Matthew Poole and continuators on Genesis 35:2

2 Then Jacob said unto his houshold, and to all that were with him; Put away the strange gods that are among you , and be clear , and change your garments .

The Idols, which are so called here and Deut. 31. 16. and 32. 12. Ios. 24. 20. because they were the Gods of strange and forreign Nations, such as all were accounted who were not Israelites. Quest. How came these to be and to continue so long in Iacobs house? Ans. Either 1. by Rachels means, who brought them from her fathers house, which haply was not discovered till this time. Or 2. by Leah and by Iacobs two concubines who might possibly bring such with them. Or 3. by the means of Iacobs gentile servants who might secretly worship such Gods; or, having taken them from the Sichemites, they might keep them for their precious matter, as gold and silver, though not for religious use.

Like a good man and a good master of a family he takes care not only for himself but for all his family to keep them from the exercise of a false Religion and to engage them as far as he can in the profession and practice of the true. Compare Gen. 18. 19. Ios. 24. 18.

Cleanse your selves by outward and ritual wa[illegible: 1+ letters]ing, as Exod. 19. 10, 14. which even then was in use; and especially by purging your hearts as well as hands from these Idols, which I perceive to my sorrow some of you have still retained; and from your late detestable cruelty; that you may be fit to approach to that God who hath now summoned me and you to make a solemn appearance before him.

Either by putting on new garments, as 2 Sam. 12. 20. or by washing the old ones, as Exod. 19. 10. Levit. 15. 13. And these, as well as other ceremonial institutions and practices were professions of their Repentance, which consists in putting off the old man and putting on the new, Eph. 4. 22.

Marginal references: chap. 31. 19, 34. Jos. 24. 2.