1Jacob receiveth from Isaac a charge and blessing, and goeth to Padan-aram. 6Esau marrieth a daughter of Ishmael. 10The vision of Jacob's ladder; he receiveth a promise from God in a dream. 16He awaketh, and setteth up the stone at Beth-el. 20His vow.
1AND Isaac called Jacob, and 1blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
1 That is, the blessing, which before he had unknowingly given him, he has, upon better light, now wittingly and willingly confirmed and ratified; wishing Jacob withal a prosperous and happy journey, as Joshua 22:7.
2Arise,a go to 2Padan-aram, to the house of 3Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.
a Hosea 12:13.
2 See Gen. 25 on verse 20.
3 See Gen. 22:22, 23.
3And 4God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;
4 See Gen. 17:1 and the annotation.
4And give thee 5the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and tob thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a 6stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
5 That is, which is promised to Abraham, Gen. 12:3, 7; 15:1, 4, 5, 7; 17:5, 6, 7, 8.
b Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 15:18; 24:7; 26:3; Deut. 34:4; Acts 7:5.
6 See Gen. 17 on verse 8.
5And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padan-aram unto Laban, son of Bethuel 7the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.
7 Hebr. Aramean, or, Aramite.
6¶When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padan-aram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;
7And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padan-aram;
8And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan 8pleased not Isaac his father;
8 That is, unacceptable, displeasing to him. See Gen. 21 on verse 11.
9Then went Esau unto 9Ishmael, and took unto the wives 10which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of 11Nebajoth, to be his wife.
9 That is, to Ishmael’s family or descendants, since Ishmael was already dead by this time, as some gather from Gen. 25:17.
10 That is, over and above the wives he had before, which were two, Gen. 26:34. This Mahalath was the third. It seems that Esau did this, thinking to please his father by taking a wife out of his family.
11 Ishmael’s firstborn son. See Gen. 25:13.
10¶And Jacob went out from 12Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran.
12 See Gen. 21 on verse 31.
11And he lighted 13upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took 14of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
13 See verse 19.
14 That is, one of the stones, as it is to be gathered from verse 18.
12And 15he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and 16the top of it reached to heaven: and behold thec17angels of God ascending and descending on it.
15 To wit, a dream which God sent him extraordinarily, to reveal thereby some hidden and holy matters or mysteries unto him. See of such Divine revelation Gen. 20 on verse 3.
16 Hebr. head.
c John 1:51.
17 Understand here the good and blessed angels.
13And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, 18I amd the LORD God of Abraham 19thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee wille I give it, and to thy seed;
18 See verses 3 and 4.
d Gen. 35:1, 3; 48:3.
19 That is, grand-sire or grandfather.
e Deut. 12:20; 19:8.
14And thy seed shall be 20as the dust of the earth, and 21thou shalt spread abroad to the 22west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and inf thee 23and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
20 See Gen. 13:16.
21 That is, spread and multiply exceedingly in a short time. So likewise Gen. 30:30; Isa. 54:3.
22 Hebr. seawards, or, to the sea. See Gen. 12:8.
f Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4.
23 See Gen. 12:3; 22:18.
15And, behold, 24I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, 25until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
24 See Gen. 21 on verse 22, and Gen. 26 on verse 24.
25 That is, never, as this manner of speech is often used, 2 Sam. 6:23; Mat. 1:25; 18:34.
16¶And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, 26Surely the LORD is in this place; and 27I knew it not.
26 Namely, in a peculiar manner, in regard of the previous revelation. Otherwise God is everywhere.
27 That is, I did not think or imagine that such a Divine revelation would happen to me.
17And he was afraid, and said, How 28dreadful is this place! this is none other but 29the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
28 In regard of the glorious majesty of God, which was manifested here to Jacob in a very extraordinary manner.
29 That is, this is a place where God dwells in a remarkable manner to declare and reveal Himself unto men by speaking to them, and to be spoken unto by men, praying to and worshipping of Him; whereby they may from hence, as by a gate, ascend up into heaven.
18And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and setg it up for a pillar, and 30poured 31oil 32upon the top of it.
g Gen. 31:13; 35:14.
30 Jacob consecrated or hallowed this stone unto a sign to testify, at present, his thankfulness to God and to leave a memorial behind for time to come that God had appeared unto him there.
31 This oil he had taken along with him for provision by the way, to use with his food and for anointing to the custom of those countries. Oil was likewise used in offerings and consecrations of things to God. See Exodus 29.
32 Hebr. on his head.
19And he called the name of that place 33Beth-el: but the name of that city was called 34Luz at the first.
33 That is, an house of God. See Gen. 12:8; 13:3.
34 See Gen. 35:6; 48:3.
20And Jacob 35vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me 36bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
35 Namely, desiring some special mercies from God, for which he engaged himself unto thankfulness.
36 See Gen. 3 on verse 19.
21So that I come again to my father’s house 37in peace; then shall the LORD be my 38God:
37 Compare the annotations at Gen. 26 on verse 29.
38 That is, I shall evermore profess and acknowledge Him the true God and only Savior, and accordingly set up His public worship, as follows.
22And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, 39shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will 40surely give the tenth unto thee.
39 That is, a place, which I shall hallow and consecrate for me and mine to serve and worship God there. Compare verse 17, and see the performance thereof, Gen. 35:1, 3, 7.
40 Hebr. I will tithing tithe thee, that is, surely pay the tenth thereof; namely, for maintenance of the worship of God and unto the exercise of all kinds of charity to the needy. Compare Gen. 35:3, 7.