Genesis 28:16

16 And when Jacob had waked of [the] sleep, he said, Verily the Lord is in this place, and I knew not. (And when Jacob had awakened from his sleep, he said, Truly the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.)

Genesis 28:16 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 28:16

And Jacob awaked out of his sleep
Which had been sweet unto him, and out of his dream, it being now over; and it having left such a weight upon his mind, and such an awe upon his spirits, it might tend the sooner to awaken him; what time it was is not said, perhaps it was in the middle of the night or towards morning, since after this it is said that he rose early in the morning: and he said, surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew [it] not;
God is everywhere, in a general way, upholding all things by his power, as he is immense and omnipresent; but here he was in a special sense, by some signal token of his presence; by a stream of light and glory darting from the heavens, hence Onkelos and Jonathan paraphrase it,

``the glory of the Lord, and the glory of the majesty of the Lord;''

and by the appearance of angels, and by the communications of his mind and will, and grace to Jacob, and that communion he had with him in his dream, of which he was very sensible: for, when he says, "I knew it not", the meaning is, he did not think or expect to meet with God in such a place; he did not know that God ever appeared anywhere but in the houses of his people, such as his father's house; and in the congregation of the faithful, or where the saints met for public worship, or where an altar was erected for God: though sometimes God is present with his people, and they are not sensible of it; as the church in ( Isaiah 41:10 ) ; and as Mary, when Christ was at her elbow, and she knew him not, ( John 20:13 ) .

Genesis 28:16 In-Context

14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of [the] earth, (and) thou shalt be alarged to the east, and west, and to the north, and south; and all the lineages of [the] earth shall be blessed in thee and in thy seed (and all the families of the earth shall pray to be blessed as thee and thy descendants be blessed/and through thee and thy descendants, I shall bless all the families of the earth).

15 And I shall be thy keeper, whither ever thou shalt go; and I shall lead thee again into this land, and I shall not leave thee, no but I shall fulfill all [the] things which I have said (and I shall not leave thee, until I have fulfilled all the things which I have promised).

16 And when Jacob had waked of [the] sleep, he said, Verily the Lord is in this place, and I knew not. (And when Jacob had awakened from his sleep, he said, Truly the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.)

17 And he said dreading, How fearedful, or worshipful, is this place! Here is none other thing, no but the house of God, and the gate of heaven. (And he said with fear, or with reverence, How fearful, or how worshipful, is this place! This is nothing else, but the House of God, or Bethel, yea, the gateway to heaven/yea, heaven's gate!)

18 Therefore Jacob rose early, and took the stone which he had put under his head, and raised (it) up into a title, or (a) sign, and poured out oil (from) above. (And so Jacob rose up early, and took the stone which he had put under his head, and set it up as a sacred pillar, and poured oil on top of it.)