Genesis 28:2
in Genesis 28“Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel, and take a wife from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother.
KJV
Arise, go to Padan–aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother.
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This verse in Genesis 28
Commentary
7 notes on this verseGo to Padan-aram - This mission, in its spirit and design, is nearly the same as that in Genesis 24 (note). There have been several ingenious conjectures concerning the retinue which Jacob had, or might have had, for his journey; and by some he has been supposed to have been well attended. Of this nothing is mentioned here, and the reverse seems to be intimated elsewhere.
This site's exposition
Do not take a wife from the Canaanite women
on Genesis 28:1-2
Isaac gives Jacob the charge Abraham gave his servant in chapter 24, a wife from Bethuel's house and none from Canaan. Abraham sent a servant with ten camels and gifts to fetch Isaac's bride at 24:10. Isaac sends the heir himself. Jacob says at 32:10 that he crossed the Jordan with only his staff.
This site's exposition
Go at once to Paddan-aram
Isaac names Bethuel's house but tells Jacob to marry among Laban's daughters. John Gill, on 29:5, thinks Bethuel may have died by then, leaving Laban at the head of the family. At the well Jacob asks the shepherds only about Laban.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
When the lesson was read just now, dearly beloved, we heard that in reply to holy Rebekah's plea Isaac called his son Jacob and told him to proceed to Mesopotamia of Syria and take a wife from there.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The charge is like that in 2 Cor. vi. 14 , Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers; and all that inherit the promises of the remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, must keep this charge, which follows those promises, Save yourselves from this untoward generation, Acts ii. Those that are entitled to peculiar favours must be a peculiar people.
Isaac was now sending Jacob away into a distant country to settle there for some time; and lest this should look like disinheriting him, he here confirms the settlement of it upon him. This promise looks as high as heaven, of which Canaan was a type.
Arise, go to Padanaram,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Yitzchok called Yaakov and blessed him. He commanded him and said to him, Do not marry a woman of the daughters of Canaan.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ק֥וּם | kum | arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| לֵךְ֙ | lekh | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| פַּדֶּ֣נָֽה | padenah | Paddan towards | H6307 → | 11 times |
| אֲרָ֔ם | ʾaram | Aram | H758 → | 143 times |
| בֵּ֥יתָה | beitah | [the] house of towards | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| בְתוּאֵ֖ל | vetuel | Bethuel | H1328 → | 10 times |
| אֲבִ֣י | ʾavi | [the] father of | H1 → | 1212 times |
| אִמֶּ֑ךָ | ʾimekha | mother your | H517 → | 220 times |
| וְקַח־ | vekach- | and take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| לְךָ֤ | lekha | for <the> yourself | ||
| מִשָּׁם֙ | misham | from there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| אִשָּׁ֔ה | ʾishah | a wife | H802 → | 781 times |
| מִבְּנ֥וֹת | mibenot | one of [the] daughters of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| לָבָ֖ן | lavan | Laban | H3837 → | 55 times |
| אֲחִ֥י | ʾachi | [the] brother of | H251 → | 630 times |
| אִמֶּֽךָ׃ | ʾimekha | mother your | H517 → | 220 times |
ק֥וּםarise
kumH6965 →628 times
לֵךְ֙go
lekhH1980 →1546 times
פַּדֶּ֣נָֽהPaddan towards
padenahH6307 →11 times
אֲרָ֔םAram
ʾaramH758 →143 times
בֵּ֥יתָה[the] house of towards
beitahH1004 →2046 times
בְתוּאֵ֖לBethuel
vetuelH1328 →10 times
אֲבִ֣י[the] father of
ʾaviH1 →1212 times
אִמֶּ֑ךָmother your
ʾimekhaH517 →220 times
וְקַח־and take
vekach-H3947 →966 times
לְךָ֤for <the> yourself
lekha
מִשָּׁם֙from there
mishamH8033 →834 times
אִשָּׁ֔הa wife
ʾishahH802 →781 times
מִבְּנ֥וֹתone of [the] daughters of
mibenotH1323 →588 times
לָבָ֖ןLaban
lavanH3837 →55 times
אֲחִ֥י[the] brother of
ʾachiH251 →630 times
אִמֶּֽךָ׃mother your
ʾimekhaH517 →220 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
Genesis 25:20and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 26:5
and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 24:29
Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he rushed out to the man at the spring.
- Genesis 24:67
And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah as his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death.
- Genesis 22:23
And Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor.
- Genesis 31:24
But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
- Deuteronomy 26:5
Through
Genesis 24:29Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he rushed out to the man at the spring.
it leads to
- Genesis 29:5
“Do you know Laban the grandson of Nahor?” Jacob asked. “We know him,” they replied.
- Genesis 29:5
Through
Hosea 12:12Jacob fled to the land of Aram and Israel worked for a wife—for a wife he tended sheep.
it leads to
- Genesis 31:41
Thus for twenty years I have served in your household—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times!
- Genesis 29:18–28
Since Jacob loved Rachel, he answered, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”
- Genesis 31:41
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 87.1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.