The Genesis Project
Genesis 34 Genesis 35

Foreign Gods

122 words · May 5, 2026

So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Remove the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments." Genesis 35:2 (NASB)

I previously thought that the "foreign gods" mentioned in Genesis 35:2 referred to the households gods (teraphim) that Rachel stole from her father Laban. However, the rabbinical texts point to Genesis 34 as the source of the foreign gods.

[The sons of Jacob] took their flocks, their herds, and their donkeys, and that which was in the city and that which was in the field; and they captured and looted all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives, even everything that was in the houses. Genesis 34:28-29 (NASB)

Jacob Rachel foreign gods idols teraphim

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