genesis 35:9-22a chiastic structure

Read Genesis 35:9-22a at Bible Gateway.

Hebrew paragraph division

Gen 35:9-22a {p} Renewal of the covenant

Gen 35:9-22a chiastic structure

1a) Gen 35:9-13a, Jacob;

1a) Gen 35:9a God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram;
1b) Gen 35:9b And blessed him;
central axis) Gen 35:10 And God said to him: “Your name is Jacob: Your name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be your name;” and He called his name Israel;
2b) Gen 35:11-12 The blessing: Be fruitful and multiply/ I will give you + your seed the land;
2a) Gen 35:13a God went up from him;

1b) Gen 35:13b-15 Jacob set up a pillar in the place where God spoke with him, at Bethel;

1c) Gen 35:16-17 They journeyed from Bethel, while on the way to Ephrath/ Rachel in hard labor;

1d) Gen 35:18a And it came to pass, as her soul was departing—for she died—

central axis) Gen 35:18b That she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin;

2d) Gen 35:19a And Rachel died, and was buried;

2c) Gen 35:19b In the way to Ephrath—the same is Bethlehem;

2b) Gen 35:20 Jacob set up a pillar on her grave; the same is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day;

2a) Gen 35:21-22a {p} Israel;

1a.1) Gen 35:21a And Israel journeyed;
1a.2) Gen 35:21b And spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder;
central axis) Gen 35:22a And it came to pass, while Israel dwelt in that land;
2a.1) Gen 35:22b That Reuben went;
2a.2) Gen 35:22c {p} And lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard of it.

The A pair deserves an explanation. In the 1A pair, most of the references to Jacob use his name, Jacob, but in the 2A pair, all of the references to Jacob have discarded that name and use the name God has given him, Israel. Then the blessing of the 1A pair was to be fruitful and multiply, and dwell in the land that God will give him and his seed, as He promised Abraham and Isaac. In the 2A pair, Israel spread his tent(s) abroad; the Hebrew root comes from the spreading abroad of the squash plant in its growth habit. While it was a sin for Reuben to do what he did, the fact remains his act within a marriage covenant is how you accomplish being fruitful and multiplying.

This paragraph continues to highlight the change of name theme, in that the central axis points out Benjamin’s father changing his name from one with a negative identity, son of my sorrow, to one with a positive identity, son of my right hand. This is exactly what God had just done for Israel in changing his name to reflect a true testimony of his identity and destiny. And I believe the Torah teaches us, that it is ideally the father’s place to name his children with God-ordained identities, which God grows into His ordained positive destinies for that child.