Genesis 28:1-4

1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.

2 Go at once to Paddan Aram,^[a] to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.

3 May God Almighty^[b] bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples.

4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”

Genesis 28:1-4 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 24:60
• 2. Genesis 24:3
• 3. S Genesis 25:20
• 4. S Genesis 25:20
• 5. S Genesis 21:21; S Genesis 24:29
• 6. S Genesis 17:1
• 7. Genesis 48:16; Numbers 6:24; Ruth 2:4; Psalms 129:8; Psalms 134:3; Jeremiah 31:23
• 8. S Genesis 17:6
• 9. S Genesis 12:2
• 10. S Genesis 12:2,3
• 11. S Genesis 15:7
• 12. S Genesis 17:8

Footnotes

• [a] That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verses 5, 6 and 7
• [b] Hebrew "El-Shaddai"