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.

2Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.

3And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;

4And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

5And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

6When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, 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 Padanaram;

8And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;

9Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.

10And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.

11And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.

12And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

13And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

14And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

15And, behold, I 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, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

16And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.

17And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

18And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

19And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

20And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,

21So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:

22And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

And Isaac called Iacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and saide vnto him, Thou shalt not take a wife, of the daughters of Canaan.

2Arise, goe to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mothers father, and take thee a wife from thence, of the daughters of Laban thy mothers brother.

3And God Almighty blesse thee, and make thee fruitfull, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people:

4And giue thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seede with thee, that thou mayest inherit the lande wherein thou art a stranger, which God gaue vnto Abraham.

5And Isaac sent away Iacob, and hee went to Padan-Aram vnto Laban, sonne of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Iacobs and Esaus mother.

6 When Esau sawe that Isaac had blessed Iacob, and sent him away to Padan-Aram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him, he gaue him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;

7And that Iacob obeyed his father, and his mother, and was gone to Padan-Aram;

8And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father.

9Then went Esau vnto Ishmael, and tooke vnto the wiues which hee had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abrahams sonne, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife.

10 And Iacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran.

11And hee lighted vpon a certaine place, and taried there all night, because the sunne was set: and hee tooke of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillowes, and lay downe in that place to sleepe.

12And he dreamed, and beholde, a ladder set vp on the earth, and the top of it reached to heauen: and beholde the Angels of God ascending and descending on it.

13And behold, the LORD stood aboue it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I giue it, and to thy seede.

14And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the West, and to the East, and to the North, and to the South: and in thee, and in thy seed, shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

15And behold, I am with thee, and will keepe thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee againe into this land: for I will not leaue thee, vntill I haue done that which I haue spoken to thee of.

16 And Iacob awaked out of his sleepe, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place, and I knew it not.

17And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place? this is none other, but the house of God, and this is the gate of heauen.

18And Iacob rose vp earely in the morning, and tooke the stone that hee had put for his pillowes, and set it vp for a pillar, and powred oile vpon the top of it.

19And hee called the name of that place Beth-el: but the name of that citie was called Luz, at the first.

20And Iacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keepe me in this way that I goe, and will giue me bread to eate, and raiment to put on,

21So that I come againe to my fathers house in peace: then shall the LORD be my God.

22And this stone which I haue set for a pillar, shall be Gods house: and of all that thou shalt giue me, I will surely giue the tenth vnto thee

I == Gen 24:3 ; 27:33

 

II == Gen 22:23 ; 24:49 ; 25:20 ; Hos 12:12

 

 

III == Gen 17:1 , 6

 

 

IV == Gen 12:2 ; 17:8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VIII == Gen 24:3 ; 26:35

 

IX == Gen 25:13 ; 36:3

 

 

X == Hos 12:12 ; Acts 7:2

 

XII == Gen 41:1 ; Job 33:15 ; John 1:51 ; Heb 1:14

XIII == Gen 13:15 ; 26:24 ; 35:1 , 12 ; 48:3

XIV == Gen 12:3 ; 13:14 , 16 ; 18:18 ; 22:18 ; 26:4 ; Deut 12:20

XV == Gen 28:20-21 ; 26:24 ; 31:3 ; 35:6 ; 48"16 ; Num 23:19 ; Deut 31:6 , 8 ; Josh 1:5 ; 1st Kings 8:57 ; Ps 121:5 , 7-8 ; Heb 13:5

XVI == Ex 3:5 ; Josh 5:15

XVIII == Gen 31:13 , 45 ; 35:14 ; Lev 8:10-12 ; Num 7:1

XIX == Judg 1:23 , 26 ; Hos 4:15

XX == Gen 28:15 ; 31:13 ; Judg 11:30 ; 2nd Sam 15:8 ; 1st Tim 6:8

XXI == Deut 26:17 ; Judg 11:31 ; 2nd Sam 15:8 ; 19:24 , 30 ; 2nd Kings 5:17

XXII == Gen 35:7 , 14 ; Lev 27:30

1 Isaac therefore called Jacob, greeted him with a blessing, and charged him: "You shall not marry a Canaanite woman!

2 Go now to Paddan-aram, to the home of your mother's father Bethuel, and there choose a wife for yourself from among the daughters of your uncle Laban.

3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fertile, multiply you that you may become an assembly of peoples.

4 May he extend to you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham, so that you may gain possession of the land where you are staying, which he assigned to Abraham."

5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way; he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 Esau noted that Isaac had blessed Jacob when he sent him to Paddan-aram to get himself a wife there, charging him, as he gave him his blessing, not to marry a Canaanite woman,

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

8 Esau realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac,

9 so he went to Ishmael, and in addition to the wives he had, married Mahalath, the daughter of Abraham's son Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.

10 Jacob departed from Beer-sheba and proceeded toward Haran.

11 When he came upon a certain shrine, as the sun had already set, he stopped there for the night. Taking one of the stones at the shrine, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep at that spot.

12 Then he had a dream: a stairway rested on the ground, with its top reaching to the heavens; and God's messengers were going up and down on it.

13 And there was the LORD standing beside him and saying: "I, the LORD, am the God of your forefather Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you are lying I will give to you and your descendants.

14 These shall be as plentiful as the dust of the earth, and through them you shall spread out east and west, north and south. In you and your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing.

15 Know that I am with you; I will protect you wherever you go, and bring you back to this land. I will never leave you until I have done what I promised you."

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he exclaimed, "Truly, the LORD is in this spot, although I did not know it!"

17 In solemn wonder he cried out: "How awesome is this shrine! This is nothing else but an abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven!"

18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head, set it up as a memorial stone, and poured oil on top of it.

19 He called that site Bethel, whereas the former name of the town had been Luz.

20 Jacob then made this vow: "If God remains with me, to protect me on this journey I am making and to give me enough bread to eat and clothing to wear,

21 and I come back safe to my father's house, the LORD shall be my God.

22 This stone that I have set up as a memorial stone shall be God's abode. Of everything you give me, I will faithfully return a tenth part to you."

V1-,2. Isaac gave heed to Rebekah and sent Jacob back to her family to marry.

 

 

v 3-5. Isaac now gives Jacob his rightful blessing, the one God gave Abraham. He exercised the faith of Heb. 11:6 and gave the best spiritual blessing. Compare the best material blessing in 27:28,29.

 

 

 

 

v 6-9. Esau could not help noticing Jacob’s obedience at his age (Matthew Henry and Unger think 77 years). Isaac was 40 when married, and they prayed for a child for 20 years. The parents keen desire for Jacob to marry a relative rather than Canaanites, to keep the family line pure. (It would also keep the spiritual line purer.) Esau hadn’t learned that two wrongs don’t make a right, and he took a third wife from a daughter of Ishmael. (Mahalath is probably the same as Bashemath of Gen. 36:31.)

v 10,11. This was 50 to 70 miles on foot. Unencumbered travel was about 30 miles a day, so it took two or three days. It was 450 to 500 miles to Haran. He was not riding a donkey or camel, because he stated in Gen. 32:10 that he had come over the Jordan with only a staff, but now was two bands. He probably had money for food on a journey of several weeks, but carried no dowry. This is hard to understand, as Rebekah thought of everything.

v 12. Jacob was a guilty wanderer, burdened and remorseful, but didn’t deserve a revelation from God. However wrongfully he went about it, he did desire spiritual fellowship with God and God granted it. This ladder or stairway was a symbol of uninterrupted fellowship between God in heaven and His people on earth. (A stair could be drawn to show that as our prayers ascend, God ‘s help descends.)

v 13--15. Important key words in these verses contain the Lord’s promises: Land, Seed, With, Keep, Bring; Not leave (This promise to us, Matt. 28:20 and Heb. 13:5). God does not promise today’s believers material prosperity, but he has blessed us with spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ, Eph. 1:3.

 

v 16-19. Upon awakening Jacob felt the awesome presence of God and was afraid. Setting up the rock pillar and pouring oil on it was a thing of reverence and dedication. Bethel becomes significant after this and means house of God while Luz means almond tree. Having seen that ladder, no wonder it seemed to him the gateway to heaven. He may have thought he was leaving the presence of the Lord when he left his father’s place, but here he sees that the Lord is present with him.

BETHEL: The name that signifies the house of God.

 

v 20-22. There Jacob did not say if you bless me, but since. Jacob is not driving a hard bargain with God as some think, but God had made promises, and Jacob is acknowledging them in faith. This experience may have been the point at which he made a saving commitment to the Lord. At least his spiritual cravings were met, and it was the point of spiritual growth. This would not only be a sacred place to him in the future, but the one who had sought gain by craft, would now voluntarily give a tenth to the Lord. This is the second instance (Gen. 14:20) of tithes mentioned before it was commanded by Moses, Lev. 27:30.