Genesis 35:4

All their earrings. Not only were the actual idols delivered to Jacob for removal from the household, but also all their jewelry. These things would have been a barrier to acceptance with God at Bethel. Whether the earrings were simply ornaments, or amulets, as some commentators think, is not clear. The wisest procedure for any child of God is to follow the example of Jacob’s wives and servants and put all such ornaments away (1 Tim. 2:9; 1 Peter 3:3).

The obedience of the members of Jacob’s household in carrying out his directives is tally commendable. Apparently, they felt that the removal of the strange gods and all distracting ornaments was needed if God was to be sincerely worshiped. Later, an explicit law was given enjoining upon Israel as a nation the prohibition of other gods than Jehovah.

Hid them under the oak. The complete disposal of both images and ornaments was a wise procedure; otherwise they might again have become a source of temptation. For anyone who sincerely loves the Lord, the only wise course to follow is to separate completely from besetting temptations. All modern objects of idolatry, including ornaments worn to the glory of self rather than God, are best not even preserved as keepsakes. In an unexpected moment the temptation to use them again may prove too strong to resist.

Whether the oak under which Abraham once pitched his tent (ch. 12:6, Heb.), the one under whose shade Joshua afterward erected a memorial pillar (Joshua 24:26), the oak of the sorcerers (Judges 9:37, Heb.), and the oak of the pillar at Shechem (Judges 9:6, Heb.) all refer to the same tree, the one under which Jacob buried the images and earrings, is not known. It is not at all improbable, however, that these texts do refer to the same tree, one that must have been a landmark.