Genesis 28:17
in Genesis 28And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
KJV
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 heaven.
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This verse in Genesis 28
Commentary
6 notes on this verseHe was afraid - So far was he from being puffed up. The more we see of God, the more cause we see for holy trembling and blushing before him. Those whom God is pleased to manifest himself to, are laid and kept very low in their own eyes, and see cause to fear even the Lord and his goodness, Hosea iii, 5.
This site's exposition
Surely the LORD is in this place
on Genesis 28:16-17
Jacob slept a whole night in the place before he knew where he was. What he feels on waking is fear. He gives the place two names, the house of God, then the gate of heaven, so a door stands here and he is outside it. Hosea 12:4 points back to this night, that God found him at Bethel and spoke with him there.
This site's exposition
How awesome is this place
Jacob was afraid and called the place awesome, the house of God, then the gate of heaven. John Wesley reads the fear as the opposite of pride, for the more a man sees of God, the more cause he has to tremble. Wesley cites Hosea 3:5.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And he was afraid,....
God is in a special manner present where his grace is revealed and where his covenants are published and sealed, as of old by the ministry of angels, so now by instituted ordinances, Matt. xxviii. Where God meets us with his special presence we ought to meet him with the most humble reverence, remembering his justice and holiness, and our own meanness and vileness.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
How dreadful is this place! - The appearance of the ladder, the angels, and the Divine glory at the top of the ladder, must have left deep, solemn, and even awful impressions on the mind of Jacob; and hence the exclamation in the text, How dreadful is this place!
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּירָא֙ | vaiyira' | and he was afraid | H3372 → | 315 times |
| וַיֹּאמַ֔ר | vaiyomar | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | how! | H4100 → | 752 times |
| נּוֹרָ֖א | nora' | awesome | H3372 → | 315 times |
| הַמָּק֣וֹם | hamakom | [is] the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| הַזֶּ֑ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | [is] not | H369 → | 789 times |
| זֶ֗ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| כִּ֚י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֔ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וְזֶ֖ה | vezeh | and this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| שַׁ֥עַר | shaar | [is] [the] gate of | H8179 → | 374 times |
| הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃ | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
וַיִּירָא֙and he was afraid
vaiyira'H3372 →315 times
וַיֹּאמַ֔רand he said
vaiyomarH559 →5305 times
מַה־how!
mah-H4100 →752 times
נּוֹרָ֖אawesome
nora'H3372 →315 times
הַמָּק֣וֹם[is] the place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
הַזֶּ֑ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
אֵ֣ין[is] not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
זֶ֗הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
כִּ֚יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
בֵּ֣ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
אֱלֹהִ֔יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
וְזֶ֖הand this
vezehH2088 →1180 times
שַׁ֥עַר[is] [the] gate of
shaarH8179 →374 times
הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃the heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ecclesiastes 5:1Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
it leads to
- James 1:19
My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
- Hebrews 12:28–29
Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.
- Proverbs 15:8
The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
- 1 Peter 2:1–2
Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
- James 1:19
Through
1 Timothy 3:15in case I am delayed, so that you will know how each one must conduct himself in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:5
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Ephesians 2:21–22
In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
- 1 Peter 2:5
Through
Genesis 28:22And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth.”
it leads to
- Genesis 35:7
There Jacob built an altar, and he called that place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed Himself to Jacob as he fled from his brother.
- Genesis 14:20
and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.
- Genesis 35:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.