Genesis 28

Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel

Genesis 28

1And Isaac having called for Jacob, blessed him, and charged him, saying, You shall not take a wife of the daughters of the Chananites.Προσκαλεσάμενος δὲ Ἰσαὰκ τὸν Ἰακὼβ, εὐλόγησεν αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ, λέγων, οὐ λήψῃ γυναῖκα ἐκ τῶν θυγατέρων τῶν Χαναναίων.

2Rise and depart quickly into Mesopotamia, to the house of Bathuel the father of your mother, and take to yourself thence a wife of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.Ἀναστὰς ἀπόδραθι εἰς τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν, εἰς τὸν οἶκον Βαθουὴλ τοῦ πατρὸς τῆς μητρός σου, καὶ λάβε σεαυτῷ ἐκεῖθεν γυναῖκα ἐκ τῶν θυγατέρων Λάβαν τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ τῆς μητρός σου.

3And may my God bless you, and increase you, and multiply you, and you shall become gatherings of nations.Ὁ δὲ Θεός μου εὐλογήσαι σε, καὶ αὐξήσαι σε, καὶ πληθύναι σε· καὶ ἔσῃ εἰς συναγωγὰς ἐθνῶν.

4And may he give you the blessing of my father Abraam, even to you and to your seed after you, to inherit the land of your sojourning, which God gave to Abraam.Καὶ δῴη σοι τὴν εὐλόγιαν Ἁβραὰμ τοῦ πατρός μου, σοὶ καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου μετὰ σὲ, κληρονομῆσαι τὴν γῆν τῆς παροικήσεώς σου, ἣν ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεὸς τῷ Ἁβραάμ.

5So Isaac sent away Jacob, and he went into Mesopotamia to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebecca the mother of Jacob and Esau.Καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Ἰσαὰκ τὸν Ἰακώβ· καὶ ἐπορεύθη εἰς τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν πρὸς Λάβαν τὸν υἱὸν Βαθουὴλ τοῦ Σύρου, ἀδελφὸν Ῥεβέκκας τῆς μητρὸς Ἰακὼβ καὶ Ἡσαῦ.

6And Esau saw that Isaac blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Mesopotamia of Syria as he blessed him, to take to himself a wife thence, and that he charged him, saying, You shall not take a wife of the daughters of the Chananites;Ἴδε δὲ Ἡσαῦ ὅτι εὐλόγησεν Ἰσαὰκ τὸν Ἰακὼβ, καὶ ἀπέστειλεν εἰς τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν Συρίας, λαβεῖν ἑαυτῷ γυναῖκα ἐκεῖθεν, ἐν τῷ εὐλογεῖν αὐτόν· καὶ ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ, λέγων, οὐ λήψῃ γυναῖκα ἐκ τῶν θυγατέρων τῶν Χαναναίων.

7and that Jacob listened to his father and his mother, and went to Mesopotamia of Syria.Καὶ ἤκουσεν Ἰακὼβ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐπορεύθη εἰς τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν Συρίας.

8And Esau also having seen that the daughters of Chanaan were evil before his father Isaac,Ἰδὼν δὲ καὶ Ἡσαῦ ὅτι πονηραί εἰσιν αἱ θυγατέρες Χαναὰν ἐναντίον Ἰσαὰκ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ,

9Esau went to Ismael, and took Maeleth the daughter of Ismael, the son of Abraam, the sister of Nabeoth, a wife in addition to his other wives.ἐπορεύθη Ἡσαῦ πρὸς Ἰσμαήλ· καὶ ἔλαβε τὴν Μαελὲθ, θυγατέρα Ἰσμαὴλ τοῦ υἱοῦ Ἁβραὰμ, ἀδελφὴν Ναβεὼθ, πρὸς ταῖς γυναιξὶν αὐτοῦ γυναῖκα.

10And Jacob went forth from the well of the oath, and departed into Charrhan.Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν Ἰακὼβ ἀπὸ τοῦ φρέατος τοῦ ὅρκου, καὶ ἐπορεύθη εἰς Χαῤῥάν.

11And came to a certain place and slept there, for the sun had gone down; and he took one of the stones of the place, and put it at his head, and lay down to sleep in that place,Καὶ ἀπήντησε τόπῳ, καὶ ἐκοιμήθη ἐκεῖ, ἔδυ γὰρ ὁ ἥλιος· καὶ ἔλαβεν ἀπὸ τῶν λίθων τοῦ τόπου, καὶ ἔθηκε πρὸς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐκοιμήθη ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ.

12and dreamed, and behold a ladder fixed on the earth, whose top reached to heaven, and the angels of God ascended and descended on it.Καὶ ἐνυπνιάσθη· καὶ ἰδοὺ κλίμαξ ἐστηριγμένη ἐν τῇ γῇ, ἧς ἡ κεφαλὴ ἀφικνεῖτο εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν· καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ ἀνέβαινον καὶ κατέβαινον ἐπʼ αὐτῇ.

13And the Lord * stood upon it, and said, I am the God of your father Abraam, and the God of Isaac; fear not, the land on which you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed.Ὁ δὲ Κύριος ἐπεστήρικτο ἐπʼ αὐτῆς· καὶ εἶπεν, ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ Θεὸς Ἁβραὰμ τοῦ πατρός σου, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσαάκ· μὴ φοβοῦ· ἡ γῆ ἐφʼ ἧς σὺ καθεύδεις ἐπʼ αὐτῆς, σοὶ δώσω αὐτὴν, καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου.

14And your seed shall be as the sand of the earth; and it shall spread abroad to the sea, and the south, and the north, and to the east; and in you and in your seed shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed.Καὶ ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα σου ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς γῆς, καὶ πλατυνθήσεται ἐπὶ θάλασσαν, καὶ Λίβα, καὶ Βοῤῥὰν, καὶ ἐπὶ ἀνατολάς· καὶ ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν σοὶ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἐν τῷ σπέρματί σου.

15And behold I am with you to preserve you continually in all the way wherein you shall go; and I will bring you back to this land; for I will not desert you, until I have done all that I have said to you.Καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγώ εἰμι μετὰ σοῦ, διαφυλάσσων σε ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ πάσῃ, οὗ ἂν πορευθῇς· καὶ ἀποστρέψω σε εἰς τὴν γῆν ταύτην· ὅτι οὐ μή σε ἐγκαταλίπω, ἕως τοῦ ποιῆσαί με πάντα ὅσα ἐλάλησά σοι.

16And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and said, The Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.Καὶ ἐξηγέρθη Ἰακὼβ ἐκ τοῦ ὕπνου αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἶπεν, ὅτι ἔστι Κύριος ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τούτῳ, ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ ᾔδειν.

17And he was afraid, and said, How fearful is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.Καὶ ἐφοβήθη, καὶ εἶπεν, ὡς φοβερὸς ὁ τόπος οὗτος· οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο ἀλλʼ ἢ οἶκος Θεοῦ, καὶ αὕτη ἡ πύλη τοῦ οὐρανοῦ.

18And Jacob rose up in the morning, and took the stone † he had laid there by his head, and he set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it.Καὶ ἀνέστη Ἰακὼβ τὸ πρωῒ, καὶ ἔλαβε τὸν λίθον, ὃν ὑπέθηκεν ἐκεῖ πρὸς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔστησεν αὐτὸν στήλην, καὶ ἐπέχεεν ἔλαιον ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον αὐτῆς.

19And he called the name of that place, the House of God; and the name of the city before was Ulam-luz.Καὶ ἐκάλεσε τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ τόπου ἐκείνου, οἶκος Θεοῦ· καὶ Οὐλαμλοὺζ ἦν ὄνομα τῇ πόλει τὸ πρότερον.

20And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If the Lord God will be with me, and guard me throughout on this journey, on which I am going, and give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,Καὶ ηὔξατο Ἰακὼβ εὐχὴν, λέγων, ἐὰν ᾖ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς μετʼ ἐμοῦ, καὶ διαφυλάξῃ με ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ταύτῃ, ᾗ ἐγὼ πορεύομαι, καὶ δῷ μοι ἄρτον φαγεῖν, καὶ ἱμάτιον περιβαλέσθαι,

21and bring me back in safety to the house of my father, then shall the Lord be for a God to me.καὶ ἀποστρέψῃ με μετὰ σωτηρίας εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρός μου, καὶ ἔσται Κύριός μοι εἰς Θεόν.

22And this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be to me a house of God; and of all whatever you shall give me, I will tithe a tenth for you.Καὶ ὁ λίθος οὗτος, ὃν ἔστησα στήλην, ἔσται μοι οἶκος Θεοῦ· καὶ πάντων ὧν ἐάν μοι δῷς, δεκάτην ἀποδεκατώσω αὐτά σοι.

Translator's Notes

These notes come from the printed edition of Sir Lancelot Brenton's classic English translation of the Septuagint (LXX), and record where the Greek differs from the English rendering or admits more than one reading.

• v. 13*Gr. was established.
• v. 18†Lit. put under. See 1 Tim 3:15.

The Fathers on Genesis 28

Julius Africanus comments on this chapter. Each excerpt below is drawn from the full text held in the Fathers Library; follow the link on any entry to read the whole work.

On Genesis 28

Julius Africanus

Ante-Nicene Fathers · Third century · Fragments of the Chronography

Part XI. XI. From Adam, therefore, to the death of Joseph, according to this book, are 23 generations, and 3563 years.

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