Genesis 28:20

20 And Jacob made a vow saying, "If God will be with me and protect me on this way that I am going, and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear,

Genesis 28:20 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 28:20

And Jacob vowed a vow
Which is the first vow we read of in Scripture: saying, if God will be with me;
the word if is not a sign of doubting, but is either an adverb of time, and may be rendered, "when God shall be with me" F20; or as a supposition, expressive of an inference or conclusion drawn, "seeing God will be with me" F21; which he had the utmost reason to believe he would, since he had not only promised it, but had so lately granted him his presence in a very singular and remarkable manner, referring to the promise of God, ( Genesis 28:15 ) : and will keep me in this way that I go;
as he had said he would, and as hitherto he had, and for the future he had reason to believe he still would: and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on;
which is included in that clause, "I will not leave thee" ( Genesis 28:15 ) , even not without food and raiment; which is all men can desire or use, and therefore with them should be content.


FOOTNOTES:

F20 (Ma) "quum", Junius & Tremellius; so Ainsworth.
F21 Quandoquidem, Tigurine version.

Genesis 28:20 In-Context

18 And Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up [as] a stone pillar, and poured oil on top of it.
19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; however, the name of the city [was] formerly Luz.
20 And Jacob made a vow saying, "If God will be with me and protect me on this way that I am going, and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear,
21 and [if] I return in peace to the house of my father, then Yahweh will become my God.
22 And this stone that I have set up [as] a pillar shall be the house of God, and [of] all that you give to me I will certainly give a tenth to you."

Footnotes 1

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.