The Difference that God Makes
The Difference God can make in a life
16–17 The story shows Jacob waking up in two stages. First, described in these verses, comes the feeling of awe as he wakes. Then, when he rises, he solemnly dedicates one of the stones and vows to bring his tithes to the God who dwells in this place (vv 18–22). Throughout Scripture the encounter with God brings fear; when sinful man meets the holy God, he is overawed and often becomes acutely conscious of his sin and unworthiness to stand in the divine presence (3:10; Exod 3:6; 20:15(18); Judg 6:23; 13:22). “House of God” (בֵּית אֱלּהִים bêt ʾĕlōhîm) anticipates the name Jacob is about to give to the place, “Bethel” (v 19). “Gate of heaven” occurs only here in the OT, but the idea that heaven, the divine abode, has one or more entrances is a familiar idea in ancient thought. The etymology of Babylon, “the gate of the god,” is similar (cf. Comment on 11:9).
18 To show his piety, Jacob takes one of the stones and sets it up as a sacred מצבה “pillar,” dedicating it by pouring oil. Stones could be erected as memorials to the dead (35:20; 2 Sam 18:18) or as witnesses to agreements, especially boundary agreements (31:45, 51). Standing stones are frequently mentioned elsewhere in the OT as a feature of Canaanite religion that is to be shunned, “Beside the altar of the LORD … you shall not set up a pillar, which the Lord your God hates” (Deut 16:21–22; cf. Exod 23:24; 34:13; 1 Kgs 14:23). Now it may be argued, as de Pury (Promesse divine) and Westermann do, that Jacob’s stone is merely a witness, a reminder of Jacob’s experience and of his vow. However, the wording of the vow, “this stone will be a house of God,” and his pouring oil over it, a gesture frequently associated with consecrating cultic items (Exod 40:9–13; Lev 8:10–12; Num 7:1), makes it likely that the stone is seen as more than a mere witness. It is a cult object endued with divine power and representing God himself (cf. Houtman, VT 27 [1977] 343). The eighth-century Sefire treaties speak of the stones on which the treaties are inscribed as bty ʾlhyʾ “bethels, houses of the gods” (Sefire 2.C.2–3, 9–10): “Sacred stones sometimes considered as the dwelling of the god or even as the god himself” (J. A. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire, BibOr19 [Rome: Biblical Institute, 1967] 90). Philo of Byblos much later talks of animate stones, calling them baitylia, clearly a Greek transliteration of the Semitic term “bethels.” This passage in Genesis provides evidence that this notion of sacred stones long antedates the Sefire inscriptions. Indeed, the discrepancy between Jacob’s deeds and later Mosaic injunction is an indication that this tradition does indeed go back to patriarchal times. That patriarchal religious practice does not everywhere conform to later pentateuchal law is one sign of the antiquity of the Genesis tradition (see Introduction, “The Religion of the Patriarchs”). Indeed, it is hard to envisage this episode being recorded at all after the late tenth century, when Bethel became a center for the Canaanite-style worship of bull calves. Here, though, it is glorified as a most holy sanctuary owing its foundation to Jacob himself, and this suggests the tradition comes from an era before Jeroboam’s schism had sullied Bethel’s reputation.
19 Though it might have seemed more natural to put this explanation of the change of Luz’s name to Bethel at the end of the account, frequently Genesis prefers to put such etiological notes before the end (cf. 16:14; 22:14; 33:17). Evidently they are seen as incidental to the main story line. On the location of Bethel, cf. Comment on 12:8.
20–22 This vow is of great importance within the Jacob cycle, for it is mentioned again at key points (31:13; 35:1–3, 7). But the assertion of Westermann and others that it is a secondary element added later to the narrative is unlikely. It is in fact entirely suitable. Under Form/Structure/Setting, it was noted that dreams in the ancient Orient always contained a message from the deity; they were not left uninterpreted. So vv 13–15 are likely to be original. And it is precisely the wording of the promises in vv 15, “I am really with you,” “guard,” and “bring you back,” that are echoed by Jacob in v 20. Furthermore, dreams usually culminate in the foundation of a sanctuary, and this is reported in v 22. Finally, the circumstances in which Jacob makes his vow are entirely fitting. Typically in the OT, a “vow is pronounced in a situation of distress, preferably in the sanctuary, and when the believer’s prayer has been answered, the vow is fulfilled in the sanctuary. But the narrative in Gen 28 and the whole Jacob cycle presuppose a situation in which a vow is fully appropriate. Jacob is in a distressed state, running away from home, which is equivalent to being under threat of death. He has just received an unexpected revelation announcing his return to his country and guaranteeing him safety on the journey. What can be more natural than for Jacob to make a vow and pledge himself to worship the deity when the divine promise is fulfilled, that is when Jacob has returned to the sanctuary” (de Pury, Promesse divine, 438).
20–21a As already noted, Jacob’s conditions echo the promises made in v 15; only the mention of food and clothing is additional. Jacob’s prayer is thus based on the divine promise. To suggest that divine promises make prayer redundant, so that Jacob’s vow must come from a different author from the promise, misunderstands the nature of petitionary prayer within Scripture (cf. Luke 11:5–13).
21b–22 Though some rabbinic commentators, e.g., Rashi, regard “the Lord will be my God” as Jacob’s final condition/petition, “and if the Lord is my God,” this seems less likely than seeing it as the apodosis. In other words, Jacob promises that if the Lord brings him back safely, that (1) he will worship the Lord, (2) venerate this place as holy (here as in vv 17–18, the sacred stone represents the holiness of the whole area), and (3) offer tithes. In making the Lord his God and offering tithes, Jacob is imitating the actions of his grandfather Abraham (cf. 17:7; 14:20). He is also, as father of the nation, setting a pattern for all Israel to follow.
Explanation
Despite a warm paternal send-off (28:3–4), Jacob must have been frightened and depressed leaving home. He, the quiet home-loving boy, had been forced to flee for his life because of the hatred of his brother. Now on the first night away from home, he could not find anyone to give him a bed for the night, and he was forced to lie down under the stars. Doubtless, he must have wondered whether there was anything in his father’s pious hopes for his future.
At last, falling asleep, he started dreaming. He saw angels going up and down a stairway between earth and heaven, going out to patrol the earth, so that wherever he went he would be accompanied by divine protectors (cf. 48:15–16). And standing above the ladder he saw the Lord himself, who introduced himself as the God of his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham and assured Jacob that the promises made to them would be true for him as well: he would inherit the land, have descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth, and bring blessing to the nations. But these were old promises looking to the long-term future; they did not deal with Jacob’s immediate needs. But these the Lord also addressed.
“I am really with you and will guard you wherever you go and bring you back to this land.” Jacob was the first in Bible history to hear the assurance “I am with you,” a promise later repeated to many of the nation’s leaders, Moses (Exod 3:12), Joshua (Josh 1:5), and Gideon (Judg 6:16); indeed Emmanuel, “God with us,” (Isa 7:14; Matt 1:23) speaks of God’s continuing presence with all his people, “for he has said ‘I will never leave you or forsake you’ ” (Heb 13:5). More than this, though, Jacob is assured of protection, “I will guard you wherever you go,” a sentiment reechoed in the priestly blessing, “The Lord bless you and keep (guard) you” (Num 6:24), and in the Psalms (e.g., 121, 23). It may well be that the angels in the dream are seen as Jacob’s invisible bodyguards, for as another Psalm (91:11–12) says,
For he will give his angels charge of you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.
Finally, last but not least for the home-lover Jacob, he was assured, “I will bring you back to this land.” Little did he suspect that it would be twenty years before he came back, but he never stopped looking forward to that day.
For Jacob, this was his first personal encounter with God; he knew his parents’ faith and of their own religious experiences, but now for the first time he has come face to face with God, and he is scared and overwhelmed. He confesses, “Truly the Lord is in this place, yet I did not realize it.” So he immediately starts to worship according to the customs of the age. He sets up the stone that had guarded his head as a sacred pillar using the oil he had taken for his journey to consecrate it, and he makes a vow. Vows were often made in Bible times by those in distress, e.g., Jephthah (Judg 11:30–39), Hannah (1 Sam 1:10–28), and Jonah and his sailors (Jon 1:16–2:10 [9]). Vows were solemn prayers, usually accompanied by sacrifice, in which the worshiper promised to give God something, e.g., a sacrifice, the child Samuel, or here tithes, when the prayer was answered. Some have questioned Jacob’s faith in making a vow contingent on his safe return to his homeland, when this had just been promised by God. But real experience of God must always result in heartfelt worship; here he gave all he had, the stone and the oil, and promised to give a tenth of all his future income when his affairs improved. To pray for a safe return showed faith, not unbelief. Indeed, throughout Scripture the basis of prayer is divine promises; it is because we have been promised food, clothes, and the forgiveness of sins that we pray “Our Father … give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts” (Matt 6:9–33; cf. Luke 11:2–13).
Jacob’s experience at Bethel reaffirmed the promises yet again and brought their fulfillment one step closer. But more than that, his experience is a model for everyone, reminding us that in our moments of deepest crisis God is still with us and will eventually bring his promises to fulfillment in us if we trust him. Philip Doddridge summed up the significance of this episode for every believer in his hymn:
O God of Bethel, by Whose hand
Thy people still are fed,
Who through this weary pilgrimage
Hast all our fathers led.
Our vows, our prayers, we now present
Before Thy Throne of grace;
God of our fathers, be the God
Of their succeeding race.
Through each perplexing path of life
Our wandering footsteps guide;
Give us each day our daily bread
And raiment fit provide.
O spread Thy covering wings around,
Till all our wanderings cease,
And at our Father’s loved abode
Our souls arrive in peace.
Jacob Arrives at Laban’s House (
