Genesis 35:20
in Genesis 35Jacob set up a pillar on her grave; it marks Rachel’s tomb to this day.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave: the same is the Pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.
KJV
And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.
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This verse in Genesis 35
Commentary
6 notes on this verseJacob set a pillar upon her grave - Was not this the origin of funeral monuments? In ancient times, and among rude nations, a heap of stones designated the burial place of the chief; many of these still remain in different countries. Afterwards a rude stone, with a simple inscription, was used, containing only the name of the deceased, and that of his father. But where arts and sciences flourished, superb monuments were erected highly decorated, and pompously inscribed.
This site's exposition
Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath
on Genesis 35:19-20
The road she dies on runs into Bethlehem, and Micah 5:2 names that town as the place the ruler of Israel comes from. Jacob sets a pillar on the grave, and the verse says it still marks her tomb. Jeremiah 31:15 hears Rachel weeping for her children. Matthew 2:18 puts that line over the children killed at Bethlehem.
This site's exposition
Jacob set up a pillar on her grave
This is the first grave in Scripture marked with a pillar. At 1 Samuel 10:2 Samuel sends Saul past Rachel's tomb at Zelzah, on the border of Benjamin, as a sign on his road home.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave - So that it was known long after to be Rachel's sepulchre, 1 Sam. x, 2, and Providence so ordered it, that this place afterwards fell in the lot of Benjamin.
And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
and Jacob set a pillar on her grave . . . unto this day--The spot still marked out as the grave of Rachel exactly agrees with the Scriptural record, being about a mile from Beth-lehem. Anciently it was surmounted by a pyramid of stones, but the present tomb is a Mohammedan erection.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּצֵּ֧ב | vaiyatzev | and he set up | H5324 → | 75 times |
| יַעֲקֹ֛ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| מַצֵּבָ֖ה | matzevah | a pillar | H4676 → | 32 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| קְבֻרָתָ֑הּ | kevuratah | grave her | H6900 → | 14 times |
| הִ֛וא | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| מַצֶּ֥בֶת | matzevet | [is] [the] pillar of | H4678 → | |
| קְבֻֽרַת־ | kevurat- | [the] grave of | H6900 → | 14 times |
| רָחֵ֖ל | rachel | Rachel | H7354 → | 47 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַיּֽוֹם׃ | haiyom | this day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
וַיַּצֵּ֧בand he set up
vaiyatzevH5324 →75 times
יַעֲקֹ֛בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
מַצֵּבָ֖הa pillar
matzevahH4676 →32 times
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
קְבֻרָתָ֑הּgrave her
kevuratahH6900 →14 times
הִ֛ואit
hi'H1931 →1879 times
מַצֶּ֥בֶת[is] [the] pillar of
matzevetH4678 →
קְבֻֽרַת־[the] grave of
kevurat-H6900 →14 times
רָחֵ֖לRachel
rachelH7354 →47 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
הַיּֽוֹם׃this day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 35:9After Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.
it leads to
- Genesis 26:2
The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Settle in the land where I tell you.
- Genesis 35:1
Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”
- Genesis 18:1
Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent.
- Genesis 12:7
Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
- Genesis 17:1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
- Genesis 26:2
Through
1 Samuel 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…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 9:3–5
One day the donkeys of Saul’s father Kish wandered off, and Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants and go look for the donkeys.”
- Genesis 35:19–20
So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
- 1 Samuel 9:3–5
Through
Genesis 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.
it leads to
- Genesis 28:18–19
Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it,
- Genesis 28:18–19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.