New English Translation
Genesis 28:3
3May the sovereign God bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! Then you will become a large nation.
Genesis 28:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;
- New International Version (NIV)May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples.
- English Standard Version (ESV)God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples;
Context of Genesis 28:3
1So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman! 2Leave immediately for Paddan Aram! Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and find yourself a wife there, among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. May the sovereign God bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! Then you will become a large nation. 4May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham so that you may possess the land God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.” 5So Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Read all of Genesis 28Genesis 28:3 word by word
וְאֵ֤ל שַׁדַּי֙ יְבָרֵ֣ךְ אֹֽתְךָ֔ וְיַפְרְךָ֖ וְיַרְבֶּ֑ךָ וְהָיִ֖יתָ לִקְהַ֥ל עַמִּֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Genesis 28:3
- Genesis 17:1When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless.
- Genesis 22:17I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the strongholds of their enemies.
- Genesis 35:11Then God said to him, “I am the sovereign God. Be fruitful and multiply! A nation – even a company of nations – will descend from you; kings will be among your descendants!
- Genesis 43:14May the sovereign God grant you mercy before the man so that he may release your other brother and Benjamin! As for me, if I lose my children I lose them.”
- Genesis 48:3Jacob said to Joseph, “The sovereign God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me.
- Exodus 6:3I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name ‘the Lord’ I was not known to them.
- Psalms 127:1If the Lord does not build a house, then those who build it work in vain. If the Lord does not guard a city, then the watchman stands guard in vain.
- 2 Corinthians 6:18and I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,” says the All-Powerful Lord.
- Revelation 21:22Now I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God – the All-Powerful – and the Lamb are its temple.
- Genesis 1:28God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.”
- Genesis 9:1Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
- Genesis 13:16And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted.
- Genesis 24:60They blessed Rebekah with these words: “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands! May your descendants possess the strongholds of their enemies.”
- Genesis 41:52He named the second child Ephraim, saying, “Certainly God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”
- Psalms 127:3Yes, sons are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.
- Psalms 128:1How blessed is every one of the Lord’s loyal followers, each one who keeps his commands!
Commentaries on Genesis 28:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3That thou mayest be a multitude of people - עמים לקהל 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 Genesis 28:4.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-22Verses 1-22 - Jacob‘s Journey to Haran 3. קהל qâhāl “congregation.” 9. מחלת māchălat Machalath, “sickness, or a harp.” 19. לוּז lûz Luz, “almond.” The blessing of his sons was the last passage in the active life of Isaac, after which he retires from the scene. Jacob now becomes the leading figure in the sacred history. His spiritual character has yet come out to view. But even now we can discern the general distinction in the lives of the three…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-5Before Jacob departed, Isaac gave him a pure, legitimate blessing. He did not hold back, because he now knew what God wanted him to do. Isaac clearly passed on the blessing God Almighty (Hebrew El-Shaddai; see 17:1) had given to Abraham and to him regarding prosperity and the land (compare 15:5, 18–20).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-191. Isaac called Jacob and blessed him--He entered fully into Rebekah's feelings, and the burden of his parting counsel to his son was to avoid a marriage alliance with any but the Mesopotamian branch of the family. At the same time he gave him a solemn blessing--pronounced before unwittingly, now designedly, and with a cordial spirit. It is more explicitly and fully given, and Jacob was thus acknowledged "the heir of the promise."Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 28:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 28
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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