Genesis 28:13 | 57
41
Esau held a grudge against Ja cob be cause of the bless ing his fa ther had giv en him . He said to him self , “ The days of mourn ing for my fa ther are near ; then I will kill my broth er Ja cob .”
42
When Re bek ah was told what her old er son Esau had said , she sent for her youn ger son Ja cob and said to him , “ Your broth er Esau is plan ning to avenge him self by kill ing you . 43 Now then , my son , do what I say : Flee at once to my broth er La ban in Har ran . 44 Stay with him for a while un til your broth er ’ s fury sub sides . 45 When your broth er is no lon ger an gry with you and for gets what you did to him , I ’ ll send word for you to come back from there . Why should I lose both of you in one day ?”
46
Then Re bek ah said to Isaac , “ I ’ m dis gust ed with liv ing be cause of these Hit tite wom en . If Ja cob takes a wife from among the wom en of this land , from Hit tite wom en like these , my life will not be worth liv ing .”
28
So Isaac called for Ja cob and blessed him .
Then he com mand ed him : “ Do not mar ry a Ca naan ite wom an . 2 Go at once to Pad dan Aram , a to the house of your moth er ’ s fa ther Be thu el . Take a wife for your self there , from among the daughters of La ban , your moth er ’ s broth er . 3 May God Al mighty b bless you and make you fruit ful and in crease your num bers un til you be come a commu ni ty of peo ples . 4 May he give you and your de scen dants the bless ing giv en to Abra ham , so that you may take pos ses sion of the land where you now re side as a for eign er , the land God gave to Abra ham .” 5 Then Isaac sent Ja cob on his way , and he went to Pad dan Aram , to La ban son of Bethu el the Ar a me an , the broth er of Re bek ah , who was the moth er of Ja cob and Esau .
6
Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Ja cob and had sent him to Pad dan Aram to take a wife from there , and that when he blessed him he command ed him , “ Do not mar ry a Ca naan ite wom an ,”
7 and that Ja cob had obeyed his fa ther and moth er and had gone to Pad dan Aram . 8 Esau then re al ized how dis pleas ing the Ca naan ite wom en were to his fa ther Isaac ; 9 so he went to Ish ma el and mar ried Ma ha lath , the sis ter of Ne ba ioth and daugh ter of Ish ma el son of Abra ham , in ad di tion to the wives he al ready had .
Jacob ’ s Dream at Bethel
10
Ja cob left Be er she ba and set out for Har ran .
11
When he reached a cer tain place , he stopped for the night be cause the sun had set . Tak ing one of the stones there , he put it un der his head and lay down to sleep . 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stair way rest ing on the earth , with its top reach ing to heav en , and the an gels of God were as cend ing and de scend ing on it . 13 There above it c stood the Lord , and he said : “ I am the Lord , the God of your fa ther Abra ham and the God of Isaac .
a
2 That is , Northwest Mesopotamia ; also in verses 5 , 6 and 7 b
3 Hebrew El-Shaddai c
13 Or There beside him
27:40 by the sword Isaac prophesies that Edom ( Esau ’ s descendants ; see note on 25:25 ) is destined to live by pillaging . you will serve your brother In the tenth century BC , Esau ’ s descendants , the Edomites , became vassals to Israel under David ( 2Sa 8:13 ). from off your neck In the ninth century BC , Esau ’ s descendants ( Edom ) eventually revolted against Jacob ’ s descendants ( represented by the southern nation of Judah ; 2Ki 8:20 – 22 ). The southern kingdom of Judah had several conflicts with Edom thereafter . See the timeline “ The Divided Kingdom ” on p . 536 .
28:1 – 9 Because of Esau ’ s reaction to Jacob receiving Isaac ’ s blessing , Rebekah warns Jacob to flee to her brother in Harran ( Ge 27:41 – 45 ). She gives Isaac a reason to send Jacob away : her concern over Esau ’ s Hittite wives ( 27:46 ; see 26:35 and note ). Isaac sends Jacob away with his blessing to find a wife from Rebekah ’ s family ( 28:1 – 5 ; compare 24:1 – 9 ). When Esau sees this , he attempts to gain favor from his parents by taking a wife from the family of Ishmael , Abraham ’ s son through Hagar ( vv . 6 – 9 ). However , he apparently retained his Hittite wives ( 26:34 ).
28:3 a community of peoples Isaac ’ s goodbye echoes the language of the covenant blessings ( 12:1 – 3 ; 15:1 – 6 ).
28:5 Genealogical details are listed here to reestablish the intent of the trip : for Jacob to find a wife within the extended family clan .
28:9 Mahalath This wife of Esau is apparently called Basemath in the list of Esau ’ s wives in 36:2 – 3 . Both here and in 36:3 the wife is identified as the daughter of Ishmael and the sister of Nebaioth . Both names may refer to the same woman , but the various passages naming Esau ’ s wives are not identical . In 26:34 , for example , Basemath is called the daughter of Elon the Hittite , but in 36:2 , Adah is identified as the daughter of Elon the Hittite .
28:10 – 22 On his way to Harran , Jacob encounters Yahweh in a dream . Yahweh repeats to Jacob the promise he made to Abraham and Isaac ( vv . 13 – 15 ). Jacob , recognizing Yahweh ’ s presence in the place ( vv . 15 – 17 ), makes a vow to God ( vv . 20 – 22 ). His vow is conditional on God ’ s blessing . This vow will prove representative of Jacob ’ s relationship with God ( compare 32:22 – 32 ).
28:12 He had a dream Dreams and visions are a common mode of divine communication throughout the Bible ( see 20:3 ; 31:11,24 ; 37:5 – 10 ; Mt 1:20 ; 2:19 – 22 ). stairway This word , which occurs only here in the OT , derives from either the Hebrew verb salal ( meaning “ to heap up ”) or the Akkadian word simmiltu , which is used for a stairway of steps . The description that its top reached to heaven echoes the description of the Tower of Babel , which was a ziggurat ( see note on Ge 11:4 ). See the infographic “ The Tower of Babel ” on p . 29 . angels of God were ascending That divine beings used the ladder shows that the staircase marked an entryway to the divine realm ( see v . 17 ). The imagery also suggests that angels regularly visit earth to do God ’ s work . See the table “ Angels in the Bible ” on p . 2120 . 28:13 above it The Hebrew text here can be translated “ above it ,” “ beside him ” or “ beside it .” If it is translated