And he erected there an altar, and called it EleloheIsrael.
Parallel translations
- WEB He erected an altar there, and called it El Elohe Israel.
- BSB There he set up an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.
- NKJV Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.
- NASB Then he erected there an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.
- NLT And there he built an altar and named it El-Elohe-Israel.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Having safely arrived in Canaan, Jacob builds an altar and names it 'El, the God of Israel,' confessing the God who had kept him as his own.
Overview
After his reconciliation with Esau, Jacob settles near Shechem and erects an altar, the first recorded by him in the land of promise. The name 'El Elohe Israel' ('God, the God of Israel') publicly claims the LORD as his covenant God, tying together God's identity with Jacob's new name, Israel. Like Abraham before him, Jacob marks the land with worship, anticipating the day when God's people would worship Him fully through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Gen 35:7And 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.
- Gen 21:33And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.
- Gen 32:28And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
- Gen 8:20And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
- Gen 12:7–8And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
- Gen 13:18Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 33:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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