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Jacob set up a pillar on her grave; it marks Rachel’s tomb to this day.
Genesis 35:20 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. The same is the Pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.
  • KJV And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.
  • NKJV And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.
  • NASB And Jacob set up a memorial stone over her grave; that is the memorial stone of Rachel’s grave to this day.
  • NLT Jacob set up a stone monument over Rachel’s grave, and it can be seen there to this day.

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

Jacob sets up a pillar over Rachel's grave, a memorial that stood for generations.

Overview

Jacob marks his beloved wife's burial place with a lasting pillar, an enduring monument to her memory. The note 'to this day' indicates the site remained known to later Israelites. The memorial testifies to Jacob's love and to the reality of Rachel as a matriarch of the covenant people.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 4

  • 1 Sam 10:2When you leave me today, you will find two men at Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you seek have been found, and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and started worrying about you, asking, “What should I do about my son?”’
  • 2 Sam 18:17–18They took Absalom, cast him into a large pit in the forest, and piled a huge mound of stones over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled, each to his home.
  • Gen 35:14So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where God had spoken with him—a stone marker—and he poured out a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil.
  • Gen 35:9After Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 35:20YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 35:20 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.