Genesis 28

Ge 28:1-19.

JACOB'S

DEPARTURE.

1. 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."

6-9. when Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, &c.--Desirous

to humor his parents and, if possible, get the last will revoked, he

became wise when too late (see

Mt 25:10),

and hoped by gratifying his parents in one thing to atone for all his

former delinquencies. But he only made bad worse, and though he did not

marry a "wife of the daughters of Canaan," he married into a family

which God had rejected. It showed a partial reformation, but no

repentance, for he gave no proofs of abating his vindictive purposes

against his brother, nor cherishing that pious spirit that would have

gratified his father--he was like Micah (see

Jud 17:13).

10. Jacob went out, &c.--His departure from his father's house

was an ignominious flight; and for fear of being pursued or waylaid by

his vindictive brother, he did not take the common road, but went by

lonely and unfrequented paths, which increased the length and dangers

of the journey.

11. he lighted upon a certain place--By a forced march he had

reached Beth-el, about forty-eight miles from Beer-sheba, and had to

spend the night in the open field.

he took of the stones, etc.--"The nature of the soil is an

existing comment on the record of the stony territory where Jacob lay"

[CLARKE'S Travels].

12. he dreamed . . . and behold a ladder--Some writers

are of opinion that it was not a literal ladder that is meant, as it is

impossible to conceive any imagery stranger and more unnatural than

that of a ladder, whose base was on earth, while its top reached

heaven, without having any thing on which to rest its upper extremity.

They suppose that the little heap of stones, on which his head reclined

for a pillow, being the miniature model of the object that appeared to

his imagination, the latter was a gigantic mountain pile, whose sides,

indented in the rock, gave it the appearance of a scaling ladder. There

can be no doubt that this use of the original term was common among the

early Hebrews; as JOSEPHUS, describing the town of

Ptolemais (Acre), says it was bounded by a mountain, which, from its

projecting sides, was called "the ladder," and the stairs that led down

to the city are, in the original, termed a ladder

(Ne 3:15)

though they were only a flight of steps cut in the side of the rock.

But whether the image presented to the mental eye of Jacob were a

common ladder, or such a mountain pile as has been described, the

design of this vision was to afford comfort, encouragement, and

confidence to the lonely fugitive, both in his present circumstances

and as to his future prospects. His thoughts during the day must have

been painful--he would be his own self-accuser that he had brought

exile and privation upon himself--and above all, that though he had

obtained the forgiveness of his father, he had much reason to fear lest

God might have forsaken him. Solitude affords time for reflection; and

it was now that God began to bring Jacob under a course of religious

instruction and training. To dispel his fears and allay the inward

tumult of his mind, nothing was better fitted than the vision of the

gigantic ladder, which reached from himself to heaven, and on which the

angels were continually ascending and descending from God Himself on

their benevolent errands

(Joh 1:51).

13. The Lord stood above it, and said--That Jacob might be at no

loss to know the purport of the vision, he heard the divine voice; and

the announcement of His name, together with a renewal of the covenant,

and an assurance of personal protection, produced at once the most

solemnizing and inspiriting effect on his mind.

16. Jacob awaked out of his sleep--His language and his conduct

were alike that of a man whose mind was pervaded by sentiments of

solemn awe, of fervent piety, and lively gratitude

(Jer 31:36).

18, 19. Jacob set up a stone, etc.--The mere setting up of the

stone might have been as a future memorial to mark the spot; and this

practice is still common in the East, in memory of a religious vow or

engagement. But the pouring oil upon it was a consecration.

Accordingly he gave it a new name, Beth-el, "the house of God"

(Ho 12:4);

and it will not appear a thing forced or unnatural to call a stone a

house, when one considers the common practice in warm countries of

sitting in the open air by or on a stone, as are those of this place,

"broad sheets of bare rock, some of them standing like the cromlechs of

Druidical monuments" [STANLEY].

Ge 28:20-22.

JACOB'S

VOW.

20. Jacob vowed a vow--His words are not to be considered as

implying a doubt, far less as stating the condition or terms on which

he would dedicate himself to God. Let "if" be changed into "since," and

the language will appear a proper expression of Jacob's faith--an

evidence of his having truly embraced the promise. How edifying often

to meditate on Jacob at Beth-el.