the Fourth Week of Advent
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New King James Version
Genesis 28:14
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- CondensedParallel Translations
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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.
"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.
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
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
I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are--northward, southward, eastward, and westward;
And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.
since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;
So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.
Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
For You said, "I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude."'
"Who can count the dust [fn] of Jacob,Or number one-fourth of Israel?Let me die the death of the righteous,And let my end be like his!"
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.
