Yaacov (Jacob) built this mizbayach when he reached the city of Shechem, after his encounter with Esav (Esau). Why though does he name it Keil Elokei Yisrael, which could be read as naming it as G-d?!

Targum Onkelos, the most authorative translation of the Torah, makes an important addendum to his translation. He translates ‘and he called it’ as ‘and he served/prayed through it, the G-d of Israel’. The Targum of Yonatan Ben Uziel, another important translation, writes in a similar vein that Yaacov gave tithes to G-d through the altar. This clearly suggests that Yaacov did not actually call the altar ‘G-d’.

Rashi (the premier Torah commentator amongst the Rishonim, medieval Rabbis) also writes that Yaacov did not actually call the mizbeyach the G-d of Israel, but instead named it in praise of G-d for the miracles and salvations that G-d had performed for Yaacov. Rashi notes that Moses acted similarly (see Shemot 17:15).

Rashi then makes a very important statement about his approach to Torah commentary. Using language from the prophet Yiremiyahu (Jeremiah), in Yiremiyahu 23:29 and the Talmud (Shabbat 88b), he writes that words of Torah are like a hammer striking a rock.

Just like the rock shatters into different pieces, so can the words of the Torah offer multiple understandings (obviously within acceptable parameters, just like the study of English literature for example, lehavdil). Using this principle, Rashi writes that his approach is to explain the simple meaning of the text.

But what is the simple meaning of the text? We may have thought that it is the literal meaning of the text, but if so, our verse would not make sense as it would imply that Yaacov called the mizbayach G-d in a literal sense!

Rashi therefore teaches us an important principle, that the simple meaning of the text is not necessarily the literal meaning of the text but rather the correct understanding of what the text is saying. This is another example of an approach that we can see in English literature, lehavdil.

Seforno notes that perhaps the mizbayach is in fact a fulfilment of Yaacov’s vow (Bereishit 21:28) that if G-d returned him in peace to his father’s house from exile with Lavan (Laban), then Yaacov would be able to serve G-d better through his ability to perform the special mitzvot of the Land of Israel – see our discussion last week in Parashat Vayetze for more on this.

Ramban and Rashbam (two of the other important Rishonim) see our verse as a source for what may seem a strange custom to give people names which include a Name of G-d. Examples of such names are Tzuriel, Tzurishadai, Emmanuel, Gavriel and Michael (phew!). Ramban explains that when giving such names, we are in fact praising G-d, just as Yaacov praised G-d when he named the mizbayach. This point is also clear from Yaacov’s additional name of Yisrael, which includes a Name of G-d