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God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He said, “Here I am.”
He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”
Genesis 46:2-4 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Israel traveled with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac. God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He said, “Here I am.”
He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”
God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He said, “Here I am.”
He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation.
I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”
And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
And God spoke unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said: 'Jacob, Jacob.' And he said: 'Here am I.'
And He said: 'I am God, the God of thy father; fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation.
I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again; and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.'
44 distinct cross-references across this passage (47 total citations).
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv2–4 2. And God spake unto Israel. In this manner,…
2. And God spake unto Israel. In this manner, God proves that the sacrifice of Jacob was acceptable to him, and again stretches out his hand to ratify anew his covenant. The vision by night availed for the purpose of giving greater dignity to the oracle. Jacob indeed, inasmuch as he was docile and ready to yield obedience to God, did not need to be impelled by force and terror; yet, because he was a man encompassed with flesh, it was profitable for him that he should be affected as with the glory of a present God, in order that the word might penetrate more effectually into his heart. It is, however, proper to recall to memory what I have said before, that the word was joined with it; because a silent vision would have profited little or nothing. We know that superstition eagerly snatches at mere spectres; by which means it presents God in a form of its own. But since no living image of God can exist without the word, whenever God has appeared to his servants, he has also spoken to them. Wherefore, in all outward signs, let us be ever attentive to his voice, if we would not be deluded by the wiles of Satan. But if those visions, in which the majesty of God shines, require to be animated by the word, then they who obtrude signs, invented at the will of men, upon the Church, exhibit nothing else than the empty pomps of a profane theater. Just as in the Papacy, those things which are called sacraments, are lifeless phantoms which draw away deluded souls from the true God. Let this mutual connection, then, be observed, that the vision which gives greater dignity to the word, precedes it; and that the word follows immediately, as if it were the soul of the vision. And there is no question that this was an appearance of the visible glory of God, which did not leave Jacob in suspense and hesitation; but which, by removing his doubt, firmly sustained him, so that he confidently embraced the oracle.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v4 Conducting thee by my power.
Conducting thee by my power.
In thy posterity.
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Shall shut thine eyes when thou diest: which appertained to him that was most dearest, or chief of the kindred.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Gen 46:2 And God spake unto Israel in the…
Gen 46:2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here [am] I.
Ver. 2. Here am I.] Josephus tells us, {a} he said, Who is there? He seems never seriously to have read the Bible; but only in transcursu, et quasi aliud agens. Is not that then a proper excuse for the Church of Rome’s sacrilege, in robbing the common people of the Holy Scriptures, that she allows them to read Josephus, where they may find the history of the Old Testament more plainly and plentifully set forth than in the Bible! But Barclay, {b} that made this apology, was of the mind, belike, of Walter Mapes, sometime archdeacon of Oxford, who, relating the gross simony (traffic in sacred things) of the Pope, for confirming the election of Reginald, bastard son to Jocelin, bishop of Sarum into the see of Bath, concludes his narration thus: Sit tamen domina materque nostra Roma baculus in aqua fractus, et absit credere quae vidimus; { c} howbeit, far be it from us to believe our own eyes.
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{a} Antiq., lib. i.
{b} Quod vero ad historiam Vet. Test. eam fuse et magis ex vulgi intellectu in Iosepho inveniunt. - Barcl. Paraen.
{c} Dr Sanderson.
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 On vv2–4 In the visions of the night, i.e. in that…
In the visions of the night, i.e. in that way or manner of visions which God affordeth to men by night, and in their sleep. See Gen 20:3; Job 33:15-16; Mat 1:20; 2:13,19; Act 16:9; 18:9, &c.
Jacob, Jacob; he doubles the name both in token of his friendship and familiarity with him, and to raise Jacob's attention. Compare Gen 22:11; 1Sa 3:10.
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 On vv2–4 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of…
And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night,.... He appeared to Jacob as he lay upon his bed in the night season, and with an articulate voice spoke to him as follows:
and said, Jacob, Jacob: not "Israel", the more honourable name he had given him, but Jacob, putting him in mind of his former low estate; and doubling this name, either out of love and affection to him, as Jarchi intimates; or rather in order to awake him, at least to stir up his attention to what he was about to say to him:
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and he said, here am I; signifying his readiness to hearken to him in what he should say to him, and to obey him in whatsoever he should command him.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv2–4 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of…
And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night - (Probably the next night after he had offered his sacrifices.) Those who desire to keep up communion with God, shall find that it never fails on his side. If we speak to him as we ought, he will not fail to speak to us. God called him by his name, by his old name, Jacob, Jacob, to mind him of his low estate. Jacob, like one well acquainted with the visions of the Almighty, answers, Here am I - Ready to receive orders. And what has God to say to him?
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v3 Verse 3. Fear not to go down into Egypt]…
Verse 3. Fear not to go down into Egypt] It appears that there had been some doubts in the patriarch's mind relative to the propriety of this journey; he found, from the confession of his own sons, how little they were to be trusted. But every doubt is dispelled by this Divine manifestation.
1. He may go down confidently, no evil shall befall him.
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2. Even in Egypt the covenant shall be fulfilled, God will make of him there a great nation.
3. God himself will accompany him on his journey, be with him in the strange land, and even bring back his bones to rest with those of his fathers.
4. He shall see Joseph, and this same beloved son shall be with him in his last hours, and do the last kind office for him.
Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. It is not likely that Jacob would have at all attempted to go down to Egypt, had he not received these assurances from God; and it is very likely that he offered his sacrifice merely to obtain this information. It was now a time of famine in Egypt, and God had forbidden his father Isaac to go down to Egypt when there was a famine there, Ge 26:1-3; besides, he may have had some general intimation of the prophecy delivered to his grandfather Abraham, that his seed should be afflicted in Egypt, Ge 15:13-14; and he also knew that Canaan, not Egypt, was to be the inheritance of his family, Ge 12:1; Ge 12:6-7, &c. On all these accounts it was necessary to have the most explicit directions from God, before he should take such a journey.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Gen 46:2. God spake unto Israel in the visions…
Gen 46:2. God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night — Probably the next night after he had offered his sacrifices. Those who desire to keep up communion with God, shall find that it never fails on his side. If we speak to him as we ought, he will not fail to speak to us.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Fear not. He might be apprehensive, lest his children…
Fear not. He might be apprehensive, lest his children should be depraved, living among idolaters, or prefer Egypt before the promised land. He was also afraid to undertake this journey without consulting God. (Menochius)
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 On vv2–4 God spake unto Israel--Here is a virtual renewal of…
God spake unto Israel--Here is a virtual renewal of the covenant and an assurance of its blessings. Moreover, here is an answer on the chief subject of Jacob's prayer and a removal of any doubt as to the course he was meditating. At first the prospect of paying a personal visit to Joseph had been viewed with unmingled joy. But, on calmer consideration, many difficulties appeared to lie in the way. He may have remembered the prophecy to Abraham that his posterity was to be afflicted in Egypt and also that his father had been expressly told not to go [Gen 15:13; Gen 26:2]; he may have feared the contamination of idolatry to his family and their forgetfulness of the land of promise. These doubts were removed by the answer of the oracle, and an assurance given him of great and increasing prosperity.
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 On vv2–4 2. God spake unto Israel — “Jacob thought himself…
2. God spake unto Israel — “Jacob thought himself led by the hand of Providence, yet we may imagine him oppressed by sadness as he turns his back upon the land of promise — the land of his childhood and manhood, the land where were the graves of Abraham, and Isaac, and of his beloved Rachel — and sets his face towards the dreary desert. Is it thus that God is to make Canaan his inheritance? But in his trial God appears to him, as he did to Abraham in a similar crisis, (Gen_15:1,) and to Isaac, when the same doubt oppressed him, (Gen_25:24,) and the same cheering words come to Jacob that came to them.” — Newhall.
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 On vv2–4 2. in the visions of the night] A generic…
2. in the visions of the night] A generic plural for the phenomena of dreams. The versions give the sing. For the word, cf. Num_12:6; 1Sa_3:15; Dan_10:7-8. For revelations granted at night, cf. Gen_20:3, Gen_28:12 ff.
Jacob, Jacob] The sentence, as it stands, is striking: “God said to Israel, ‘Jacob, Jacob.’ ” The juxtaposition of the two names “Israel” and “Jacob” may indicate the fusion of the two narratives—J, which prefers “Israel,” and E, which prefers “Jacob.”
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 On vv3–4 (3) I am God, the God of thy father.—Heb.,…
(3) I am God, the God of thy father.—Heb., I am the El, the Elohim of thy father. This is the last revelation given to Jacob, nor is any other supernatural event recorded until the vision of the burning bush (Exo_3:4). It is brief, clear, and decisive, and every clause is weighty. Jacob is to migrate into Egypt, his race is to grow there into a nation, so that the stay there would be long; God’s presence and blessing will accompany and remain with them, and finally will bring them back to the promised land. For himself, too, there is the promise that Joseph will tend his sick bed and be with him at his death.
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 On vv2–4 And God (Elohim) spake unto Israel in the visions…
And God (Elohim) spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob the name Jacob being employed probably to remind Jacob of what he had been (Lawson, Bush, Wordsworth), and repeated ut magis attentus reddatur (Calvin). And he said, Here am I literally, behold me, (cf. Gen_22:1)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v3 And He said, I am God, the God of…
Gen_46:3-4
And He said, I am God, the God of thy father, fear not to go down into Egypt
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Divine assurance vouchsafed to Jacob
Not the invitation of Pharaoh, not the urgent message of Joseph, not even the warmth of his own love alone, carried Jacob out of Canaan.
These furnished the occasion and the impulse, but the head of the covenant people did not leave the Land of Promise without the warrant of his covenant God. There were four promises.
1. I will make of thee a great nation, a promise which ran far into the future. A people great in numbers, greater in their influence on all the earth to the end of time, should be formed of his seed, and formed in Egypt.
2. I will go down with thee. Over every circumstance of the future, nearer and more remote, the Living and Almighty. God would watch.
3. I will also surely bring thee up again. The old promise of the land would not be changed. For the purpose of forming the nation which should possess the land, were they now being taken into Egypt; when the nation had been formed according to Gods promise, He would bring them back.
4. And Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. Long before the nation was formed, Jacobs time to die should come; but when it came it would be accompanied with this tender consolation, the loving touch of Josephs hand on the eyelids he could no longer move. That was to be his last sensation. And it would convey to him far more than the joy of his sons love; it would be the pledge that his soul was passing into the hands of the faithful Redeemer who had given this promise so long before. Thus it was by faith that Israel went into Egypt, consciously led by the hand of God. (A. M.Symington, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v3 I am God
I am God
It is important to distinguish between the directive and the permissive will of God. In the first sense the place for the covenant family was Canaan Gen 26:1-5; Gen 46:3 is a touching instance of the permissive will of God. Jacob’s family, broken, and in part already in Egypt, the tenderness of Jehovah would not forbid the aged patriarch to follow. God will take up His people and, so far as possible, bless them, even when they are out of His best. In Israel’s choice of a king 1Sa 8:7-9 in the turning back from Kadesh Deu 1:19-22 in the sending of the spies; in the case of Balaam--illustrations of this principle are seen. It is needless to say that God’s permissive will never extends to things morally wrong. The highest blessing is ever found in obedience to His directive will.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2, 4 46:2-4 In a night vision, the Lord repeated his…
46:2-4 In a night vision, the Lord repeated his promise to go with Jacob and make his family into a great nation in Egypt. The same God who led the family into Egypt promised to bring them out of Egypt to live once again in the land of Canaan.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.