Read Gen 28:10-29:30 at Bible Gateway.
the teaching tools of scripture
Hebrew paragraph divisions:
Gen 28:10-32:2 {p} God makes then fulfills His promise to Jacob
strong themes of the parashah:
None this week
Gen 28:10-29:1 chiastic structure:
I am not yet wise enough to see the single chiastic structure triennial vayetze makes. Here is one portion of it:
1a) Gen 28:10, Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran;
1b) Gen 28:11a, He came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head;
1c) Gen 28:11b, And he lay down in that place to sleep;
central axis) Gen 28:12-15, Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you;”
2c) Gen 28:16-18a, Then Jacob awoke from his sleep + arose early in the morning;
1a) Gen 28:16a, Then Jacob awoke from his sleep;
1b) Gen 28:16b, And said: Surely the Lord is in this place;
central axis) Gen 28:16c, “And I did not know it;”
2b) Gen 28:17, And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
2a) Gen 28:18a, Then Jacob arose early in the morning;
2b) Gen 28:18b-22, He took the stone that he had put at his head, anointed + named it Bethel, the house of God;
1a.1) Gen 28:18b, He took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it;
1a.2) Gen 28:19, He called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously;
central axis) Gen 28:20-21a, Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God;”
2a.1) Gen 28:22a, And this stone which I have set as a pillar;
2a.2) Gen 28:22b, Shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You;
2a) Gen 29:1, So Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the East.
Theme of the parashah:
God confirms Abraham’s covenant with Jacob
Finding Messiah in Torah:
Jesus Himself pointed out that He can be found in the passage about Jacob’s dream, when He said to Nathaniel,
And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” Joh 1:51
Mankind can try to build a tower whose top reaches into the heavens, but the Ladder which God has provided is the Way into heaven, who is Jesus Christ our Lord!
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