Put away the strange gods— Heb. the gods of the strangers] i.e.. of the Shechemites, or others, who had joined themselves to his family; from which, being resolved to make a total reform, and to establish the worship of Jehovah only, Jacob orders every object of false worship to be removed, every idol and every thing dedicated to idolatry, Genesis 35:4.
Be clean, and change your garments, &c.— Be clean, by washing yourselves with water, emblem of the internal purification of the soul, Hebrews 10:22 and change your garments, in token of your putting off all unholy affections, and being clothed with the becoming ornaments of the soul. Hence it is very evident, that the rite of purification was in use before the law of Moses. See Exodus 19:14. It was practised among the AEgyptians, according to Herodotus, lib. i. c. 37 and has been used as a symbolical rite among almost all nations. See Le Clerc on the place.