Lectionary Calendar
Monday, December 23rd, 2024
the Fourth Week of Advent
Attention!
For 10¢ a day you can enjoy StudyLight.org ads
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Easy-to-Read Version

Genesis 28:14

You will have as many descendants as there are particles of dust on the earth. They will spread east and west, north and south. All the families on earth will be blessed because of you and your descendants.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Beth-El;   Covenant;   Israel;   Jacob;   Religion;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Covenant, the;   Gates;   Jews, the;   Promises of God, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Bethel;   Dream;   Ladder;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Bethel;   Jacob;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Appear, Appearance;   Building;   Forgiveness;   Samuel, First and Second, Theology of;   Theophany;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Prayer;   Easton Bible Dictionary - East;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Angels;   Prophet;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Bethel;   El-Bethel;   Jacob;   Land, Ground;   Mission(s);   Pilgrimage;   Promise;   Temple of Jerusalem;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Dreams;   Marriage;   Nebaioth;   Pillar;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Dream;   Transfiguration (2);   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Jacob ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Dreams;   Laban;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Bethel;   Canaan (2);   Smith Bible Dictionary - Beth'el;   How the Prophetic Gift Was Received;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Dust;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Government of the Hebrews;   Jacob;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Esau and Jacob;   Encampment at Sinai;   Tabernacle, the;   Peculiarities of the Law of Moses;   Moses, the Man of God;   Jesus of Nazareth;   Kingdom or Church of Christ, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Dust;   Genesis;   Jacob (1);   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Bethel;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Joshua, Book of;   West;  

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version
Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Update Bible Version
And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in you and in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
New Century Version
Your descendants will be as many as the dust of the earth. They will spread west and east, north and south, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.
New English Translation
Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using your name and that of your descendants.
Webster's Bible Translation
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 north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
World English Bible
Your seed will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed.
Amplified Bible
"Your descendants shall be as [countless as] the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east and the north and the south; and all the families (nations) of the earth shall be blessed through you and your descendants.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And thi seed schal be as the dust of erthe, thou schalt be alargid to the eest, and west, and north, and south; and alle lynagis of erthe schulen be blessid in thee and in thi seed.
Young's Literal Translation
and thy seed hath been as the dust of the land, and thou hast broken forth westward, and eastward, and northward, and southward, and all families of the ground have been blessed in thee and in thy seed.
Berean Standard Bible
Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and east and north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
Contemporary English Version
Your descendants will spread over the earth in all directions and will become as numerous as the specks of dust. Your family will be a blessing to all people.
Complete Jewish Bible
Your descendants will be as numerous as the grains of dust on the earth. You will expand to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. By you and your descendants all the families of the earth will be blessed.
American Standard Version
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 north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Bible in Basic English
Your seed will be like the dust of the earth, covering all the land to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south: you and your seed will be a name of blessing to all the families of the earth.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And thy seede shalbe as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spreade abrode to the west, to the east, to the north, and to the south: and in thee, and in thy seede, shall all the kynredes of the earth be blessed.
Darby Translation
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 north, and to the south; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
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 north, and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
King James Version (1611)
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 North, and to the South: and in thee, and in thy seed, shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
King James Version
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 north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
New Life Bible
They will be like the dust of the earth. You will spread out to the west and the east and the north and the south. Good will come to all the families of the earth because of you and your children.
New Revised Standard
and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And thy seed shall become as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt break forth westward and eastward, and northward and southward, - And all the families of the ground shall be blessed in thee and in thy seed.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And thy seede shall be as the dust of the earth, & thou shalt spread abroad to the West, and to the East, & to the North, & to the South, and in thee and in thy seede shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
George Lamsa Translation
And your descendants shall be as numerous as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the east and to the west and to the north and to the south; and in you and through your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Good News Translation
They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth: thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and IN THEE and thy seed, all the tribes of the earth SHALL BE BLESSED.
Revised Standard Version
and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And thy seed shall be as the sand of the earth; and it shall spread abroad to the sea, and the south, and the north, and to the east; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed.
English Revised Version
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 north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Christian Standard Bible®
Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
Hebrew Names Version
Your seed will be as the dust of the eretz, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your seed will all the families of the eretz be blessed.
Lexham English Bible
Your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and through your descendants.
Literal Translation
And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your Seed.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and thy sede shal be as ye dust of ye earth. And thou shalt sprede forth towarde the west, east, north, and south: and thorow the and thy sede shall all the kynreds vpon earth be blessed.
New American Standard Bible
"Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
New King James Version
Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
New Living Translation
Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Legacy Standard Bible
And your seed will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Contextual Overview

10 Jacob left Beersheba and went to Haran. 11 The sun had already set when he came to a good place to spend the night. He took a rock there and laid his head on it to sleep. 12 Jacob had a dream. He dreamed there was a ladder that was on the ground and reached up into heaven. He saw the angels of God going up and down the ladder. 13 And then Jacob saw the Lord standing by the ladder. He said, "I am the Lord , the God of your grandfather Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. I will give you the land that you are lying on now. I will give this land to you and to your children. 14 You will have as many descendants as there are particles of dust on the earth. They will spread east and west, north and south. All the families on earth will be blessed because of you and your descendants. 15 "I am with you, and I will protect you everywhere you go. I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

thy seed: Genesis 13:16, Genesis 32:12, Genesis 35:11, Genesis 35:12, Numbers 23:10, Acts 3:25, Revelation 7:4, Revelation 7:9

spread abroad: Heb. break forth

to the west: Genesis 13:14, Deuteronomy 12:20, Matthew 8:11

and in thee: Genesis 12:3, Genesis 18:18, Genesis 22:18, Genesis 26:4, Psalms 72:17, Acts 3:25, Galatians 3:8, Galatians 3:16, Ephesians 1:3

Reciprocal: Genesis 12:2 - General Genesis 15:5 - So Genesis 15:18 - Unto thy Genesis 22:17 - in blessing Genesis 32:29 - blessed Genesis 34:30 - and I shall Genesis 46:3 - I will Genesis 47:27 - grew Exodus 1:7 - fruitful Exodus 32:13 - I will multiply Leviticus 26:9 - make you Numbers 1:46 - General Deuteronomy 1:8 - which Deuteronomy 1:10 - your God Deuteronomy 6:3 - that ye may Deuteronomy 13:17 - as he hath Deuteronomy 19:8 - General Joshua 21:43 - General 1 Chronicles 16:13 - ye seed 1 Chronicles 16:16 - which he made 1 Chronicles 16:18 - Unto thee Jeremiah 33:22 - the host Ezekiel 28:25 - to my Micah 7:20 - General Habakkuk 3:9 - according Zechariah 14:17 - all Malachi 1:2 - yet I Matthew 1:1 - the son of Abraham Luke 1:55 - General Luke 1:72 - perform Luke 13:29 - General John 5:46 - for Romans 4:13 - For the Romans 11:28 - are beloved Hebrews 11:9 - the heirs

Cross-References

Genesis 12:3
I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you. I will use you to bless all the people on earth."
Genesis 13:14
After Lot left, the Lord said to Abram, "Look around you. Look north, south, east, west.
Genesis 13:16
I will make your people so many that they will be like the dust of the earth. If people could count all the particles of dust on earth, they could count your people.
Genesis 18:18
Abraham will become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on earth will be blessed because of him.
Genesis 22:18
Every nation on the earth will be blessed through your descendants. I will do this because you obeyed me."
Genesis 26:4
I will make your family as many as the stars of heaven, and I will give all these lands to your family. Through your descendants every nation on earth will be blessed.
Genesis 28:11
The sun had already set when he came to a good place to spend the night. He took a rock there and laid his head on it to sleep.
Genesis 28:12
Jacob had a dream. He dreamed there was a ladder that was on the ground and reached up into heaven. He saw the angels of God going up and down the ladder.
Genesis 32:12
Lord, you said to me, ‘I will be good to you. I will increase your family and make your children as many as the sands of the sea. There will be too many to count.'"
Numbers 23:10
Who can count Jacob's people? They are as many as the grains of dust. No one can count even a fourth of the Israelites. Let me die like a good man. Let my life end as happy as theirs!"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth,.... Innumerable, see Genesis 13:16;

and thou shalt spread abroad to the west; or "the sea", the Mediterranean sea, which was west of the land of Canaan:

and to the east, and to the north, and to the south; not of the whole world, but of the land of Canaan: the meaning is, that his posterity should be numerous, and break out and spread themselves like a flood of water, and reach to the utmost bounds of the land on all sides:

and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed; that is, in that eminent and principal seed that should spring from him, the Messiah, in whom some of all nations should, as they have been, be blessed with all spiritual blessings, as redemption, peace, pardon, justification, adoption, and eternal life; the same promise had been made to Abraham, was renewed to Isaac, and now confirmed to Jacob, see Genesis 22:18.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- Jacob’s Journey to Haran

3. קהל qâhāl, “congregation.”

9. מחלת māchălat, Machalath, “sickness, or a harp.”

19. לוּז lûz, Luz, “almond.”

The blessing of his sons was the last passage in the active life of Isaac, after which he retires from the scene. Jacob now becomes the leading figure in the sacred history. His spiritual character has yet come out to view. But even now we can discern the general distinction in the lives of the three patriarchs. Abraham’s is a life of authority and decision; Isaac’s, of submission and acquiescence; and Jacob’s, of trial and struggle.

Genesis 28:1-5

Isaac has now become alive to the real destiny of Jacob. He therefore calls for him to bless him, and give him a command. The command is to take a wife, not from Kenaan, but from the kindred of his parents. The blessing comes from “God Almighty” (Genesis 17:1). It is that belonging to the chosen seed, “the blessing of Abraham.” It embraces a numerous offspring, the land of promise, and all else that is included in the blessing of Abraham. “A congregation of peoples.” This is the word “congregation” (קהל qâhāl) which is afterward applied to the assembled people of God, and to which the Greek ἐκκλησία ekklēsia, “ecclesia,” corresponds. Jacob complies with his mother’s advice and his father’s command, and, at the same time, reaps the bitter fruit of his fraud against his brother in the hardship and treachery of an exile of twenty years. The aged Isaac is not without his share in the unpleasant consequences of endeavoring to go against the will of God.

Genesis 28:6-9

Esau is induced, by the charge of his parents to Jacob, the compliance of the latter with their wishes, and by their obvious dislike to the daughters of Kenaan, to take Mahalath, a daughter of Ishmael, in addition to his former wives. “Went unto Ishmael;” that is, to the family or tribe of Ishmael, as Ishmael himself was now thirteen years dead. Esau’s hunting and roving career had brought him into contact with this family, and we shall presently find him settled in a neighboring territory.

Genesis 28:10-22

Jacob’s dream and vow. Setting out on the way to Haran, he was overtaken by night, and slept in the field. He was far from any dwelling, or he did not wish to enter the house of a stranger. He dreams. A ladder or stair is seen reaching from earth to heaven, on which angels ascend and descend. This is a medium of communication between heaven and earth, by which messengers pass to and fro on errands of mercy. Heaven and earth have been separated by sin. But this ladder has re-established the contact. It is therefore a beautiful emblem of what mediates and reconciles John 1:51. It here serves to bring Jacob into communication with God, and teaches him the emphatic lesson that he is accepted through a mediator. “The Lord stood above it,” and Jacob, the object of his mercy, beneath. First. He reveals himself to the sleeper as “the Lord” Genesis 2:4, “the God of Abraham thy father, and of Isaac.” It is remarkable that Abraham is styled his father, that is, his actual grandfather, and covenant father. Second. He renews the promise of the land, of the seed, and of the blessing in that seed for the whole race of man. Westward, eastward, northward, and southward are they to break forth. This expression points to the world-wide universality of the kingdom of the seed of Abraham, when it shall become the fifth monarchy, that shall subdue all that went before, and endure forever. This transcends the destiny of the natural seed of Abraham. Third. He then promises to Jacob personally to be with him, protect him, and bring him back in safety. This is the third announcement of the seed that blesses to the third in the line of descent Genesis 12:2-3; Genesis 22:18; Genesis 26:4.

Genesis 28:16-19

Jacob awakes, and exclaims, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.” He knew his omnipresence; but he did not expect a special manifestation of the Lord in this place, far from the sanctuaries of his father. He is filled with solemn awe, when he finds himself in the house of God and at the gate of heaven. The pillar is the monument of the event. The pouring of oil upon it is an act of consecration to God who has there appeared to him Numbers 7:1. He calls the name of the place Bethel, “the house of God.” This is not the first time it received the name. Abraham also worshipped God here, and met with the name already existing (see on Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3; Genesis 25:30.)

Genesis 28:20-22

Jacob’s vow. A vow is a solemn engagement to perform a certain duty, the obligation of which is felt at the time to be especially binding. It partakes, therefore, of the nature of a promise or a covenant. It involves in its obligation, however, only one party, and is the spontaneous act of that party. Here, then, Jacob appears to take a step in advance of his predecessors. Hitherto, God had taken the initiative in every promise, and the everlasting covenant rests solely on his eternal purpose. Abraham had responded to the call of God, believed in the Lord, walked before him, entered into communion with him, made intercession with him, and given up his only son to him at his demand. In all this there is an acceptance on the part of the creature of the supremacy of the merciful Creator. But now the spirit of adoption prompts Jacob to a spontaneous movement toward God. This is no ordinary vow, referring to some special or occasional resolve.

It is the grand and solemn expression of the soul’s free, full, and perpetual acceptance of the Lord to be its own God. This is the most frank and open utterance of newborn spiritual liberty from the heart of man that has yet appeared in the divine record. “If God will be with me.” This is not the condition on which Jacob will accept God in a mercenary spirit. It is merely the echo and the thankful acknowledgment of the divine assurance, “I am with thee,” which was given immediately before. It is the response of the son to the assurance of the father: “Wilt thou indeed be with me? Thou shalt be my God.” “This stone shall be God’s house,” a monument of the presence of God among his people, and a symbol of the indwelling of his Spirit in their hearts. As it comes in here it signalizes the grateful and loving welcome and entertainment which God receives from his saints. “A tenth will I surely give unto thee.” The honored guest is treated as one of the family. Ten is the whole: a tenth is a share of the whole. The Lord of all receives one share as an acknowledgment of his sovereign right to all. Here it is represented as the full share given to the king who condescends to dwell with his subjects. Thus, Jacob opens his heart, his home, and his treasure to God. These are the simple elements of a theocracy, a national establishment of the true religion. The spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, has begun to reign in Jacob. As the Father is prominently manifested in regenerate Abraham, and the Son in Isaac, so also the Spirit in Jacob.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Genesis 28:14. Thy seed shall be as the dust — The people that shall descend from thee shall be extremely numerous, and in thee and thy seed-the Lord JESUS descending from thee, according to the flesh, shall all the families of the earth - not only all of thy race, but all the other families or tribes of mankind which have not proceeded from any branch of the Abrahamic family, be blessed; for Jesus Christ by the grace of God tasted death FOR EVERY MAN, Hebrews 2:9.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile