1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible

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Genesis 35:4

So they gave him all the strange gods they had, and the ear-rings which were in their ears: *and he buried them under the turpentine tree, that is behind the city of Sichem.

Exodus 32:20.; 2 Kings[4 Kings?] 18:4.

And the ear-rings. Hebrew, hanezamim; such as had been consecrated to some idol, and adorned the ears of those false but gaudy deities. (Menochius) --- Men and women used them likewise, as phylacteries or talismans, to which many superstitious virtues were attributed. (St. Augustine, ep. 73[245?], ad Posid. 9, 3:in Gen.; Ezechiel 16:12; Proverbs xxv.; Exodus xxxv.; Judges viii.) (Calmet) --- The turpentine tree; or "an oak tree," as the Hebrew haela means also. Septuagint adds, "and he destroyed them till this present day;" which seems intended to refute the story of their being found and adored by the Samaritans, or employed by Solomon when he built the temple. Jacob buried them privately. (Calmet) See Deuteronomy 7:5.