Genesis 28:1-9

Jacob Flees to Haran

1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. And he instructed him and said to him, "You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.

2 Arise, go to Paddan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.

3 Now, may El-Shaddai bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, so that you become an assembly of peoples.

4 And may he give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojourning, which God gave to Abraham."

5 Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-Aram, to take for himself a wife from there, and he blessed him and instructed him, saying, "You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,"

7 and [that] Jacob listened to his father and to his mother and went to Paddan-Aram.

8 Then Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan [were] evil in the eyes of Isaac his father,

9 then Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham, sister of Nebaioth, as a wife, in addition to the wives he had.

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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Often translated "God Almighty"
• [b]. Or "when"