Genesis 28:10-15

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran.

11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.

12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

13 There above it^[a] stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.

14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.^[b]

15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Genesis 28:10-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 28

In this chapter an account is given of the charge Isaac gave to Jacob not to marry a Canaanitess, but to go to Padanaram, and take a wife from his mother's family, and of his blessing him before he sent him away, Ge 28:1-5; of the notice that Esau took of this blessing and charge, which led him to take a wife of the family of Ishmael, Ge 28:6-9; of the dream of the ladder, which Jacob had in his way to Haran, Ge 28:10-12; of the blessing which God conferred upon him there, Ge 28:13-15; of the awfulness of the place upon his awaking, and of his erecting a pillar in it, and giving a name to it, Ge 28:16-19; and of the vow he made to God, should he be supplied with the necessaries of life, and be kept in safety by him, Ge 28:20-22.

Cross References

• 1. S Genesis 21:14
• 2. S Genesis 11:31
• 3. S Genesis 12:8
• 4. ver 18
• 5. S Genesis 20:3; Genesis 37:19
• 6. John 1:51
• 7. S Genesis 12:7; Genesis 35:7,9; Genesis 48:3
• 8. S Genesis 24:12; Genesis 48:16; Genesis 49:25; Genesis 50:17; Genesis 26:24
• 9. S Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:15; Genesis 35:12
• 10. Genesis 46:4; Genesis 48:21
• 11. Genesis 26:4
• 12. S Genesis 12:2; S Genesis 13:14; S Genesis 26:24
• 13. S Genesis 12:3; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 22:18; Acts 3:25; Galatians 3:8
• 14. S Genesis 21:20; Genesis 26:3; Genesis 48:21
• 15. Numbers 6:24; Ps 121:5,7-8
• 16. ver 20
• 17. ver 22; Genesis 35:3
• 18. ver 21; S Genesis 15:16; Genesis 30:25; Genesis 31:30
• 19. Deuteronomy 31:6,8; Joshua 1:5; Nehemiah 4:14; Psalms 9:10
• 20. Leviticus 26:42
• 21. Psalms 105:10; Numbers 23:19

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "There beside him"
• [b]. Or "will use your name and the name of your offspring in blessings" (see 48:20)