Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’
Parallel translations
- WEB The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’
- KJV And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.
- BSB In that dream the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ And I replied, ‘Here I am.’
- NASB Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob’; and I said, ‘Here I am.’
- NLT Then in my dream, the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ And I replied, ‘Yes, here I am.’
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
The angel of God calls Jacob by name in the dream, and Jacob answers, 'Here I am.' God personally addresses Jacob.
Overview
The 'angel of God' here speaks as God himself, identifying as 'the God of Bethel' in verse 13, a striking instance of God's personal self-revelation. Jacob's ready answer, 'Here I am,' echoes the responsiveness of Abraham and others called by God. Many faithful interpreters see in such appearances of 'the angel of the LORD' a foreshadowing of the pre-incarnate Son, though the text does not explicitly say so.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Isa 58:9Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away from among you the yoke, finger pointing, and speaking wickedly;
- Gen 31:13I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you vowed a vow to me. Now arise, get out from this land, and return to the land of your birth.’”
- Gen 31:5and said to them, “I see the expression on your father’s face, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.
- 1 Sam 3:4Yahweh called Samuel; and he said, “Here I am.”
- Gen 18:17Yahweh said, “Will I hide from Abraham what I do,
- Gen 48:15–16He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
- Exod 3:4When Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the middle of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Here I am.”
- 1 Sam 3:16Then Eli called Samuel, and said, “Samuel, my son!” He said, “Here I am.”
- 1 Sam 3:6Yahweh called yet again, “Samuel!” Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” He answered, “I didn’t call, my son. Lie down again.”
- 1 Sam 3:8Yahweh called Samuel again the third time. He arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” Eli perceived that Yahweh had called the child.
- Gen 22:1After these things, God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” He said, “Here I am.”
- Gen 18:1Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.
- Gen 16:7–13Yahweh’s angel found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain on the way to Shur.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 31:11 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.