Genesis 28:1-9

1 And Isaac having called for Jacob, blessed him, and charged him, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of the Chananites.

2 Rise and depart quickly into Mesopotamia, to the house of Bathuel the father of thy mother, and take to thyself thence a wife of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.

3 And may my God bless thee, and increase thee, and multiply thee, and thou shalt become gatherings of nations.

4 And may he give thee the blessing of my father Abraam, even to thee and to thy seed after thee, to inherit the land of thy sojourning, which God gave to Abraam.

5 So Isaac sent away Jacob, and he went into Mesopotamia to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebecca the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 And Esau saw that Isaac blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Mesopotamia of Syria as he blessed him, to take to himself a wife thence, and he charged him, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of the Chananites;

7 and Jacob hearkened to his father and his mother, and went to Mesopotamia of Syria.

8 And Esau also having seen that the daughters of Chanaan were evil before his father Isaac,

9 Esau went to Ismael, and took Maeleth the daughter of Ismael, the son of Abraam, the sister of Nabeoth, a wife in addition to his wives.

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.