Genesis 27:29
in Genesis 27May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be the master of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let peoples serve thee, And nations bow down to thee: Be lord over thy brethren, And let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: Cursed be every one that curseth thee, And blessed be every one that blesseth thee.
KJV
Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
⋯
This verse in Genesis 27
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAfterward the power of blessing is transferred again to the Immanuel himself. "And let nations serve you, and princes bow down to you, and be lord of your brother." The Immanuel was called "the firstborn" when he became so with reference to us, "among many brothers." But for this reason we must not forget that he is God and the Lord of the universe. We worship him as God, and he has reigned as God over those who are called from the brothers through grace.
This site's exposition
the dew of heaven
on Genesis 27:28-29
What Isaac speaks is the Abrahamic covenant: dew, grain and new wine, nations bowing, and a curse on those who curse him. The last clause came to Abram at 12:3. Isaac repeats the blessing knowingly at 28:3 and 4, and names it the blessing of Abraham.
This site's exposition
May peoples serve you
Readers differ on who the peoples and nations are. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown saw the words fulfilled in Israel's power over the tribes around it. Matthew Henry and Cyril of Alexandria saw the Messiah, the master whom peoples serve and to whom nations bow down.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Let peoples serve thee, and let their princes bow down to thee, and be thou Lord over thy brethren, and let thy father's sons bow down to thee; cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be every one that blesseth thee.
And also the words "Let peoples serve you, and princes bow down to you" have been accomplished now. Whom else do the faithful peoples serve and the princes of the church worship but Christ, in whose name they also receive their salvation? The Word has predicted all this through Isaiah by saying, "My servants shall be called by a new name, which will be blessed on the earth; for they shall bless the true God, and those who swear upon the earth shall swear in the name of the true God." And he adds, "Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall hunger; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall thirst; behold, my servants shall exult with joy, but you shall be ashamed and shall cry for the vexation of your spirit."45Then he continues by saying, "Be lord of your brother, and the sons of your father shall bow to you." But nobody adored Jacob, nor did he become lord of his brother Esau; on the contrary, he ran away from him in a fright and was the first to adore him, for seven times. Therefore the words of Isaac have been accomplished in the Savior: He has become lord and master of those who are considered to be his brothers by the flesh, in order to be adored by them as their king. That is why Isaac says, "Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you."
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It must amount to an entail of the promise of the Messiah, and of the church; this was, in the patriarchal dialect, the blessing: something spiritual, doubtless, is included in it. First, That from him should come the Messiah, who should have a sovereign dominion on earth. It was that top-branch of his family which people should serve and nations bow down to.
Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee,....
And thus, as well as by their baptism, to do what they can to preserve and perpetuate the entail of the covenant in their families. But this was an extraordinary blessing; and Providence so ordered it that Isaac should bestow it upon Jacob ignorantly and by mistake, that it might appear he was beholden to God for it, and not to Isaac.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For him God had reserved some better thing. [1.] In Jacob's blessing the dew of heaven is put first, as that which he most valued, and desired, and depended upon; in Esau's the fatness of the earth is put first, for it was this that he had the first and principal regard to.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Let people serve thee - “However alike their temporal advantages were to each other,” says Bp. Newton, “in all spiritual gifts and graces the younger brother was to have the superiority, was to be the happy instrument of conveying the blessing to all nations: In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed; and to this are to be referred, in their full force, those expressions: Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee. Cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Let people serve thee--fulfilled in the discomfiture of the hostile tribes that opposed the Israelites in the wilderness; and in the pre-eminence and power they attained after their national establishment in the promised land.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יַֽעַבְד֣וּךָ | yaavdukha | may they serve you | H5647 → | 288 times |
| עַמִּ֗ים | ʾamim | peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וְיִֽשְׁתַּחֲו֤וּ | veyishtachu | and may they bow down | H7812 → | 172 times |
| לְךָ֙ | lekha | to <the> you | ||
| לְאֻמִּ֔ים | leumim | peoples | H3816 → | 31 times |
| הֱוֵ֤ה | heveh | be | H1933 → | |
| גְבִיר֙ | gevir | lord | H1376 → | |
| לְאַחֶ֔יךָ | leacheikha | to brothers your | H251 → | 630 times |
| וְיִשְׁתַּחֲוּ֥וּ | veyishtachavu | so may they bow down | H7812 → | 172 times |
| לְךָ֖ | lekha | to <the> you | ||
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אִמֶּ֑ךָ | ʾimekha | mother your | H517 → | 220 times |
| אֹרְרֶ֣יךָ | ʾorereikha | [those who] curse you | H779 → | 63 times |
| אָר֔וּר | ʾarur | [be] cursed | H779 → | 63 times |
| וּֽמְבָרֲכֶ֖יךָ | umevarakheikha | and [those who] bless you | H1288 → | 330 times |
| בָּרֽוּךְ׃ | barukh | [be] blessed | H1288 → | 330 times |
יַֽעַבְד֣וּךָmay they serve you
yaavdukhaH5647 →288 times
עַמִּ֗יםpeoples
ʾamimH5971 →1873 times
וְיִֽשְׁתַּחֲו֤וּand may they bow down
veyishtachuH7812 →172 times
לְךָ֙to <the> you
lekha
לְאֻמִּ֔יםpeoples
leumimH3816 →31 times
הֱוֵ֤הbe
hevehH1933 →
גְבִיר֙lord
gevirH1376 →
לְאַחֶ֔יךָto brothers your
leacheikhaH251 →630 times
וְיִשְׁתַּחֲוּ֥וּso may they bow down
veyishtachavuH7812 →172 times
לְךָ֖to <the> you
lekha
בְּנֵ֣י[the] sons of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
אִמֶּ֑ךָmother your
ʾimekhaH517 →220 times
אֹרְרֶ֣יךָ[those who] curse you
ʾorereikhaH779 →63 times
אָר֔וּר[be] cursed
ʾarurH779 →63 times
וּֽמְבָרֲכֶ֖יךָand [those who] bless you
umevarakheikhaH1288 →330 times
בָּרֽוּךְ׃[be] blessed
barukhH1288 →330 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 12:3I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
it leads to
- Galatians 3:8
The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and foretold the gospel to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”
- Genesis 22:18
And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
- Acts 3:25–26
And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’
- Galatians 3:8
Through
Isaiah 49:23Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD;…
it leads to
- Isaiah 60:14
The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you; all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet and call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy…
- Isaiah 60:16
You will drink the milk of nations and nurse at the breasts of royalty; you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
- Isaiah 60:3
Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
- Micah 7:17
They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will crawl from their holes in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of…
- Isaiah 45:14
This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge…
- Isaiah 60:14
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 5; Cyril of Alexandria, GLAPHYRA ON GENESIS, 3.173B-C; Hippolytus of Rome, THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 7; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.