Theologische Nuggets IV (Genesis 34 - 44:26)

Genesis 35:1

Und Gott sprach zu Jakob: Mach dich auf und zieh nach Bethel und wohne daselbst und errichte dort einen Altar dem Gott, der dir erschien, als du flohst vor deinem Bruder Esau.

Nachdem Gott in Kapitel 34 (Vergewaltigung von Dina & Massenmord an die Hiwitern) geschwiegen hat, meldet er sich wieder bei Jakob zu Wort. Wahrscheinlich direkt im Anschluss nachdem was passiert war. So wie er einst Abraham aufgefordert hat aufzustehen und zu gehen und zwar nach Bethel. Er soll zurück an den Ort gehen an dem er mit Gott den Lebensweg anfing. Gott fordert ihn auf einen Altar zu bauen. Also handelt es sich um einen Anbetungsakt. Es ist das einzige mal, dass Gott einem der Patriarchen befiehlt einen Altar zu bauen. 

Manchmal muss man, wenn man nicht weiterweiß, zurück an den Anfang gehen und wieder von vorne beginnen.  

Verse 1 contains four Hebrew imperatives—"arise, go up, settle, build." The directive to return to Bethel specifically relates to the first theophany at Bethel (28:10–22), in accordance with the promise made to Jacob, "I will bring you back to this land" (28:15). ... Jacob's original vow promised to establish Bethel as a place of worship, if the Lord returns him "safely to my father's house" (28:20–22). ... His vow to worship the Lord coalesces with the instruction to erect an altar. ... The next imperative, "settle [šeb] there" recalls Abraham's itinerate stops in Canaan ("stayed," 20:1; 22:19), where he often built an altar of worship (13:18; cf. 12:6–9). The word "settle" may be a reflex of the same term occurring frequently in the prior narrative, describing the sons' notorious dealings with the Shechemites (34:10, 16, 21, 22, 23, 30). ... The move to Bethel set a new tone of repentance for Jacob's family, for settlement in Bethel required purification and resulted in the worship of God. ... There is no explicit mention of an altar in 28:10–22, but Jacob's vow provides for a place of worship, which would likely involve an altar (28:22).The repeated use of "there" (šām) reinforces the importance of Bethel in Jacob's exile. The text ties the revelatory event ("the God who appeared to you"; cf. 12:7) to the threat of Esau's revenge. "Fleeing [bāraḥ] from your brother" recalls Rebekah's instruction to Jacob to "flee [bāraḥ] ... to my brother Laban" (27:43).

K. A. Mathews, Genesis 11:27–50:26, Bd. 1B of The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005), 616.

This command was given seasonably in point of time and tenderly in respect of language. The disgraceful and perilous events that had recently taken place in the patriarch's family must have produced in him a strong desire to remove without delay from the vicinity of Shechem. Borne down by an overwhelming sense of the criminality of his two sons—of the offense they had given to God and the dishonor they had brought on the true faith; distracted, too, with anxiety about the probable consequences which their outrage might bring upon himself and family, should the Canaanite people combine to extirpate such a band of robbers and murderers; he must have felt this call as affording a great relief to his afflicted feelings. At the same time it conveyed a tender rebuke.Beth-el was about thirty miles south of Shechem and was an ascent from a low to a highland country. There, he would not only be released from the painful associations of the latter place but be established on a spot that would revive the most delightful and sublime recollections. The pleasure of revisiting it, however, was not altogether unalloyed.Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, und David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 36.Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, und David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 36.