Wayfinding Bible - Flipbook - Page 49
43
Genesis 28
40
“You will live away from the richness of the
earth,
and away from the dew of the heaven
above.
You will live by your sword,
and you will serve your brother.
But when you decide to break free,
you will shake his yoke from your neck.”
JACOB FLEES TO PADDAN-ARAM
From that time on, Esau hated Jacob because
their father had given Jacob the blessing. And
Esau began to scheme: “I will soon be mourning my father’s death. Then I will kill my brother, Jacob.”
42
But Rebekah heard about Esau’s plans. So
she sent for Jacob and told him, “Listen, Esau
is consoling himself by plotting to kill you. 43 So
listen carefully, my son. Get ready and flee to
my brother, Laban, in Haran. 44 Stay there with
him until your brother cools off. 45 When he
calms down and forgets what you have done
to him, I will send for you to come back. Why
should I lose both of you in one day?”
46
Then Rebekah said to I saac, “I’m sick and
tired of these local Hittite women! I would
rather die than see Jacob marry one of them.”
41
28
So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him,
and said, “You must not marry any of
these Canaanite women. 2 Instead, go at once
to Paddan-aram, to the house of your grand
father Bethuel, and marry one of your uncle
Laban’s daughters. 3 May God Almighty* bless
you and give you many children. And may
your descendants multiply and become many
nations! 4 May God pass on to you and your
descendants* the blessings he promised to
Abraham. May you own this land where you
are now living as a foreigner, for God gave this
land to Abraham.”
5
So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to
Paddan-aram to stay with his uncle Laban,
his mother’s brother, the son of Bethuel the
Aramean.
6
Esau knew that his father, Isaac, had
blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram
to find a wife, and that he had warned Jacob,
“You must not marry a Canaanite woman.”
7
He also knew that Jacob had obeyed his parents and gone to Paddan-aram. 8 It was now
very clear to Esau that his father did not like
the local Canaanite women. 9 So Esau visited
his uncle Ishmael’s family and married one of
Ishmael’s daughters, in addition to the wives
he already had. His new wife’s name was Ma
halath. She was the sister of N
ebaioth and the
daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son.
28:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai. 28:4 Hebrew seed; also in 28:13, 14.
JACOB’S JOURNEY TO
PADDAN-ARAM
Paddan-aram Haran
Aleppo
Damascus
AD
ARABIAN
DESERT
GI
Succoth?
Shechem
Eu
LE
Me
dit
err
ane
an S
ea
Hamath
Canaan
Beersheba
Dead Sea
0
0
200 mi.
100
100
200
300 km
ph
ra
tes
Riv
er
Gen 28:5
When Jacob fled from Esau, he
went to Paddam-aram where
his mother Rebekah was from
(Genesis 24). He probably
reversed the route that Abram
had taken when he first t raveled
from Paddan-aram to Canaan
(11:28–12:9). Abram’s servant
probably also took this route
when he went to find Isaac’s wife,
Jacob’s mother. Like his father,
Jacob found a wife in this region.
