Genesis 35:20

Summary

The verse reports that Jacob erected a commemorative pillar over the grave of Rachel, and notes that this pillar was still identified as her grave marker at the time the text was written or transmitted.

Key words

• va-yatzev ("and he set up", H5324) — hiphil verb with narrative vav; the hiphil stem is causative, indicating Jacob caused the pillar to stand upright, and the narrative form advances the story sequence.
• matzevah ("a pillar", H4676) — feminine singular noun, indefinite here, naming the object Jacob erects.
• qevurata-h ("her grave", H6900 + H9024) — construct noun with a pronominal suffix ("her"), linking the grave directly to Rachel via possession.
• hi' ("it/she", H1931) — independent personal pronoun, resuming the subject to introduce the explanatory clause that follows.
• matzevet qevurat-Rachel ("pillar of the grave of Rachel", H4678 + H6900) — a double construct chain: "pillar of" governs "grave of," which governs "Rachel," building a compact identifying phrase.
• ad-ha-yom ("until this day", H5704 + H9009 + H3117L) — prepositional phrase with the definite article on yom ("day", H3117L), marking a temporal span from the narrated event to the time of speaking/writing.

What the text says

The verse divides into two clauses joined by the resumptive pronoun hi' ("it/she", H1931). The first clause, opened by the narrative verb va-yatzev ("and he set up", H5324), states the action: Jacob (Ya'aqov, H3290) causes a matzevah ("pillar", H4676) to stand 'al qevurata-h ("over her grave", H5921A + H6900 + H9024), the suffix -ah pointing back to Rachel from the preceding narrative context. The second clause restates the object using a construct chain, matzevet qevurat-Rachel ("pillar of the grave of Rachel", H4678 + H6900 + H7354), which explicitly names Rachel rather than relying on the pronoun alone, functioning as an identifying gloss on the pillar just erected.

The final phrase, 'ad ha-yom ("until this day", H5704 + H9009 + H3117L), extends the pillar's identifiability from the narrated past into the narrator's present, marking a gap between the event and the moment of telling.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders matzevah as στήλην ("stele/pillar") and qevurah as μνημείου ("memorial/tomb marker"), a term emphasizing commemoration. The Vulgate uses titulum ("inscription/marker") for matzevah and sepulchrum/monumentum for the grave terms, varying its Latin vocabulary between the two occurrences where the Hebrew repeats qevurah (H6900) both times.