If a man voweth a vow, and he does not fulfil it in good time, he will
stumble through three grave sins, idolatry, unchastity, and bloodshed.
Jacob had been guilty of not accomplishing promptly the vow he had
taken upon himself at Beth-el, and therefore punishment overtook
him—his daughter was dishonored, his sons slew men, and they kept the
idols found among the spoils of Shechem.[293] Therefore, when Jacob
prostrated himself before God after the bloody outrage at Shechem, He
bade him arise, and go to Beth-el and accomplish the vow he had vowed
there.[294] Before Jacob set out for the holy place to do the bidding
of God, he took the idols which were in the possession of his sons, and
the teraphim which Rachel had stolen from her father, and he shivered
them in pieces, and buried[295] the bits under an oak upon Mount
Gerizim,[296] uprooting the tree with one hand, concealing the remains
of the idols in the hollow left in the earth, and planting the oak
again with one hand.[297]
Among the destroyed idols was one in the form of a dove, and this the
Samaritans dug up later and worshipped.
On reaching Beth-el he erected an altar to the Lord, and on a pillar he
set up the stone whereon he had rested his head during the night which
he had passed there on his journey to Haran.[298] Then he bade his
parents come to Beth-el and take part in his sacrifice. But Isaac sent
him a message, saying, "O my son Jacob, that I might see thee before I
die," whereupon Jacob hastened to his parents, taking Levi and Judah
with him. When his grandchildren stepped before Isaac, the darkness
that shrouded his eyes dropped away, and he said, "My son, are these
thy children, for they resemble thee?" And the spirit of prophecy
entered his mouth, and he grasped Levi with his right hand and Judah
with his left in order to bless them, and he spoke these words to Levi:
"May the Lord bring thee and thy seed nigh unto Him before all flesh,
that ye serve in His sanctuary like the Angel of the Face and the Holy
Angels. Princes, judges, and rulers shall they be unto all the seed of
the children of Jacob. The word of God they will proclaim in
righteousness, and all His judgments they will execute in justice, and
they will make manifest His ways unto the children of Jacob, and unto
Israel His paths." And unto Judah he spake, saying: "Be ye princes,
thou and one of thy sons, over the sons of Jacob. In thee shall be the
help of Jacob, and the salvation of Israel shall be found in thee. And
when thou sittest upon the throne of the glory of thy justice, perfect
peace shall reign over all the seed of the children of my beloved
Abraham."
On the morrow, Isaac told his son that he would not accompany him to
Beth-el on account of his great age, but he bade him not delay longer
to fulfil his vow, and gave him permission to take his mother Rebekah
with him to the holy place. And Rebekah and her nurse Deborah went to
Beth-el with Jacob.[299]