Jacob’s Pillars

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)

As I finally round out Genesis 31 (it’s been over a month, phew!), 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.

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