Genesis 28:1-10

1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

2 Arise, go to Padanaram to the house of Bethuel, thy mother’s father, and take thee a wife from there of the daughters of Laban, thy mother’s brother.

3 And may God Almighty bless thee and make thee fruitful and multiply thee that thou may be a congregation of peoples

4 and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee; that thou may inherit the land in which thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

5 Thus Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

6 And Esau saw how Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padanaram, to take a wife from there for himself, and that as he blessed him, he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan,

7 and that Jacob had hearkened unto his father and his mother and had gone to Padanaram;

8 and Esau, seeing that the daughters of Canaan did not please Isaac his father,

9 Esau went unto Ishmael and took unto the wives which he had, Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.

10 And Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.

Genesis 28:1-10 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.