Genesis 28:18
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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,
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
In the morning Jacob set up the stone at his head, as a monument (מצּבה) to commemorate the revelation he had received from God; and poured oil upon the top, to consecrate it as a memorial of the mercy that had been shown him there (visionis insigne μνημόσυνον, Calvin), not as an idol or an object or divine worship (vid., Exo 30:26.). - He then gave the place the name of Bethel, i.e., House of God, whereas (ואוּלם) the town had been called Luz before. This antithesis shows that Jacob gave the name, not to the place where the pillar was set up, but to the town, in the neighbourhood of which he had received the divine revelation. He renewed it on his return from Mesopotamia (Gen 35:15). This is confirmed by Gen 48:3, where Jacob, like the historian in Gen 35:6-7, speaks of Luz as the place of this revelation. There is nothing at variance with this in Jos 16:2; Jos 18:13; for it is not Bethel as a city, but the mountains of Bethel, that are there distinguished from Luz (see my Commentary on Jos 16:2). (Note: The fact mentioned here has often been cited as the origin of the anointed stones (βαίτυλοι) of the heathen, and this heathen custom has been regarded as a degeneration of the patriarchal. But apart from this essential difference, that the Baetulian worship was chiefly connected with meteoric stones (cf. F. von Dalberg, @fcb. d. Meteor-cultus d. Alten), which were supposed to have come down from some god, and were looked upon as deified, this opinion is at variance with the circumstance, that Jacob himself, in consecrating the stone by pouring oil upon it, only followed a custom already established, and still more with the fact, that the name βαίτυλοι, Βαιτόλια, notwithstanding its sounding like Bethel, can hardly have arisen from the name Beth-El, Gr. Βαιθήλ, sin…
Open source ↗We have here, I. Jacob parting with his parents, to go to Padanaram; the charge his father gave him (Gen 28:1, Gen 28:2), the blessing he sent him away with (Gen 28:3, Gen 28:4), his obedience to the orders given him (Gen 28:5, Gen 28:10), and the influence this had upon Esau (Gen 28:6-9). II. Jacob meeting with God, and his communion with him by the way. And there, 1. his vision of the ladder (Gen 28:11, Gen 28:12). 2. The gracious promises God made him (Gen 28:13-15). 3. The impression this made upon him (Gen 28:16-19). 4. The vow he made to God, upon this occasion (Gen 28:20, etc.).
Open source ↗28:18 Anointing with oil became a way of setting something apart for divine use in Israel’s worship (Exod 29:1-7; 40:9; Lev 2:1; 1 Sam 10:1).
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
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So 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.
I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and made a solemn vow to Me. Now get up and leave this land at once, and return to your native land.’”
So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a pillar,
So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took along two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had designated.
Jacob set up a pillar on her grave; it marks Rachel’s tomb to this day.
On the day Moses finished setting up the tabernacle, he anointed and consecrated it and all its furnishings, along with the altar and all its utensils.
In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the center of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD near her border.
Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
During his lifetime, Absalom had set up for himself a pillar in the King’s Valley, for he had said, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he gave the pillar his name, and to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument.
I hurried without hesitating to keep Your commandments.