Old Testament Commentary - Genesis 28

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 28 Isaac forbids Jacob to marry a Canaanite—He blesses Jacob and his seed with the blessings of Abraham—Esau marries a daughter of Ishmael—Jacob sees in vision a ladder reaching up into heaven— The Lord promises him seed as the dust of the earth in number—Also, that in him and in his seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed—Jacob covenants to pay tithes.
1 AND Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him^a, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a ^awife of the daughters of ^bCanaan. 2 Arise, go to ^aPadan-aram, to the house of ^bBethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of ^cLaban thy mother's brother. 3 And God ^aAlmighty ^bbless thee, and make thee ^cfruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a ^dmultitude of people; 4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham^a, to thee, and to thy ^aseed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. 5 And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padan-aram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the ^aSyrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.	1^a Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him 4^a give thee the blessing of Abraham	1^a TG Jesus Christ, Appearances, Antemortal 2^a Josh. 5:13; TG Angels ^b 3 Ne. 11:19; Ether 6:12; TG Courtesy 3^a JST Gen. 18:3 ...brethren... 4^a TG Washing ^b TG Hospitality 5^a OR sustain... ^b Gen. 19:8
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; 7 And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padan-aram; 8 And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; 9 Then went Esau unto ^aIshmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his ^bwife.		1^a TG Jesus Christ, Appearances, Antemortal 2^a Josh. 5:13; TG Angels ^b 3 Ne. 11:19; Ether 6:12; TG Courtesy 3^a JST Gen. 18:3 ...brethren... 4^a TG Washing ^b TG Hospitality 5^a OR sustain... ^b Gen. 19:8
10 ¶ And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. 11 And 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.		1^a TG Jesus Christ, Appearances, Antemortal 2^a Josh. 5:13; TG Angels ^b 3 Ne. 11:19; Ether 6:12; TG Courtesy 3^a JST Gen. 18:3 ...brethren... 4^a TG Washing ^b TG Hospitality 5^a OR sustain... ^b Gen. 19:8
12 And he ^adreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven^a: and behold the ^bangels of God ascending and descending on it. 13 And, behold, the ^aLORD stood ^babove it, and said, I am the ^cLORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the ^dland whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 14 And 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 ^anorth, and to the south: and in thee and in thy ^bseed shall all the ^cfamilies of the earth be ^dblessed. 15 And, behold, ^aI am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will ^bbring thee again into this ^cland; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. The Angels of God As a parent I would think of my little children as though they were angels, so innocent and pure. Today I think from this frame of reference in considering just who those angels which Jacob saw ascending and descending the ladder which stretched from heaven to earth and back again. Are we not those angels, the angel children of God? Do we not descend to earth by way of the fall of Adam and then ascend again by way of the atonement of Christ? And now in the light of that perspective I find it difficult to think just who else those very angels might indeed be.	12^a a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven
16 ¶ And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. 17 And 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 ^aheaven^a. 18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a ^apillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place ^aBeth-el: but the name of that city was called ^bLuz at the first.	16^a this is the gate of heaven When one finds the LORD, that is to believe in and begin to exercise faith in the LORD, then man has found the gate of heaven, as it is at the threshold of Faith in God, Faith in Jehovah, Faith in Jesus Christ, that the Gate of Heaven does stand.
20 And Jacob vowed a ^avow^a, 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, 21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the ^aLORD be my God^a: 22 And 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 ^atenth unto thee^a.	20^a Jacob vowed a vow 21^a then shall the LORD be my God 22^a all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee