Bereshis 28:21

21 So that I return to bais avi in shalom; then shall Hashem be for me Elohim (my G-d).

Bereshis 28:21 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 28:21

So that I come again to my father's house in peace
In safety from Esau, and all other enemies, as God promised him he should: then the Lord shall be my God;
not as if he should not be his God if he did not do all this for him; which would savour not only of a mercenary spirit, but of great impiety; neither of which were to be found in Jacob: but the meaning is, that he should not only continue to own him as his God, and to worship him, but having fresh obligations upon him, should be stirred up more eagerly and devoutly to serve him in a very singular way and manner, and particularly by doing what is expressed in ( Genesis 28:22 ) . Some think he has respect to the Messiah, owning him to be the true God with the Father and the blessed Spirit, who had appeared to Abraham, and was the fear of Isaac, and whom Jacob now owned as his God: this receives some confirmation from the Targum of Jonathan, which begins the paragraph thus,

``if the Word of the Lord will be my help then the Lord shall be my God.''

Bereshis 28:21 In-Context

19 And he called the shem of that place Beit-El; but the shem of that ir was called Luz at the first.
20 And Ya’akov vowed a neder (vow), saying, If Elohim will be with me, and will be shomer over me in this derech (way, journey) that I go, and will give me lechem to eat, and beged (clothes) to put on,
21 So that I return to bais avi in shalom; then shall Hashem be for me Elohim (my G-d).
22 And this even (stone), which I have set for a matzevah (pillar), shall be Beis Elohim: and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the aser (tenth) unto Thee.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.