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Genesis 48:4

in Genesis 48

and told me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a company of peoples, and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

KJV

And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

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This verse in Genesis 48

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Whether these words are to be viewed in a limited sense, as pointing to the many centuries during which the Jews were occupiers of the Holy Land, or whether the words bear a wider meaning and intimate that the scattered tribes of Israel are to be reinstated in the land of promise, as their "everlasting possession," are points that have not yet been satisfactorily determined.

This site's exposition

God Almighty appeared to me at Luz

on Genesis 48:3-4

Before Jacob gives anything away, he recites what he was given. God Almighty is El Shaddai, the name under which the covenant was cut with Abraham at Genesis 17:1. Luz is the place of the stone and the stairway at Genesis 28:19 and the second appearing at Genesis 35:6. He quotes the everlasting possession of the land from a bed in Egypt.

This site's exposition

a multitude of peoples

Multitude translates qahal, the word for an assembly called together. Isaac prayed for the same assembly of peoples over Jacob at 28:3. Later books use it for Israel gathered before God, as at Deuteronomy 9:10.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Note, In all our prayers, both for ourselves and for our children, we ought to have a particular eye to, and remembrance of, God's promises to us.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes

And said unto me, behold, I will make thee fruitful,....

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • אֵלַ֗יto me

    ʾelaiH413 →5510 times

  • הִנְנִ֤יhere I

    hiniH2005 →316 times

  • מַפְרְךָ֙[am] about to make fruitful you

    mafrekhaH6509 →29 times

  • וְהִרְבִּיתִ֔ךָand I will multiply you

    vehirbitikhaH7235 →227 times

  • וּנְתַתִּ֖יךָand I will make you

    unetatikhaH5414 →2011 times

  • לִקְהַ֣ל<into> a company of

    likhalH6951 →123 times

  • עַמִּ֑יםpeoples

    ʾamimH5971 →1873 times

  • וְנָ֨תַתִּ֜יand I will give

    venatatiH5414 →2011 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הָאָ֧רֶץthe land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • הַזֹּ֛את<the> this

    hazotH2063 →603 times

  • לְזַרְעֲךָ֥to offspring your

    lezarakhaH2233 →229 times

  • אַחֲרֶ֖יךָafter you

    ʾachareikhaH310 →715 times

  • אֲחֻזַּ֥תa possession of

    ʾachuzatH272 →66 times

  • עוֹלָֽם׃perpetuity

    olamH5769 →438 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Psalms 127:3Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.25 worksGenesis 17:8And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”6 worksExodus 1:7but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.5 worksGenesis 13:15for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.5 worksGenesis 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.4 worksGenesis 32:12But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count.’”3 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Amos 9:14–15I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.3 worksGenesis 28:3May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.3 worksGenesis 28:13–15And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie.3 worksGenesis 47:27Now the Israelites settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and became fruitful and increased greatly in number.3 worksGenesis 12:2I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.3 worksGenesis 17:13Whether they are born in your household or purchased, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh will be an everlasting covenant.3 worksGenesis 26:4I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed,3 worksGenesis 46:3“I am God,” He said, “the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.3 worksGenesis 22:17I 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.3 worksDeuteronomy 32:8When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.3 worksGenesis 35:12The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”3 worksHebrews 6:14saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply your descendants.”3 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 35:11

    And 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 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.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 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.

    • Genesis 9:1

      And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

  • Through

    Genesis 17:8

    And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 26:12

      I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.

    • Psalms 105:11

      “I will give you the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance.”

    • Genesis 12:7

      Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

    • Exodus 6:7

      I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of…

  • Through

    Genesis 28:3

    May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 48:3

      Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

The Garden of Eden, Thomas Cole, 1828, Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Public domain.
The Garden of Eden, Thomas Cole, 1828, Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Public domain.
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 48 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Genesis 48 →