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NASB | Genesis 28:14 "Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 28:14 "Your descendants shall be as [countless as] the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east and the north and the south; and all the families (nations) of the earth shall be blessed through you and your descendants. [Gen 12:2, 3; 13:16; 22:18; 26:4; Acts 3:25, 26; Gal 3:8, 16] |
Bible Question: Why was Jacob blessed, and not punished, after decieving his farther. Thanks |
Bible Answer: Hi, jr8! I understand how this question can arise, since there is an apparent trickery being employed by Jacob and his mother... But let's go back a few: after coming home from a hunting trip (Esau was a hunter--so I gather that he was out on an excursion) Esau was extremely tired and hungry so he traded his first-born rights to Jacob for some food: Genesis 25:31-34. It would seem logical that Jacob would want to receive the first-born's blessings... Still, when the opportunity arose, Jacob was not exceedingly eager to jump at the blessing: Genesis 27:11-12. When she saw his hesitation Rebecca, their mother, assured him that any curse for the trickery should fall upon her--a terrific incentive, wouldn't you say? On the other hand, not only did Esau sold his first-born rights for a meal (as great as the meal may have been) but he also married two Hittites--women of a different culture and fellowship (worship): Genesis 26:34-35. And if we go a little further into the past we come to Genesis 25:25-28 where it is very clear that Yahweh preferred Jacob, who He ingraciated to Rebecca (something that would prove extemely useful in the near future). There is one more Biblical passage which demonstrates that Jacob had to have the first-born blessings: '...Was not Esau Jacob's brother? declares Yahweh; even so, I loved Jacob but I hated Esau. (Malachi 1:2) So though it may have seemed that Jacob was getting away with tricking Issac into blessing him, Jacob had no choice in the matter since Yahweh had chosen him to become Israel! You may also want to consider Ephraim's and Manasseh's blessings which are analogous to Jacob's and Esau's blessings. (Genesis 48:1-20) God Bless! |