Allon-bachuth

Biblical Text

Allon-bachuth appears only once, in Genesis 35. In obedience to God's command, Jacob went up with his household to Bethel, built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel (Genesis 35:1-7). The following verse comes immediately after this account:

• "But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth" (Genesis 35:8).

Background

Meaning of the name: The Hebrew allon denotes a large tree, and bakuth means weeping or lamentation. Allon-bachuth is therefore understood to mean "oak of weeping." Translations differ on whether allon should be rendered "oak" or "terebinth"; the New Korean Revised Version renders it "oak."

Deborah: Scripture records that when Rebekah left the region of Haran to marry Isaac, her nurse went with her (Genesis 24:59). The nurse's name, Deborah, is first revealed in Genesis 35:8. The Bible does not say when or how she came to be with Jacob's household.

Location: The text states only that the tree stood "beneath Bethel." The exact site is unknown. In the ancient Near East, large trees served as landmarks and were also used as sites for burials and religious rites.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Genesis 35 records a series of deaths and burials: the death of Deborah (v. 8), the death of Rachel (vv. 16-20), and the death of Isaac (vv. 27-29). By contrast, Rebekah's death is not recorded separately in Genesis; only her burial in the cave of Machpelah is mentioned later (Genesis 49:31). That the death and burial place of a nurse—not even a patriarch's wife—were recorded, complete with a name for the site, is commonly taken to indicate that she was held in deep esteem by the family. Allon-bachuth is not directly mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Debates

• Relation to Bochim: "Bochim" in Judges 2:1-5 also means "weepers," and the Septuagint manuscripts of this passage mention Bethel as well. For this reason, some scholars hold that the two place names refer to the same site or derive from the same tradition. The text, however, does not say so directly.
• Relation to other tree place names: The "palm tree of Deborah," under which the judge Deborah judged Israel (Judges 4:5), and the "plain of Tabor" (or "oak of Tabor"; 1 Samuel 10:3) were also near Bethel. Some scholars therefore connect these trees with Allon-bachuth, though this too remains conjecture.
• Jewish tradition: Jewish tradition, including Rashi's commentary, contains an interpretation that links allon with the Greek allos ("other"). According to this reading, Jacob received "another sorrow" here, namely the news of his mother Rebekah's death. This is a later elaboration within rabbinic interpretation and does not appear in the text of Genesis.

Sermons and commentaries sometimes present this verse as an example of an obscure servant who was nonetheless honored.