God give you of the dew of the sky, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.
Parallel Translations
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God give you of the dew of the sky, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.
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Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
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So God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fat places of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (28)
Passages linked to Genesis 27:28 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 33:28 Israel dwells in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine. Yes, his heavens drop down dew.
- Deuteronomy 33:13 About Joseph he said, “His land is blessed by Yahweh, for the precious things of the heavens, for the dew, for the deep that couches beneath,
- Psalms 133:3 like the dew of Hermon, that comes down on the hills of Zion; for there Yahweh gives the blessing, even life forever more.
- Hosea 14:5-7 I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon. His branches will spread, and his beauty will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. Men will dwell in his shade. They will revive like the grain, and blossom like the vine. Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.
- Deuteronomy 7:13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your livestock and the young of your flock, in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you.
- 2 Samuel 1:21 You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain on you, and no fields of offerings; For there the shield of the mighty was defiled and cast away, The shield of Saul was not anointed with oil.
- Psalms 65:9-13 You visit the earth, and water it. You greatly enrich it. The river of God is full of water. You provide them grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows. You level its ridges. You soften it with showers. You bless it with a crop. You crown the year with your bounty. Your carts overflow with abundance. The wilderness grasslands overflow. The hills are clothed with gladness. The pastures are covered with flocks. The valleys also are clothed with grain. They shout for joy! They also sing.
- Zechariah 8:12 “For the seed of peace and the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.
- Deuteronomy 32:2 My doctrine will drop as the rain. My speech will condense as the dew, as the misty rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb.
- Joel 2:19 Yahweh answered his people, “Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied with them; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
- Genesis 45:18 Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’
- Numbers 18:12 “I have given to you all the best of the oil, all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first fruits of them which they give to Yahweh.
- Deuteronomy 8:7-9 For Yahweh your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills; a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey; a land in which you shall eat bread without scarcity, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper.
- Deuteronomy 11:11-12 but the land that you go over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of the sky, a land which Yahweh your God cares for. Yahweh your God’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.
- 1 Kings 17:1 Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”
- Psalms 36:8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the abundance of your house. You will make them drink of the river of your pleasures.
- Psalms 104:15 wine that makes the heart of man glad, oil to make his face to shine, and bread that strengthens man’s heart.
- Isaiah 45:8 Rain, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, that it may produce salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it. I, Yahweh, have created it.
- Micah 5:7 The remnant of Jacob will be among many peoples, like dew from Yahweh, like showers on the grass, that don’t wait for man, nor wait for the sons of men.
- Hebrews 11:20 By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.
- Genesis 49:20 “Asher’s food will be rich. He will produce royal dainties.
- Joshua 5:6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness until all the nation, even the men of war who came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they didn’t listen to Yahweh’s voice. Yahweh swore to them that he wouldn’t let them see the land which Yahweh swore to their fathers that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
- 1 Kings 5:11 Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat for food to his household, and twenty cors of pure oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year.
- 2 Chronicles 2:10 Behold, I will give to your servants, the cutters who cut timber, twenty thousand cors of beaten wheat, twenty thousand baths of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.”
- Jeremiah 14:22 Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the sky give showers? Aren’t you he, Yahweh our God? Therefore we will wait for you; for you have made all these things.
- Zechariah 9:17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.
- Numbers 13:20 and what the land is, whether it is fertile or poor, whether there is wood therein, or not. Be courageous, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes.
- Romans 11:17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 27:28 Therefore God give thee of the dew…
Gen 27:28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
Ver. 28. God give thee of the dew.] For that country was dry and thirsty. They had rain, say some, but twice a year; the former in seedtime, and the latter rain in May. The blessings here bestowed are plenty, victory, domestical preeminency, and outward prosperity. Esau likewise hath the like, but not with a God give thee. But beyond all these, "some better thing" was provided and promised. Erant enim speculum, et pignus coelestium. The Church of Rome borrows her mark from the market plenty, or cheapness, &c.; she vaunts of her temporal felicity, and makes a catalogue of the strange victories which the Catholics have had. Immo vix unquam fuerunt Haeretici superiores, quando iusto proelio dimicatum est, saith Bellarmine. {a} Upon one of the Easter holidays, saith George Marsh, martyr, Master Sherburn and Master More sent for me, persuading me much to leave mine opinions, saying, all the bringers up and favourers of that religion had ill luck, and were either put to death, or in prison, and in danger of life. {b} Again, the favourers of the religion now used, had wondrous good luck and prosperity in all things. These wizards, these "disputers of this world," as the apostle calls them, {1Co 1:20} either knew not, or believed not, that the Church is the heir of the Cross, Ecclesia haeres Crucis, as an ancient speaketh; that opposition is, as Calvin wrote to the French king, Evangelii genius , - the bad genius that dogs the gospel; that truth breeds hatred, {c} as the fair nymphs did the ill favoured fawns and satyrs, and seldom goes without a scratched face. Some halcyons the Church hath here, as in Constantine’s time ( Repugnante contra temetipsam tua faelicitate, saith Salvian, in his first book to the Catholic Church); but grace she shall be sure of here, "with persecution"; and glory hereafter without interruption. As for outward things, aut aderunt sane, aut non oberunt; either she shall have them, or be as well without them. God shall be her cornucopia; her All-sufficient; her "shield and exceeding great reward." Sine Deo, omnis copia est egestas.
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{a} Bell., tom. ii. lib. iv. cap. ult.
{b} Act. and Mon., fol. 1421.
{c} Veritas odium parit. - Ter.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain God give thee, or, will give; for it is…
God give thee, or, will give; for it is both a prayer and a prophecy. He mentions the
dew rather than the rain, because it was of more constant use and necessity in those parts than the rain, which fell considerably but twice in a year, the first being called the former, and the other the latter rain. And under this and the following blessings, which are but temporal, are comprehended all manner of blessings, both spiritual, temporal, and eternal, according to the usage of that time and state of the church.
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The fatness of the earth; a fat and fruitfill land, which Canaan was, abounding with all sorts of precious fruits. Compare Deu 8:8; 32:13,14.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven,....…
Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven,.... Or "shall" or "will give thee" (x), seeing he was blessed of God, and the blessed seed should spring from him, as well as his posterity should inherit the land of Canaan; for this is said rather by way of prophecy than wish, and so all that follow; and the dew of heaven is the rather mentioned, not only because that makes the earth fruitful on which it plentifully falls, but likewise because the land of Canaan, the portion of Jacob's posterity, much needed it, and had it, for rain fell there but seldom, only twice a year, in spring and autumn; and between these two rains, the one called the former, the other the latter rain, the land was impregnated and made fruitful by plentiful dews; and these signified figuratively both the doctrines and blessings of grace, which all Jacob's spiritual offspring, such as are Israelites indeed, are partakers of, and especially under the Gospel dispensation, see Deu 32:2,
and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine; and such the land of Canaan was, a fat and fertile land, abounding with all good things, see Deu 8:8; by which are figured the plenty of Gospel provisions, the word and ordinances, which God has given to his Jacob and Israel in all ages, as he has not given to other people, and especially in the times of the Messiah, Jacob's eminent seed and son, see Psa 147:19.
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(x) "dabit ergo tibi", Schmidt; so Ainsworth.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 28. God give thee of the dew of…
Verse 28. God give thee of the dew of heaven] Bp. Newton's view of these predictions is so correct and appropriate, as to leave no wish for any thing farther on the subject.
"It is here foretold, and in Ge 27:39, of these two brethren, that as to situation, and other temporal advantages, they should be much alike. It was said to Jacob: God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine; and much the same is said to Esau, Ge 27:39: Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above. The spiritual blessing, or the promise of the blessed seed, could be given only to ONE; but temporal good things might be imparted to both. Mount Seir, and the adjacent country, was at first in the possession of the Edomites; they afterwards extended themselves farther into Arabia, and into the southern parts of Judea. But wherever they were situated, we find in fact that the Edomites, in temporal advantages, were little inferior to the Israelites. Esau had cattle and beasts and substance in abundance, and he went to dwell in Seir of his own accord; but he would hardly have removed thither with so many cattle, had it been such a barren and desolate country as some would represent it. The Edomites had dukes and kings reigning over them, while the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. When the Israelites, on their return, desired leave to pass through the territories of Edom, it appears that the country abounded with FRUITFUL FIELDS and VINEYARDS: Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country; we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells; Nu 20:17. And the prophecy of Malachi, which is generally alleged as a proof of the barrenness of the country, is rather a proof of the contrary: I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness, Mal 1:3; for this implies that the country was fruitful before, and that its present unfruitfulness was rather an effect of war, than any natural defect in the soil. If the country is unfruitful now, neither is Judea what it was formerly." As there was but little rain in Judea, except what was termed the early rain, which fell about the beginning of spring, and the latter rain, which fell about September, the lack of this was supplied by the copious dews which fell both morning and evening, or rather through the whole of the night. And we may judge, says Calmet, of the abundance of those dews by what fell on Gideon's fleece, Jdg 6:38, which being wrung filled a bowl. And Hushai compares an army ready to fall upon its enemies to a dew falling on the ground, 2Sa 17:12, which gives us the idea that this fluid fell in great profusion, so as to saturate every thing. Travellers in these countries assure us that the dews fall there in an extraordinary abundance.
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The fatness of the earth] What Homer calls ουθαρ αρουρης, Ilias ix., 141, and Virgil uber glebae, AEneis i., 531, both signifying a soil naturally fertile. Under this, therefore, and the former expressions, Isaac wishes his son all the blessings which a plentiful country can produce; for, as Le Clerc rightly observes, if the dews and seasonable rains of heaven fall upon a fruitful soil, nothing but human industry is wanting to the plentiful enjoyment of all temporal good things. Hence they are represented in the Scripture as emblems of prosperity, of plenty, and of the blessing of God, De 33:13; De 33:28; Mic 5:7; Zec 8:12; and, on the other hand, the withholding of these denotes barrenness, distress, and the curse of God; 2Sa 1:21. See Dodd.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Wine. "By which Christ gathers together the multitude, in…
Wine. "By which Christ gathers together the multitude, in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood." (St. Augustine)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain THE BLESSING. (Gen. 27:28-46)
THE BLESSING. (Gen. 27:28-46)
God give thee of the dew of heaven--To an Oriental mind, this phraseology implied the highest flow of prosperity. The copious fall of dew is indispensable to the fruitfulness of lands, which would be otherwise arid and sterile through the violent heat; and it abounds most in hilly regions, such as Canaan, hence called the "fat land" (Neh 9:25, Neh 9:35).
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plenty of corn and wine--Palestine was famous for vineyards, and it produced varieties of corn, namely, wheat, barley, oats, and rye.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 28. Dew of heaven — Of the greatest importance…
28. Dew of heaven — Of the greatest importance to the fruitfulness of a land like Palestine. Comp. Gen_49:25; Deu_33:13; Deu_33:28; Hos_14:6.
Fatness of the earth — The fat portions of the land, or most fertile districts. Thus Isaac wills to this son the more desirable portions of the land of promise.
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Corn and wine — Representatives of the income of the fields.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 28. And God give thee] The blessing of the…
28. And God give thee] The blessing of the firstborn in this and the following verse is solemnly pronounced by Isaac. It is irrevocable; see Gen_27:33. It invokes (a) blessings of fertility upon the soil, (b) blessings of victory over other nations, (c) blessings of predominance over kindred tribes and clans.
This invocation is closed by the short and solemn utterance of a curse against the foe, and of a benediction upon the friend.
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the dew of heaven] The blessing from above, cf. Gen_49:25, “with blessings of heaven above.” In a hot country the dew falling heavily by night is a source of fruitfulness to the land; and gives refreshing coolness to the atmosphere. Cf. Deu_33:13; Deu_33:28; Zec_8:12.
the fatness of the earth] The other side of the blessing of prosperity is supplied by the fertility of the soil, for which the Heb. expression is “the fat things.” By “the earth” is clearly indicated a parallel to “the heaven” in the previous clause. There is no need for supposing, as some scholars have done, that Isaac here identifies Canaan with “the earth.” See Num_13:20; Neh_9:25; Neh_9:35, “fat land”; Isa_28:1, “fat valley”; Eze_34:14, “fat pasture.”
plenty of corn and wine] The two most typical illustrations of agricultural wealth; cf. Exo_22:5; Num_20:17. We find “corn,” “wine,” and “oil,” represented as the three blessings of the soil in Deu_7:13; and “corn” and “wine” in Deu_33:28; Psa_4:7.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (28) Therefore God give thee.—Heb., And the Elohim give…
(28) Therefore God give thee.—Heb., And the Elohim give thee. Here, as not unfrequently is the case, the name Elohim follows immediately upon that of Jehovah. As the blessings of dew and fertile land are the gifts of the God of nature, the use of the title Elohim is in accordance with the general rule.
The fatness of the earth.—Heb., the fatnesses: that is, the fat places. In the countries where Esau and Jacob were to have their homes, the land varies from districts of extraordinary fertility to regions of barren rock and sterile sand. It was these rich fields which Isaac’s blessing conveyed to Jacob.
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Wine.—Not the word used in Gen_27:25, but tirosh, the unfermented juice of the grape. It thus goes properly with corn, both being the natural produce of the field.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven,…
Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, literally, and the Elohim will give thee, with an optative sense; i.e. and may the Elohim give thee! The occurrence of in what is usually assigned to the Jehovist (Tuch, Bleek, Davidson) is not to be explained as a special Jehovistic formula (Colenso), or as a remnant of the fundamental Elohistic writing (Kalisch), or as indicating that the personal God, and not Jehovah, the God of the covenant, was the source of the blessing (Keil, Gosman in Lange), or as intimating a remaining doubt as to whether Esau was the chosen one of Jehovah (Lange); but as identifying Jehovah with Elohim, the art. being the art. of reference, as in Gen_22:1. (Hengstenberg; cf. Quarry "on Genesis," p. 483) The blessing craved was substantially that of a fertile soil, in Oriental countries the copious dew deposited by the atmosphere supplying the place of rain. Hence dew is employed in Scripture as a symbol of material prosperity (Deu_33:13, Deu_33:28; Zec_8:12) and the absence of dew and rain represented as a signal of Divine displeasure (2Sa_1:21; 1Ki_17:1; Hag_1:10, Hag_1:11) and the fatness of the earth, literally, of the fat-nesses, or choicest parts, of the earth (Gen_45:18) and plenty of corn and wine i.e. abundance of the produce of the soil (cf. Deu_33:28)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
This is Isaac's blessing. He thought he was speaking to Esau, but he was speaking to Jacob.
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give you
Here "you" is singular and refers to Jacob. But the blessing would also apply to Jacob's descendants. (See: Forms of You and Synecdoche)
dew of heaven
"Dew" is drops of water that form on the plants during the night. This can be made explicit in the translation. AT: "night mist from heaven to water your crops" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
fatness of the earth
Having fertile land is spoken of as if the earth were fat or rich. AT: "good soil for producing crops" (See: Metaphor)
plenty of grain and new wine
If "grain" and "wine" are unknown, this can be stated more generally. AT: "plenty of food and drink" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
God
heaven
grain
wine
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.