God appeared1 to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him. God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; no longer shall you be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.2" So he was called Israel. God said to him, "I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you."3 Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him.
Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it.4 So Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
[1] Appearing very regularly to Jacob now!
[2] The renaming of Jacob had already happened several passages ago, so why is it now repeated? My Study Bible says that this is the "priestly account", while the previous account was the Yahwist account.
[3] Once again, a patriarch is promised fertility, power, and land.
[4] Jacob responds to the appearance of God with worship and sacrifice.
Take-home: God's blessing on the family is reiterated and cemented in a name. This follows Jacob's obedience in putting away the foreign gods - no promises had been made for his obedience, but several blessings have followed.
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