Genesis 35:4

 Genesis 35:4

And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

a. ASV: And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.  [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

b. YLT: And they give unto Jacob all the gods of the stranger that are in their hand, and the rings that are in their ears, and Jacob hideth them under the oak which is by Shechem;  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: So they [both young men and women] gave to Jacob all the strange gods they had and their earrings which were [worn as charms against evil] in their ears; and Jacob buried and hid them under the oak near Shechem.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. NLT: So they gave Jacob all their pagan idols and earrings, and he buried them under the great tree near Shechem.  [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

e. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: So they gave to Jacob all the alien gods that were in their possession, as well as the rings that were in their ears, and jacob buried them underneath the terebinth near Shechem.  [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE CHUMASH Copyright 1998, 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ldt.]

f. The Israel Bible: They gave to Yaakov all the alien gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears, and Yaakov buried them under the terebinth that was near Shechem.  [The English Translation was adapted by Israel 365 from the JPS Tanakh. Copyright Ⓒ 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society. All rights reserved.]

1. “And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand…”

a. [And they] gave [Strong: 5414 nathan naw-than' a primitive root; to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.):--add, apply, appoint, ascribe, assign, X avenge, X be ((healed)), bestow, bring (forth, hither), cast, cause, charge, come, commit, consider, count, + cry, deliver (up), direct, distribute, do, X doubtless, X without fail, fasten, frame, X get, give (forth, over, up), grant, hang (up), X have, X indeed, lay (unto charge, up), (give) leave, lend, let (out), + lie, lift up, make, + O that, occupy, offer, ordain, pay, perform, place, pour, print, X pull , put (forth), recompense, render, requite, restore, send (out), set (forth), shew, shoot forth (up), + sing, + slander, strike, (sub-)mit, suffer, X surely, X take, thrust, trade, turn, utter, + weep, + willingly, + withdraw, + would (to) God, yield.]

b. unto [Strong: 413 'el ale (but only used in the shortened constructive form sel {el}); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:--about, according to ,after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, X hath, in(- to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).]

c. Jacob [Strong: 3290 Ya`aqob yah-ak-obe' from 6117; heel-catcher (i.e. supplanter); Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarch:--Jacob.]

d. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

e. all [Strong: 3605 kol kole or (Jer. 33:8) kowl {kole}; from 3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):--(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-)thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

 f. [the] strange [Strong: 5236 nekar nay-kawr' ' from 5234; foreign, or (concretely) a foreigner, or (abstractly) heathendom:--alien, strange (+ -er).]

g. gods [Strong: 430 'elohiym el-o-heem' plural of 433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:--angels, X exceeding, God (gods)(-dess, -ly), X (very) great, judges, X mighty.]

h. which [Strong: 834 'aher ash-er' a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:--X after, X alike, as (soon as), because, X every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), X if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), X though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(- soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

i. [were in their] hand [Strong: 3027 yad yawd a primitive word; a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etc.), in distinction from 3709, the closed one); used (as noun, adverb, etc.) in a great variety of applications, both literally and figuratively, both proximate and remote (as follows):--(+ be) able, X about, + armholes, at, axletree, because of, beside, border, X bounty, + broad, (broken-)handed, X by, charge, coast, + consecrate, + creditor, custody, debt, dominion, X enough, + fellowship, force, X from, hand(-staves, -y work), X he, himself, X in, labour, + large, ledge, (left-)handed, means, X mine, ministry, near, X of, X order, ordinance, X our, parts, pain, power, X presumptuously, service, side, sore, state, stay, draw with strength, stroke, + swear, terror, X thee, X by them, X themselves, X thine own, X thou, through, X throwing, + thumb, times, X to, X under, X us, X wait on, (way-)side, where, + wide, X with (him, me, you), work, + yield, X yourselves.]

2. “...and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

a. and [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

b. all [their] [Strong: 3605 kol kole or (Jer. 33:8) kowl {kole}; from 3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):--(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-)thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

c. earrings [Strong: 5141 nezem, neh'-zem; from an unused root of uncertain meaning; a nose-ring:—earring, jewel.

1). The term is נֶזֶם (nězěm), which may also mean merely ring or nose-ring, according to both Ludwig Koehler, Walter Baumgartner, M. E. J. Richardson, and Johann Jakob Stamm, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000) and Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977). But the context makes it clear that these are earrings, because it clarifies they were rings "which were in their ears."

2). Targum Jonathan on Genesis 35:4: And they delivered into Jakob's hand all the idols of the people which were in their hands which they had taken from the temple of Shekem, and the jewels that had been in the ears of the inhabitants of the city of Shekem, in which was portrayed the likeness of their images; and Jakob hid them under the terebinth that was near to the city of Shekem. https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/21357/what-did-earrings-have-to-do-with-idolatry-in-gen-354

3). HOSEA 2:13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.

4). Jacob's vows to the Lord included a promise to make the Lord his God. The implication was that the Lord would be his only God. To fulfill that promise, Jacob has commanded his household to gather up any "foreign gods" or idols in their possession. This would presumably have included idols, such as the household gods Rachel had stolen from her father Laban (Genesis 31:19). Now all those idols are delivered to Jacob. This verse also mentions earrings, suggesting they may have been worn in worship to some of those foreign gods. Jacob buries them under a specific terebinth tree near Shechem before the company begins their caravan south to Bethel. Scripture doesn't give an explicit reason why Jacob buried these items, rather than destroying them or reusing the precious metals. Most likely, this act symbolized Jacob's commitment to completely renounce false gods. 

The message to Jacob's family would have been clear. Jacob's household would have understood themselves to be completely dependent on God alone with no other foreign gods to fall back on. This was an act of faith for the whole community. https://www.bibleref.com/Genesis/35/Genesis-35-4.html

d. which [Strong:834  ʼăsher, ash-er'; a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:—× after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

e. [were in their] ears [Strong: ʼôzen, o'-zen; from H238; broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in man):— advertise, audience, displease, ear, hearing, show.]

f. [and] Jacob [Strong: Jacob [Strong: 3290 Ya`aqob yah-ak-obe' from 6117; heel-catcher (i.e. supplanter); Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarch:--Jacob.]

g. hid [Strong: ṭâman, taw-man'; a primitive root; to hide (by covering over):—hide, lay privily, in secret.]

h. them [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

i. under [Strong: tachath, takh'-ath; from the same as H8430; the bottom (as depressed); only adverbially, below (often with prepositional prefix underneath), in lieu of, etc.:—as, beneath, × flat, in(-stead), (same) place (where...is), room, for...sake, stead of, under, × unto, × when...was mine, whereas, (where-) fore, with.]

j. [the] oak [Strong: ʼêlâh, ay-law'; feminine of H352; an oak or other strong tree:—elm, oak, teil-tree.]

k. which [Strong:834  ʼăsher, ash-er'; a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:—× after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

l. [was] by [Strong: ʻim, eem; from H6004; adverb or preposition, with (i.e. in conjunction with), in varied applications; specifically, equally with; often with prepositional prefix (and then usually unrepresented in English):—accompanying, against, and, as (× long as), before, beside, by (reason of), for all, from (among, between), in, like, more than, of, (un-) to, with(-al).]

m. Sechem [Strong: Shᵉkem, shek-em'; the same as H7926; ridge; Shekem, a place in Palestine:—Shechem.]