, before the wounds were well, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came into the town by surprise and put all the males to death.
Now while they were living in that country, Reuben had connection with Bilhah, his father's servant-woman: and Israel had news of it.
You are to have no other gods but me. You are not to make an image or picture of anything in heaven or on the earth or in the waters under the earth:
And anyone touching his bed is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening.
But if his clothing is not washed and his body bathed, his sin will be on him.
Do not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples round about you;
And the curse if you do not give ear to the orders of the Lord your God, but let yourselves be turned from the way which I have put before you this day, and go after other gods which are not yours.
The honour which was his they gave to strange gods; by their disgusting ways he was moved to wrath.
And when Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite who was the chief of that land, saw her, he took her by force and had connection with her.
If you are turned away from the Lord and become the servants of strange gods, then turning against you he will do you evil, cutting you off, after he has done you good.
And Naomi said, See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods: go back after your sister-in-law.
And what other nation in the earth, like your people Israel, did a god go out to take for himself, to be his people, and to make a name for himself, and to do great and strange things for them, driving out a nation and its gods from before his people?
Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not be washed in them and become clean? So turning, he went away in wrath. Then his servants came to him and said, If the prophet had given you orders to do some great thing, would you not have done it? how much more then, when he says to you, Be washed and become clean?
And every nation made gods for themselves, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the towns where they were living.
And at the end of their days of feasting, Job sent and made them clean, getting up early in the morning and offering burned offerings for them all. For, Job said, It may be that my sons have done wrong and said evil of God in their hearts. And Job did this whenever the feasts came round.
Let all my wrongdoing be washed away, and make me clean from evil.
I will do wisely in the way of righteousness: O when will you come to me? I will be walking in my house with a true heart. I will not put any evil thing before my eyes; I am against all turning to one side; I will not have it near me. The false heart I will send away from me: I will not have an evil-doer for a friend. I will put to death anyone who says evil of his neighbour secretly; the man with a high look and a heart of pride is disgusting to me. My eyes will be on those of good faith in the land, so that they may be living in my house; he who is walking in the right way will be my servant. The worker of deceit will not come into my house; the false man will have no place before my eyes.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 35
Commentary on Genesis 35 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 35
In this chapter we have three communions and three funerals.
Gen 35:1-5
Here,
Gen 35:6-15
Jacob and his retinue having safely arrived at Bethel, we are here told what passed there.
Gen 35:16-20
We have here the story of the death of Rachel, the beloved wife of Jacob.
Gen 35:21-29
Here is,