Genesis 28

28 And Isaac calleth unto Jacob, and blesseth him, and commandeth him, and saith to him, `Thou dost not take a wife of the daughters of Caanan;

^2 ^rise, go to Padan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel, thy mother's father, and take for thyself from thence a wife, of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother;

^3 ^and God Almighty doth bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and thou hast become an assembly of peoples;

^4 ^and He doth give to thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee, to cause thee to possess the land of thy sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.'

^5 ^And Isaac sendeth away Jacob, and he goeth to Padan-Aram, unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramaean, brother of Rebekah, mother of Jacob and Esau.

^6 ^And Esau seeth that Isaac hath blessed Jacob, and hath sent him to Padan-Aram to take to himself from thence a wife -- in his blessing him that he layeth a charge upon him, saying, Thou dost not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan --

^7 ^that Jacob hearkeneth unto his father and unto his mother, and goeth to Padan-Aram --

^8 ^and Esau seeth that the daughters of Canaan are evil in the eyes of Isaac his father,

^9 ^and Esau goeth unto Ishmael, and taketh Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, sister of Nebajoth, unto his wives, to himself, for a wife.

^10 ^And Jacob goeth out from Beer-Sheba, and goeth toward Haran,

^11 ^and he toucheth at a [certain] place, and lodgeth there, for the sun hath gone in, and he taketh of the stones of the place, and maketh [them] his pillows, and lieth down in that place.

^12 ^And he dreameth, and lo, a ladder set up on the earth, and its head is touching the heavens; and lo, messengers of God are going up and coming down by it;

^13 ^and lo, Jehovah is standing upon it, and He saith, `I [am] Jehovah, God of Abraham thy father, and God of Isaac; the land on which thou art lying, to thee I give it, and to thy seed;

^14 ^and thy seed hath been as the dust of the land, and thou hast broken forth westward, and eastward, and northward, and southward, and all families of the ground have been blessed in thee and in thy seed.

^15 `And lo, I [am] with thee, and have kept thee whithersoever thou goest, and have caused thee to turn back unto this ground; for I leave thee not till that I have surely done that which I have spoken to thee.'

^16 ^And Jacob awaketh out of his sleep, and saith, `Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I knew not;'

^17 ^and he feareth, and saith, `How fearful [is] this place; this is nothing but a house of God, and this a gate of the heavens.'

^18 ^And Jacob riseth early in the morning, and taketh the stone which he hath made his pillows, and maketh it a standing pillar, and poureth oil upon its top,

^19 ^and he calleth the name of that place Bethel, [house of God,] and yet, Luz [is] the name of the city at the first.

^20 ^And Jacob voweth a vow, saying, `Seeing God is with me, and hath kept me in this way which I am going, and hath given to me bread to eat, and a garment to put on --

^21 ^when I have turned back in peace unto the house of my father, and Jehovah hath become my God,

^22 ^then this stone which I have made a standing pillar is a house of God, and all that Thou dost give to me -- tithing I tithe to Thee.'

TLV

28 So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him, commanded him and said to him, “Don’t take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 Get up, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 Now may El Shaddai bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you will become an assembly of peoples. 4 And may he give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed with you that you may take possession of the land of your sojourn, which God gave to Abraham.”

5 Then Isaac sent Jacob away and he went toward Paddan-aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. 6 Now Esau saw that Isaac blessed Jacob when he sent him to Paddan-aram to take for himself a wife from there, when he blessed him and commanded him saying, “Don’t take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.” 7 Jacob listened to his father Isaac and to his mother and went toward Paddan-aram. 8 Then Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were contemptible in his father Isaac’s eyes. 9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, Nebaioth’s sister for his wife, besides his other wives.

Parashat Vayetze

Jacob’s Ladder From Heaven

10 Then Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He happened upon a certain place and spent the night there, for the sun had set. So he took one of the stones from the place and put it by his head and lay down in that place. 12 He dreamed: All of a sudden, there was a stairway set up on the earth and its top reaching to the heavens—and behold, angels of God going up and down on it! 13 Surprisingly, Adonai was standing on top of it[a] and He said, “I am Adonai, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your seed. 14 Your seed will be as the dust of the land, and you will burst forth to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed—and in your seed. 15 Behold, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not forsake you until I have done what I promised you.”

16 Jacob woke up from his sleep and said, “Undoubtedly, Adonai is in this place—and I was unaware.” 17 So he was afraid and said, “How fearsome this place is! This is none other than the House of God—this must be the gate of heaven!”

18 Early in the morning Jacob got up and took the stone, which he had placed by his head, and set it up as a memorial stone and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called the name of that place Beth-El (though originally the city’s name was Luz). 20 Then Jacob made a vow saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this way that I am going, and provide me food to eat and clothes to wear, 21 and I return in shalom to my father’s house, then Adonai will be my God. 22 So this stone which I set up as a memorial stone will become God’s House, and of everything You provide me I will definitely give a tenth of it to You.”

Footnotes

Genesis 28:13 Or, above him or next to him.

OJB

28 And Yitzchak called for Ya’akov, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take an isha of the Banot Kena’an.

2 Arise, go to Paddanah- Aram, to the bais Betuel avi immecha; and take thee an isha from there of the banot Lavan achi immecha.

3 And El Shaddai bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a kahal amim;

4 And give thee the birkat Avraham, to thee, and to thy zera with thee; that thou mayest inherit the eretz wherein thou art a ger, which Elohim gave unto Avraham.

5 And Yitzchak sent away Ya’akov; and he went to Padanah-Aram unto Lavan ben Betuel the Aramean, achi Rivkah, em Ya’akov and Esav.

6 When Esav saw that Yitzchak had blessed Ya’akov, and sent him away to Padanah-Aram, to take an isha for him from there; and that when he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take an isha of the Banot Kena’an;

7 And that Ya’akov obeyed his av and his em, and went to Padanah-Aram;

8 And Esav seeing that the Banot Kena’an pleased not Yitzchak his av;

9 Then went Esav unto Yishmael, and took unto the nashim which he had Machalat bat Yishmael ben Avraham, the achot of Nevayot, to be his wife.

[VAYETZE]

10 And Ya’akov went out from Beer-Sheva, and went toward Charan.

11 And he reached a certain place, and tarried there, because the shemesh was set; and he took of the avanim of that place, and put them for his pillow, and lay down in that place to sleep.

12 And he had a chalom, and hinei a sullam (ladder, stairway) set up on the ground, and the top of it reached to Shomayim: and hinei the malachim of Elohim ascending and descending on it.

13 And, hinei, Hashem stood above it, and said, I am Hashem Elohei Avraham thy av, and Elohei Yitzchak; ha’aretz whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy zera;

14 And thy zera shall be as the dust of ha’aretz, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south; and in thee and in thy zera shall kol hamishpochot haadamah be blessed.

15 And, hinei, I am with thee, and will be shomer over thee in all places where thou goest, and will bring thee back into haadamah hazot; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have promised thee.

16 And Ya’akov awoke out of his sleep, and he said, Surely Hashem is in this place! And I had no da’as of it.

17 And he was afraid, and said, How nora (awesome) is this place! This is none other than the Beis Elohim, and this is the Sha’ar HaShomayim.

18 And Ya’akov rose up early in the boker, and took haeven (the stone) that he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a matzevah (pillar), and poured shemen upon the top of it.

19 And he called the shem of that place Beit-El; but the shem of that ir was called Luz at the first.

20 And Ya’akov vowed a neder (vow), saying, If Elohim will be with me, and will be shomer over me in this derech (way, journey) that I go, and will give me lechem to eat, and beged (clothes) to put on,

21 So that I return to bais avi in shalom; then shall Hashem be for me Elohim (my G-d).

22 And this even (stone), which I have set for a matzevah (pillar), shall be Beis Elohim: and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the aser (tenth) unto Thee.

NOTES:

Heiser, Michael S.. The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible. Lexham Press. Kindle Edition.

Isaac’s son Jacob receives the same divine approval in a series of visual encounters with Yahweh. The first instance is the well-known story of “Jacob’s Ladder” in Genesis 28:10–22.