The Genesis Project
Genesis 31

Jacob’s Pillars

91 words · November 30, 2025

וַיִּקַּ֥ח יַעֲקֹ֖ב אָ֑בֶן וַיְרִימֶ֖הָ מַצֵּבָֽה׃
Thereupon Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.
Genesis 31:45 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

I can't help but notice how many times Jacob takes big rocks and sets them up on end as a way to remember. He did it when he first saw the stairs to heaven. He did it when when he makes a covenant with Laban. Again when he encounters God in Genesis 35. And again in Genesis 35 when Rachel dies.

Nobody else does this. Just Jacob.

Jacob pillars remembrance

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