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27,299 commentary entries
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:13
And, behold,—"the dream-vision is so glorious that the narrator represents it by a threefold הִגֵּה (Lange)—the Lord stood above it,—the change in the Divine name is not to be explained by assigning Genesis 28:13-16 to…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:14
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth,—promised to Abraham, Genesis 13:16; to Isaac, under a different emblem, Genesis 26:4—and thou shalt spread abroad (literally, break forth) to the west, and to the east, to…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:15
God's providential care. "Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest." Among things believed; but not sufficiently realized, is the truth of God's constant overruling care. We can trace…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:15
And, behold, I am with thee,—spoken to Isaac (cf. Genesis 26:24); again to Jacob (Genesis 31:3); afterwards to Christ's disciples (Matthew 28:20)—and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest,—literally, in all th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:16
And Jacob awaked out of his sleep (during which he had seen and talked with Jehovah), and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. Jacob does not here learn the doctrine of the Divine omnipresence f…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:17
And he was afraid,—so were Moses (Exodus 20:18, Exodus 20:19), Job (Genesis 42:5, Genesis 42:6), Isaiah (Genesis 6:5), Peter (Luke 5:8), John (Revelation 1:17, Revelation 1:18), at similar discoveries of the Divine pres…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:18-22
The grateful retrospect and the consecrated prospect. I. THE TRUE LIFE is that which starts from the place of fellowship with God and commits the future to him. We can always find a pillar of blessed memorial and consec…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:18
And Jacob rose up early in the morning (cf. Genesis 19:27; Genesis 22:3), and took the stone that he had put for his pillows (vide supra), and set it up for a pillar—literally, set it up, a pillar (or something set upri…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:19
And he called the name of that place Bethel—i.e. a house of God. Rosenmüller and Kalisch find a connection between Bethel and Baetylia, the former regarding Beetylia as a corruption of Bethel, and the latter viewing Bet…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:22
And (or then, the apodosis now commencing) this stone which I have set for a pillar (vide on Genesis 28:18) shall be God's house—Bethel, meaning that he would afterwards erect there an altar for the celebration of Divin…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 29:1-35
Jacob among his mother's kindred. Taught by experience to be patient. His own craft reflected in Laban. Lessons to be learned. I. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TEACHING OF GOD IN THE INNER MAN AND HIS LEADINGS IN PROVIDENC…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 29:1-14
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 29:1
Then Jacob went on his journey (literally, lifted up his feet—a graphic description of traveling. Inspired by new hopes, and conscious of loftier aims than when he fled from Beersheba, the lonely furtive departed from B…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 29:1-14
Jacob at the well of Haran: a romantic adventure. I. JACOB'S MEETING WITH THE SHEPHERDS. 1. The providential discovery. The well in the field with the three flocks of sheep lying by it enabled Jacob to ascertain his whe…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 29:2
And he looked (either to discover where he was, or in search of water), and behold a well in the field,—not the well at which Eliezer's caravan halted, which was a well for the village maidens, situated in front of the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 29:3
And thither were all the flecks gathered. "Fifteen minutes later we came to a large well in a valley among the swells, fitted up with troughs and reservoirs, with flocks waiting around". And they rolled the stone from t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 29:4
And Jacob said unto them (the shepherds of the three flocks), My brethren (a friendly salutation from one who was himself a shepherd), whence be ye? Anticipating that their reply would reveal his whereabouts. And they s…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 29:5
And he said unto them (with the view of discovering his kinsmen), Know ye Laban the son of Nahor?—i.e. the grandson, Laban's father having been Bethuel, who, however, here, as in Genesis 14:1-24; retires into the backgr…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 29:6
And he said unto them, Is he well? Literally, is there peace to him? meaning not simply bodily health, but all manner of felicity; ὑγιαίνει (LXX.); sanusne est? (Vulgate). Cf. the Christian salutation, tax vobiscum An…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 29:7
And he said, Lo, it is yet high day (literally, the day is yet great, i.e. much of it still remains), neither is it time that the cattle should he gathered together (i.e. to shut them up for the night): water ye the she…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 29:8
And they said, We cannot,—not because of any physical difficulty (Kalisch), since three men could easily have accomplished what Jacob by himself did, but because they had agreed not to do so (Rosenmüller, Murphy), but t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 29:9
And while he yet spake with them (literally, he yet speaking with them), Rachel came with her father's sheep: for she kept them—or, she was a shepherdess, the part. רֹעָה being used as a substantive (Gesenius, 'Lex.,' s…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 29:10
And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother,—"the term mother's brother is not unintentionally repeated three times in this verse to describe with the greatest possible stress t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 29:11
And Jacob kissed Rachel,—in demonstration of his cousinly affection. If Jacob had not yet discovered who he was to the fair shepherdess, his behavior must have filled her with surprise, even allowing for the unaffected…