Genesis 28 Commentary

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Chart from recommended resource Jensen's Survey of the OT - used by permission

Summary Chart of The Book of Genesis
Focus	Foundation Events (Four Events) (Events Predominant)				Foundation People (Four People) (People Predominant)
Divisions	Creation (Ge 1-2)	Fall (Ge 3-5)	Flood (Ge 6-9)	Nations (Ge 10-12)	Abraham's Faith (Ge 12-24)	Isaac's Family (Ge 25-26)	Jacob's Conflicts (Ge 27-36)	Joseph's Calamity (Ge 37-50)
Topics	Beginning of the Human Race (Race As A Whole)				Beginning of the Hebrew Race (Family of Abraham)
	Faithfulness of Mankind (Noah)				Faithfulness of One Man's Family (Abraham)
	Historical				Biographical
Place	Eastward From Eden to Ur				Westward From Canaan to Egypt
Time	~2000+ Years (20% of Genesis) (~4004-2090BC)				About 300 Years 193 Yr in Canaan, 93 Yr in Egypt (80% of Genesis) (2090-1804BC)
	Primeval History of Humanity				Patriarchal History of Israel
Author	Moses

Genesis 28:1 So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.

KJV And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

NET  So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, "You must not marry a Canaanite woman!

NLT  So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him, and said, "You must not marry any of these Canaanite women.

ESV  Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, "You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women.

NIV  So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: "Do not marry a Canaanite woman.

• blessed: Ge 28:3,4 Ge 27:4,27-33 Ge 48:15 Ge 49:28 De 33:1 Jos 22:7 
• You shall not take: Ge 6:2, Ge 24:3,37 Ge 26:34,35 Ge 27:46 Ge 34:9,16 Ex 34:15,16 2Co 6:14-16 

Related Passages: 

Genesis 24:3 (ABRAHAM TO ISAAC) and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live,

Deuteronomy 7:3-4  “Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. 4“For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.

Genesis 27:34 When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; 35 and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Genesis 27:46 Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Genesis27:27-29 So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed; 28 Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine; 29 May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, And may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you.”

THE BLESSING 
WILLINGLY CONFIRMED

So - The conjunction So connects Isaac's action with Rebekah's concern about Jacob marrying a Canaanite woman (Ge 27:46). Isaac now takes the initiative, summoning Jacob to give him instructions concerning his future marriage. There is a striking contrast with Genesis 27. Previously, Jacob approached Isaac disguised as Esau and obtained the blessing through deception. Now Isaac knowingly summons Jacob and willingly blesses him! The father who had been deceived now consciously acts on behalf of the son who received the blessing.

Isaac called Jacob -  Isaac calls Jacob openly, knowing exactly who he is, for the secrecy and disguises are now past history. The father who trembled when he realized God had overruled him (Ge 27:33) now acquiesces to God's will and does not attempt to usurp God’s choice.

And blessed (barak; LXX - eulogeo) him What Jacob had previously obtained through deception, Isaac now knowingly confirms through a deliberate blessing. This does not excuse Jacob's earlier dishonesty, but it demonstrates that Isaac has accepted Jacob as the recipient of the covenant blessing, consistent with God's declaration before the twins were born (Ge 25:23).

And charged (tsavah commanded) him, and said to him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan - Isaac issue a binding instruction. Jacob was now about 75 years old and still single. Why had Isaac been so lax in seeking a proper wife for his sons? The text does not explain. However one result of his negligence was Esau's bigamous marriage to two Hittite (Canaanite) women. Isaac wanted to avoid a second major misstep and readily received Rebekah's advice (Ge 27:46). Isaac's (and Rebekah's) concern was spiritual, not ethnic, for the danger of a Canaanite wife was that she likely would turn the covenant son away from Yahweh and to other gods. The New Testament carries the same principle forward for believers: “A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord” (1Co 7:39; 2Co 6:14).

It is interesting to compare the commands to Jacob from Rebekan and Isaac. Both use the same verb tsavah  but Rebekah used it when she pressed Jacob into the deception (Ge 27:8 while the purpose of Isaac’s command was to guard his son from intermarrying with the Canaanites (Dt 7:3,4). Isaac was exerting a father’s rightful authority in line with God’s will.

🙏 THOUGHT - Isaac failed badly in Genesis 27, but he did not end there. He blessed his son openly and charged him to keep the faith of his fathers in the choice of a wife. It is never too late for a parent to give a godly blessing and a godly charge. Beloved, especially fathers, have you spoken words of blessing over your children and grandchildren, and charged them to walk with the Lord? “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Pr 22:6).

Genesis 28:2 “Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.

• Arise (KJV): Ho 12:12 
• Padanaram (KJV): Ge 28:5 22:20-23 24:10,15-24 25:20 29:1 31:18 32:10 35:9 46:15 
• Laban (KJV): Ge 24:29,50 

Genesis 28:2 “Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.

Genesis 28:3 “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.

• God (KJV): Ge 17:1-6 22:17,18 35:11 43:14 48:3 Ex 6:3 Ps 127:1 2Co 6:18 Rev 21:22 
• and make (KJV): Ge 1:28 9:1 13:16 24:60 41:52 Ps 127:3-5 128:1-6 

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples

GOD ALMIGHTY (Ge28:3 35:11 48:3 Ex6:3): El Shaddai [Ge17:1] El is the common name for deity in the ancient Near East. The etymology of shaddai is traditionally explained as "sufficient" or "self-sufficient."  Another explanation is that the term means "one of the mountain," perhaps connoting safety and sufficiency.

Genesis 28:4 “May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.”

• the blessing (KJV): Ge 12:1-3,7 15:5-7 17:6-8 22:17,18 Ps 72:17 Ro 4:7,8 Ga 3:8,14 Eph 1:3 
• wherein thou art a stranger (KJV): Heb. of thy sojournings, Ge 17:8 
• which (KJV): Ge 12:7 13:14-17 15:18-21 Ps 39:12 105:6-12 Heb 11:9-13 

May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham

Genesis 28:5 Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.  

• sent away Jacob (KJV): Whoever observes Jacob's life, after he had surreptitiously obtained his father's blessing, will perceive that he enjoyed very little worldly felicity.  His brother purposed to murder him, to avoid which he was forced to flee from his father's house; his uncle Laban deceived him, as he had deceived his father, and treated him with great rigour; after a servitude of 21 years, he was obliged to leave him in a clandestine manner, not without danger of being brought back, or murdered by his enraged brother; no sooner were these fears over, than he experienced the baseness of his son Reuben, in defiling his bed; he had next to bewail the treachery and cruelty of Simeon and Levi toward the Shechemites; then he had to feel the loss of his beloved wife; he was next imposed upon by his own sons, and had to lament the supposed untimely end of Joseph; and to complete all, he was forced by famine to go into Egypt, and there died, in a strange land.  So just, wonderful, and instructive are all the ways of Providence!
• Padanaram (KJV): Ge 28:2 

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

Genesis 28:6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he charged him, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,”

• Esau (KJV): Ge 27:33 
• Thou (KJV): Ge 28:1 

Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he charged him, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan

Genesis 28:7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram.

• Ge 27:43 Ex 20:12 Lev 19:3 Pr 1:8 30:17 Eph 6:1,3 Col 3:20 

and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram

Genesis 28:8 So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac;

• the daughters (KJV): Ge 28:1 24:3 26:34,35 
• pleased not (KJV): Heb. were evil in the eyes, 1Sa 8:6 

So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac

Genesis 28:9 and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

• unto Ishmael (KJV): Ge 25:13-17 36:3,13,18 
• Mahalath (KJV): called also, Bashemath, Ge 36:3 the sister.

and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

Morris - unto Ishmael.  Esau, finally realizing his troubles were of his own doing and realizing that his father no longer supported his position, was belatedly trying to help matters by marrying an Ishmaelite woman. Even Ishmael, however, was outside the scope of God's promises regarding the Seed.

   28:9 Mahalath.  There is an apparent contradiction between the names of Esau's wives in Genesis 26:34 and 28:9. The probable resolution of this problem is discussed in the notes on Genesis 36.

 to Ishmael. I.e., to Ishmael's family. Ishmael himself had died 14 years earlier. Notice that Esau did not put away his heathen wives when he married into Ishmael's family. See note on 26:34. 
 

Genesis 28:10 Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran.

• Ge 11:31 32:10 Ho 12:12 Ac 7:2 25:13 

Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran

Genesis 28:11 He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place.

• took (KJV): Ge 28:18 31:46 Mt 8:20 2Co 1:5 

He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place

Genesis 28:12 He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

• he dreamed (KJV): Ge 15:1,12 20:3,6,7 37:5-11 40:1-41:57 Nu 12:6 Job 4:12-21 Job 33:15,16 Da 2:1-49 4:1-37 7:1 Mt 1:20 2:12,13,19 Heb 1:1 
• ladder (KJV): Ge 32:1,2 2Ch 16:9 Isa 41:10 Joh 1:51 2Ti 4:16,17 Heb 1:14 

He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it

reached to heaven.  This was a theophany, the first of about eight Jacob would experience. It appeared in the form of a remarkable dream. Jacob was assured of God's intense interest, and of his own key role in God's plan. The great ladder with ascending and descending angels, bridging the gulf between earth and heaven, symbolized Christ Himself (John 1:51; 3:13; Ephesians 4:8-10), as well as assuring Jacob of his own access to God through prayer and obedience.

Genesis 28:13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.

• the Lord stood (KJV): Ge 35:1,6,7 48:3 
• I am (KJV): Ge 15:1 17:6,7 26:24 31:42 32:9 46:3 Ex 3:6,15,16 Mt 22:32 Heb 11:16 
• the land (KJV): Ge 28:4 12:7 13:15 35:12,15,17 Ps 105:11 Eze 37:24,25 Ac 7:5 

And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.

28:13-15  After identifying Himself as the God of . . . Abraham and Isaac, God confirmed to Jacob the Abrahamic covenant and added the promise of His presence with Jacob, wherever Jacob would go. 
 

Genesis 28:14 “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

• thy seed (KJV): Ge 13:16 32:12 35:11,12 Nu 23:10 Ac 3:25 Rev 7:4,9 
• spread abroad (KJV): Heb. break forth
• to the west (KJV): Ge 13:14 De 12:20 Mt 8:11 
• and in thee (KJV): Ge 12:3 18:18 22:18 26:4 Ps 72:17 Ac 3:25 Ga 3:8,16 Eph 1:3 

Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed

Genesis 28:15 “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

• I am (KJV): Ge 28:20,21 26:24 31:3 32:9 39:2,21 46:4 Ex 3:12 Jud 6:16 Ps 46:7,11 Isa 7:14 8:10 41:10 43:2 Jer 1:19 Mt 18:20 28:20 Ro 8:31,32 1Ti 4:8 
• keep (KJV): Ge 48:16 Ps 121:5-8 
• bring (KJV): Ge 35:6,7 
• for I (KJV): De 31:6 Jos 1:5 1Ki 8:57 Joh 10:28,29 Heb 13:5,6 Jude 1:1 
• until (KJV): Nu 23:19 Jos 23:14-16 Mt 24:35 

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you

Genesis 28:16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.”

• and I (KJV): Ex 3:5 15:11 Jos 5:15 1Sa 3:4-7 Job 9:11 33:14 Ps 68:35 Isa 8:13 

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it

Genesis 28:17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”  

• he was (KJV): Ex 3:6 Judges 13:22 Mt 17:6 Lu 2:9 8:35 Rev 1:17 
• the house (KJV): Ge 28:22 35:1-13 2Ch 5:14 Ec 5:1 1Ti 3:15 Heb 10:21 1Pe 4:17 

He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”  

Jacob felt as if he had entered the dwelling place of God. The divine presence was so overwhelming as to strike fear within him. He named the site "Bethel," meaning "house of God" (v. 19; 35:7).

Genesis 28:18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top.

• rose up (KJV): Ge 22:3 Ps 119:60 Ec 9:10 
• and took (KJV): The practice of setting up stones as a memorial by travellers still exists in Persia, and other parts of the East.
• set it (KJV): Ge 31:13,45 35:14,20 Jos 24:26,27 1Sa 7:12 2Sa 18:18 Isa 19:19 
• poured (KJV): Lev 8:10-12 Nu 7:1 

So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top

Genesis 28:19 He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz.

• the name (KJV): Ge 12:8 35:1 48:3 Judges 1:22-26 1Ki 12:29 Ho 4:15 12:4,5 

He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz

Genesis 28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear,

• vowed (KJV): Ge 31:13 Lev 27:1-34 Nu 6:1-20 21:2,3 Jud 11:30,31 1Sa 1:11,28 1Sa 14:24 2Sa 15:8 Ne 9:1-10:39 Ps 22:25 56:12 61:5,8 66:13 Ps 76:11 116:14,18 119:106 132:2 Ec 5:1-7 Isa 19:21  Joh 1:16 Ac 18:18 23:12-15 
• If God (KJV): Ge 28:15 
• will give (KJV): 1Ti 6:8 

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear

f God.  The word "if" here should be read with the connotation of "since." Jacob was not bargaining with God, as some think, but gratefully accepting God's promised blessing outlined by Him (Genesis 28:13-15). Jacob was reciprocating by vowing that the Lord would always be his God and that he would serve Him.

20-22) The vow to erect a memorial and to give Yahweh a tenth of his substance was a sign of genuine devotion. The Lord honored Jacob's vow (see 31:13).

Genesis 28:21 and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God.

• I come (KJV): Judges 11:31 2Sa 19:24,30 
• then (KJV): Ex 15:2 De 26:17 2Sa 15:8 2Ki 5:17 

and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God

Genesis 28:22 “This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

• God's (KJV): Ge 28:17 12:8 21:33 33:20 35:1,15 
• I will (KJV): Ge 14:20 Lev 27:30-33 De 14:22,23 

This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”