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And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;
Genesis 28:3 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a company of peoples,
  • BSB May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
  • NKJV “May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples;
  • NASB May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a multitude of peoples.
  • NLT May God Almighty bless you and give you many children. And may your descendants multiply and become many nations!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Isaac invokes God Almighty (El Shaddai) to bless Jacob with fruitfulness and make him a company of peoples.

Overview

Isaac consciously passes the Abrahamic promise of fruitfulness and nationhood to Jacob, using the name El Shaddai by which God had covenanted with Abraham. The blessing looks forward to the twelve tribes—the "company of peoples"—that will descend from him. Here Isaac, by faith, hands on the very promises that will culminate in the nation of Israel and ultimately in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Gen 48:3And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
  • Gen 35:11And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
  • Gen 17:1–6And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
  • Gen 1:28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
  • Gen 22:17–18That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
  • Gen 43:14And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.
  • Gen 9:1And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
  • Gen 41:52And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
  • Gen 13:16And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
  • Gen 24:60And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.
  • Ps 127:3Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
  • Rev 21:22And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
  • Exod 6:3And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
  • 2 Cor 6:18And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
  • Ps 127:1Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 28:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.

How Genesis 28:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.