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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Genesis 28:1 - 28:9
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Jacob Dismissed in Peace
v. 1. And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. What Rebekah had planned came to pass; Isaac saw the point of her objection and took the hint given in her words. Isaac formally called Jacob, welcomed him with all kindness, and then gave him the definite command not to marry a Canaanitish woman.
v. 2. Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel, thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother. There was evidently some, at least occasional, communication between the two families of relatives, since Isaac knew of the daughters of Laban.
v. 3. And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;
v. 4. and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. The words of Isaac unmistakably point to the fact that he now openly recognized Jacob as the chosen heir. The consciousness of his patriarchal calling was awakened in him, and he had the strength to give the blessing of Abraham, which included the Messianic promise, to the son whom he would have rejected, but whom God had chosen.
v. 5. And Isaac sent away Jacob; and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel, the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother. Bethuel had by this time either died or was no longer actively engaged in business, therefore Laban, Jacob's uncle, is spoken of as the head of the household.
v. 6. When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, thus openly acknowledging him as the bearer of the patriarchal blessing, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;
v. 7. and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram;
v. 8. and Esau, seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac, his father, literally, were evil in his eyes;
v. 9. then went Esau unto Ishmael, that is, to the house of Ishmael, the father himself having been dead more than twelve years, and took unto, in addition to, the wives which he had Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife. This woman, Gen_36:2, is called Bashemath, and she was called the sister of Nebajoth, because he was her oldest brother. Esau probably intended to regain the full regard of his father by this act, since this third wife was a descendant of Abraham, but merely betrayed his utter lack of understanding, so far as the relation of the patriarchs to the prophecies of the Lord with regard to the possession of this land was concerned, for Ishmael and his children were not to be heirs with the son of Sarah.