Bible Strands
Genesis 28:13
And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks to Jacob in a dream, standing at the top of the ladder, while Jacob lies on the ground at Luz. This is the moment the ladder vision resolves into direct address.
The words — נִצָּב (nitsav), "standing," is a postural verb that presents God as present and ready, not merely appearing or passing by. It is the same word used for a sentinel or a person who has taken a fixed position.
The thread — The land promise here echoes Genesis 13:15 (to Abraham) and is renewed at the same location in Genesis 35:12, with Jacob himself recalling the event in Genesis 48:3. The chain Abraham → Isaac → Jacob is explicit in the text.
Why it lands — The promise is tied to the exact spot where Jacob is lying, not to a general region, which makes the covenant concrete and locational rather than abstract. The reader is asked to hold both the lineage claim and the geographic specificity as part of the same statement.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
Cross-references
- Genesis 13:15 for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.
- Genesis 35:12 The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”
- Genesis 48:3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me
- Genesis 26:24 and that night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.”
- Genesis 35:1 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”
- Genesis 12:7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
- Exodus 3:6 Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
- Genesis 46:3 “I am God,” He said, “the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.
- Matthew 22:32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
- Hebrews 11:16 Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.