Genesis 28:1-9

1 And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him and said unto him, "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 thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.

3 And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;

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

5 And Isaac sent away Jacob; and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

6 When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram to take him a wife from thence, 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 obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padanaram,

8 and Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father--

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

Genesis 28:1-9 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.