Genesis 28:3
in Genesis 28May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a company of peoples;
KJV
And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;
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This verse in Genesis 28
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThat thou mayest be a multitude of people - לקהל עמים likhal ammim. There is something very remarkable in the original words: they signify literally for an assembly, congregation, or church of peoples; referring no doubt to the Jewish Church in the wilderness, but more particularly to the Christian Church, composed of every kindred, and nation, and people, and tongue. This is one essential part of the blessing of Abraham. See Gen 28:4.
This site's exposition
May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful
on Genesis 28:3-4
Isaac now names the blessing outright, the blessing of Abraham, and hands it to the son he knows is in front of him. The same verse calls Jacob a foreigner in the land he is promised. That is how the patriarchs hold Canaan through Genesis. The one plot any of them owns is the cave Abraham bought at 23:16 to bury Sarah.
The record, by era
The Reformation1 voice
And this truly was, in some measure, fulfilled when Moses distributed the people into thirteen divisions. Nevertheless, Isaac looked for a further result, namely, that many were at length to be gathered together out of various nations, to the family of his son, that, in this manner, from a vast and previously scattered multitude, might be formed one assembly.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
And God Almighty bless thee,.... This is not a new blessing, distinct from that in Gen 28:1, but the same; there it is expressed in general, here the particulars of it are given; and by which it appears, that Isaac's blessing Jacob was a prayer, wishing a blessing from God upon him, and was the prayer of faith, delivered out under the spirit of prophecy; and they are blessed indeed that are blessed of God, and they must needs be blessed who are blessed by the Almighty; for what is it he cannot do or give?
Jacob had in him a multitude of people indeed, for all things in heaven and earth are united in Christ ( Eph. i. 10 ), all centre in him, that corn of wheat, which falling to the ground, produced much fruit, John xii.
Christ is the great blessing of the world. All that are blessed, whatever family they are of, are blessed in him, and none of any family are excluded from blessedness in him, but those that exclude themselves.
It is a gospel blessing, the blessing of church-privileges, that is the blessing of Abraham, which upon the Gentiles through faith, Gal. iii. It is a blessing from God Almighty, by which name God appeared to the patriarchs, Exod. vi.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֵ֤ל | veel | and God | H410 → | 241 times |
| שַׁדַּי֙ | shadai | Almighty | H7706 → | 48 times |
| יְבָרֵ֣ךְ | yevarekh | may he bless | H1288 → | 330 times |
| אֹֽתְךָ֔ | ʾotekha | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וְיַפְרְךָ֖ | veyafrekha | and may he make fruitful you | H6509 → | 29 times |
| וְיַרְבֶּ֑ךָ | veyarbekha | and may he multiply you | H7235 → | 227 times |
| וְהָיִ֖יתָ | vehayita | and you will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לִקְהַ֥ל | likhal | <into> a company of | H6951 → | 123 times |
| עַמִּֽים׃ | ʾamim | peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וְאֵ֤לand God
veelH410 →241 times
שַׁדַּי֙Almighty
shadaiH7706 →48 times
יְבָרֵ֣ךְmay he bless
yevarekhH1288 →330 times
אֹֽתְךָ֔<obj.> you
ʾotekhaH853 →10935 times
וְיַפְרְךָ֖and may he make fruitful you
veyafrekhaH6509 →29 times
וְיַרְבֶּ֑ךָand may he multiply you
veyarbekhaH7235 →227 times
וְהָיִ֖יתָand you will become
vehayitaH1961 →3559 times
לִקְהַ֥ל<into> a company of
likhalH6951 →123 times
עַמִּֽים׃peoples
ʾamimH5971 →1873 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 1:28God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature…
it leads to
- Genesis 9:1
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 9:7
But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out across the earth and multiply upon it.”
- Leviticus 26:9
I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will establish My covenant with you.
- Psalms 128:3–4
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.
- Genesis 22:17–18
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
- Genesis 9:1
Through
Genesis 35:11And God told him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation—even a company of nations—shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you.
it leads to
- Genesis 17:1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 6:3
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 22:17
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
- Genesis 17:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
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About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.