So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.
God had called Jacob up to Bethel, and Jacob told his household to put away their foreign gods. They obey here — earrings and all — and the question is how idols had lasted so long in his camp.
Why the idols surfaced only now
Jacob had not just discovered these images. He had lived alongside them, and one thing finally brought them out.
J. N. DarbyThese false gods came from his connection with the world. Rachel was afraid of Laban, so she had hidden them under the camel's saddle. Jacob knew perfectly well they were there... The thought of the presence of God made him remember the false gods. It convinces him deep down that no one can keep the gods this world adores alongside a faithful God. Nothing else can awaken this conviction. No experiences whatever can produce on a soul the effect that the presence of God produces. Such experiences are useful to humble us; they strip us of ourselves. Yet only the presence of God as light can make us condemn ourselves. Only it gives us power to purify ourselves from our deepest and best-known, though hidden, idols.
The place Jacob had chosen was part of the problem.
C. H. MackintoshWhat a terrible amount of moral evil had gathered round Jacob's family! He judged none of it, until the call to "go up to Bethel" roused his soul. Shechem was not the place to detect all this. The air there was too full of impure elements. It kept the soul from seeing the true character of evil with any clearness.
Where the idols came from
Some of these idols had a history inside Jacob's own family.
L. M. GrantJacob's household gives up their foreign gods. The verse says all of them. So these must have included the household idols that Rachel had stolen from her father. We are not told when Jacob learned of these. But at least he knew it now.
Jacob could have removed the idols long before. Why did he let them stay?
The Bible TreasuryJacob feels his sin in going along with the idolatrous practices in his family. Rachel stole the images from her father — was it his love for her that led Jacob to allow them in his house? Christian parents sometimes allow things in their homes that they know are wrong. It is a sin in them. When human affection gets in the way of faithfulness to God, it always brings sorrow.
Why the earrings went too
The verse names the rings in their ears next to the gods. Why should jewellery go with idols?
William KellyIdolatry ran through even their little ornaments, and so all of them had to go.
Another writer asks what hands and ears are for.
Leslie M. GrantHands are for doing work. They had idols in their hands. Hands are for working for the Lord, not for idols. Ears are for hearing, not for ornaments. People often decorate the flesh, and their idols take their character from this. That is what happened in the making of the golden calf — they took off their gold earrings to make it.
The burial, and the road out of Shechem
The burial is not a private act of tidying. It is the end of a chapter, and the family moves the same day.
J. G. BellettSomeone who feels and enjoys abounding grace cannot allow pollution. Gods and earrings, idols and empty things, all go together into the ground under an oak at Shechem. Shechem is left behind. The patriarch gets up with all that is his, and is quickly on the road to Bethel.
Writers see a picture in the tree itself — the terebinth, or oak, of the verse.
T. OliverJacob realised that much in his house did not fit the holiness of the House of God. So he told his household to put away the foreign gods, to be clean, and to change their garments. He hid the idols under the oak by Shechem — usually taken as a picture of the meaning of the cross of Christ. Behind all the circumstances was the hand of God in discipline.
What followed — and a dissenting note
The very next line reports that the surrounding cities did not attack. Jacob had feared exactly this after the slaughter at Shechem.
William Kelly"And they journeyed; and the terror of God was on the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob." The living God knows how to control and direct the heart, not only of enemies, but of those who naturally resent an injury. Let His children fear Him, and trust Him too.
Commentators differ on how complete this cleansing was. One reading notes that Jacob buried the idols but kept the plunder his sons had taken.
The Bible TreasuryJacob judges Laban's gods and tells his household to be clean and change their garments. Yet he holds on with a greedy hand to unrighteous gain. He may hide the foreign gods and their earrings under the oak by Shechem — but they go with flocks and herds to seek the Lord.
Summary
- Light exposes. Jacob already knew the idols were there. The call to Bethel — the presence of God — is what made him act.
- Place dulls. The air of Shechem kept him from seeing evil. Where you settle shapes what your conscience can spot.
- Tolerance costs. The images came from Rachel's theft, and Jacob's love for his family let them stay. Affection that pushes out faithfulness always ends in sorrow.
- Everything goes. The earrings went with the gods. Idolatry had reached the ornaments, so the ornaments had to go.
- Then movement. The idols go under the oak, Shechem drops behind, and the road runs to Bethel. Yet one writer says Jacob still held on to gains he should have given up.