Genesis 28:10-22

Jacob's Dream

10 Then Jacob departed from ¹Beersheba and went toward ²Haran.

11 He came to a ³certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place.

12 ⁴He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, ⁵the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

13 And behold, ⁶the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, ⁷the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it ⁸to you and to ⁹your descendants.

14 "Your descendants will also be like ¹⁰the dust of the earth, and you will spread out ¹¹to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and ¹²in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

15 "Behold, ¹³I am with you and ¹⁴will keep you wherever * you go, and ¹⁵will bring you back to this land; for ¹⁶I will not leave you until * I have done what I have promised you."

16 Then Jacob ¹⁷awoke from his sleep and said, "¹⁸Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it."

17 He was afraid and said, "¹⁹How awesome is this place! This is none other than * the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took ²⁰the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top.

19 He called the name of that place ²¹Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been ²²Luz.

20 Then Jacob ²³made a vow, saying, "²⁴If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me ²⁵food to eat and garments to wear,

21 and ²⁶I return to my father's house in safety, ²⁷then the LORD will be my God.

22 "This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, ²⁸will be God's house, and ²⁹of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You."

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Genesis 28:10-22 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 29

1. Genesis 26:23
2. Genesis 12:4, 5; Genesis 27:43
3. Genesis 28:19
4. Genesis 41:1; Numbers 12:6
5. John 1:51
6. Genesis 35:1; Amos 7:7
7. Genesis 26:3, 24
8. Genesis 13:15, 17; Genesis 26:3
9. Genesis 12:7; Genesis 15:18
10. Genesis 13:16; Genesis 22:17
11. Genesis 13:14, 15
12. Genesis 12:3; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 22:18; Genesis 26:4
13. Genesis 26:3, 24; Genesis 31:3
14. Numbers 6:24; Ps 121:5, 7, 8
15. Genesis 48:21; Deuteronomy 30:3
16. Numbers 23:19; Deuteronomy 7:9; Deuteronomy 31:6, 8
17. 1 Kings 3:15; Jeremiah 31:26
18. Exodus 3:4-6; Joshua 5:13-15; Psalms 139:7-12
19. Psalms 68:35
20. Genesis 28:11; Genesis 35:14
21. Judges 1:23
22. Genesis 35:6; Genesis 48:3
23. Genesis 31:13; Judges 11:30; 2 Samuel 15:8
24. Genesis 28:15
25. 1 Timothy 6:8
26. Judges 11:31
27. Deuteronomy 26:17
28. Genesis 35:7
29. Leviticus 27:30; Deuteronomy 14:22

Footnotes 15

[a]. Lit "lighted on"
[b]. Lit "the place"
[c]. Lit "at his head-place"
[d]. Or "beside him"
[e]. Lit "seed"
[f]. Lit "seed"
[g]. Lit "break through"
[h]. Lit "seed"
[i]. Lit "spoken to"
[j]. Lit "at his head-place"
[k]. I.e. the house of God
[l]. Lit "at the first"
[m]. Lit "go"
[n]. Lit "bread"
[o]. Lit "peace"