Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Genesis » Chapter 28 » Verse 11-19

Genesis 28:11-19 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

11 And he lighted H6293 upon a certain place, H4725 and tarried there all night, H3885 because the sun H8121 was set; H935 and he took H3947 of the stones H68 of that place, H4725 and put H7760 them for his pillows, H4763 and lay down H7901 in that place H4725 to sleep. H7901

12 And he dreamed, H2492 and behold a ladder H5551 set up H5324 on the earth, H776 and the top of it H7218 reached H5060 to heaven: H8064 and behold the angels H4397 of God H430 ascending H5927 and descending H3381 on it.

13 And, behold, the LORD H3068 stood H5324 above it, and said, H559 I am the LORD H3068 God H430 of Abraham H85 thy father, H1 and the God H430 of Isaac: H3327 the land H776 whereon thou liest, H7901 to thee will I give it, H5414 and to thy seed; H2233

14 And thy seed H2233 shall be as the dust H6083 of the earth, H776 and thou shalt spread abroad H6555 to the west, H3220 and to the east, H6924 and to the north, H6828 and to the south: H5045 and in thee and in thy seed H2233 shall all the families H4940 of the earth H127 be blessed. H1288

15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep H8104 thee in all places whither H834 thou goest, H3212 and will bring thee again H7725 into this land; H127 for I will not leave H5800 thee, until H834 I have done H6213 that which I have spoken H1696 to thee of.

16 And Jacob H3290 awaked H3364 out of his sleep, H8142 and he said, H559 Surely H403 the LORD H3068 is H3426 in this place; H4725 and I knew H3045 it not.

17 And he was afraid, H3372 and said, H559 How dreadful H3372 is this place! H4725 this is none other but the house H1004 of God, H430 and this is the gate H8179 of heaven. H8064

18 And Jacob H3290 rose up early H7925 in the morning, H1242 and took H3947 the stone H68 that he had put H7760 for his pillows, H4763 and set it up H7760 for a pillar, H4676 and poured H3332 oil H8081 upon the top of it. H7218

19 And he called H7121 the name H8034 of that place H4725 Bethel: H1008 but H199 the name H8034 of that city H5892 was called Luz H3870 at the first. H7223

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 28

Commentary on Genesis 28 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Verses 1-9

Jacob's Departure from his Parents' House. - Rebekah's complaint reminded Isaac of his own call, and his consequent duty to provide for Jacob's marriage in a manner corresponding to the divine counsels of salvation.

Genesis 28:1-5

He called Jacob, therefore, and sent him to Padan-Aram to his mother's relations, with instructions to seek a wife there, and not among the daughters of Canaan, giving him at the same time the “ blessing of Abraham, ” i.e., the blessing of promise, which Abraham had repeatedly received from the Lord, but which is more especially recorded in Genesis 17:2., and Genesis 22:16-18.

Genesis 28:6-9

When Esau heard of this blessing and the sending away of Jacob, and saw therein the displeasure of his parents at his Hittite wives, he went to Ishmael - i.e., to the family of Ishmael, for Ishmael himself had been dead fourteen years - and took as a third wife Mahalath, a daughter of Ishmael (called Bashemath in Genesis 36:3, a descendant of Abraham therefore), a step by which he might no doubt ensure the approval of his parents, but in which he failed to consider that Ishmael had been separated from the house of Abraham and family of promise by the appointment of God; so that it only furnished another proof that he had no thought of the religious interests of the chosen family, and was unfit to be the recipient of divine revelation.


Verses 10-15

Jacob's Dream at Bethel. - As he was travelling from Beersheba, where Isaac was then staying (Genesis 26:25), to Haran, Jacob came to a place where he was obliged to stop all night, because the sun had set. The words “ he hit (lighted) upon the place, ” indicate the apparently accidental, yet really divinely appointed choice of this place for his night-quarters; and the definite article points it out as having become well known through the revelation of God that ensued. After making a pillow with the stones ( מאשׁת , head-place, pillow), he fell asleep and had a dream, in which he saw a ladder resting upon the earth, with the top reaching to heaven; and upon it angels of God going up and down, and Jehovah Himself standing above it. The ladder was a visible symbol of the real and uninterrupted fellowship between God in heaven and His people upon earth. The angels upon it carry up the wants of men to God, and bring down the assistance and protection of God to men. The ladder stood there upon the earth, just where Jacob was lying in solitude, poor, helpless, and forsaken by men. Above in heaven stood Jehovah , and explained in words the symbol which he saw. Proclaiming Himself to Jacob as the God of his fathers, He not only confirmed to him all the promises of the fathers in their fullest extent, but promised him protection on his journey and a safe return to his home (Genesis 28:13-15). But as the fulfilment of this promise to Jacob was still far off, God added the firm assurance, “ I will not leave thee till I have done (carried out) what I have told thee .”


Verse 16-17

Jacob gave utterance to the impression made by this vision as soon as he awoke from sleep, in the words, “ Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I knew it not .” Not that the omnipresence of God was unknown to him; but that Jehovah in His condescending mercy should be near to him even here, far away from his father's house and from the places consecrated to His worship-it was this which he did not know or imagine. The revelation was intended not only to stamp the blessing, with which Isaac had dismissed him from his home, with the seal of divine approval, but also to impress upon Jacob's mind the fact, that although Jehovah would be near to protect and guide him even in a foreign land, the land of promise was the holy ground on which the God of his fathers would set up the covenant of His grace. On his departure from that land, he was to carry with him a sacred awe of the gracious presence of Jehovah there. To that end the Lord proved to him that He was near, in such a way that the place appeared “ dreadful ,” inasmuch as the nearness of the holy God makes an alarming impression upon unholy man, and the consciousness of sin grows into the fear of death. But in spite of this alarm, the place was none other than “ the house of God and the gate of heaven, ” i.e., a place where God dwelt, and a way that opened to Him in heaven.


Verse 18-19

In the morning Jacob set up the stone at his head, as a monument ( מצּבה ) to commemorate the revelation he had received from God; and poured oil upon the top, to consecrate it as a memorial of the mercy that had been shown him there ( visionis insigne μνημόσυνον , Calvin ), not as an idol or an object or divine worship (vid., Exodus 30:26.). - He then gave the place the name of Bethel , i.e., House of God, whereas ( ואוּלם ) the town had been called Luz before. This antithesis shows that Jacob gave the name, not to the place where the pillar was set up, but to the town, in the neighbourhood of which he had received the divine revelation. He renewed it on his return from Mesopotamia (Genesis 35:15). This is confirmed by Genesis 48:3, where Jacob, like the historian in Genesis 35:6-7, speaks of Luz as the place of this revelation. There is nothing at variance with this in Joshua 16:2; Joshua 18:13; for it is not Bethel as a city, but the mountains of Bethel, that are there distinguished from Luz (see my Commentary on Joshua 16:2).

(Note: The fact mentioned here has often been cited as the origin of the anointed stones ( βαίτυλοι ) of the heathen, and this heathen custom has been regarded as a degeneration of the patriarchal. But apart from this essential difference, that the Baetulian worship was chiefly connected with meteoric stones (cf. F. von Dalberg, όb. d. Meteor-cultus d. Alten ), which were supposed to have come down from some god, and were looked upon as deified, this opinion is at variance with the circumstance, that Jacob himself, in consecrating the stone by pouring oil upon it, only followed a custom already established, and still more with the fact, that the name βαίτυλοι , Βαιτόλια , notwithstanding its sounding like Bethel , can hardly have arisen from the name Beth-El , Gr. Βαιθήλ , since the τ for θ would be perfectly inexplicable. Dietrich derives βαιτύλιον from בּטּל , to render inoperative, and interprets it amulet.)


Verses 20-22

Lastly, Jacob made a vow: that if God would give him the promised protection on his journey, and bring him back in safety to his father's house, Jehovah should be his God ( והיה in Genesis 28:21 commences the apodosis), the stone which he had set up should be a house of God, and Jehovah should receive a tenth of all that He gave to him. It is to be noticed here, that Elohim is used in the protasis instead of Jehovah , as constituting the essence of the vow: if Jehovah , who had appeared to him, proved Himself to be God by fulfilling His promise, then he would acknowledge and worship Him as his God, by making the stone thus set up into a house of God, i.e., a place of sacrifice, and by tithing all his possessions. With regard to the fulfilment of this vow, we learn from Genesis 35:7 that Jacob built an altar, and probably also dedicated the tenth to God, i.e., offered it to Jehovah ; or, as some have supposed, applied it partly to the erection and preservation of the altar, and partly to burnt and thank-offerings combined with sacrificial meals, according to the analogy of Deuteronomy 14:28-29 (cf. Genesis 31:54; Genesis 46:1).