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God also said to him, “I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a multitude of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come from you.
Genesis 35:11 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB God said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your body.
  • KJV And 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;
  • BSB And God told him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation—even a company of nations—shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you.
  • NKJV Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.
  • NLT Then God said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Be fruitful and multiply. You will become a great nation, even many nations. Kings will be among your descendants!

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

God reveals Himself as God Almighty and promises Jacob fruitfulness, nations, and kings among his descendants.

Overview

As 'El Shaddai,' God renews to Jacob the blessings given to Abraham and Isaac, promising a multitude of descendants, nations, and royal lineage. The promise of kings looks ahead to David's line and ultimately to Christ, the King who comes from Israel. God's covenant word here advances the unfolding plan of redemption.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 21

  • Gen 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless.
  • Gen 9:1God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth.
  • Gen 22:17that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your offspring greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gate of his enemies.
  • Gen 17:5–7Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
  • Exod 6:3and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them.
  • 2 Cor 6:18I will be to you a Father. You will be to me sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.”
  • Gen 17:16I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her.”
  • Gen 28:3–4May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a company of peoples,
  • Gen 12:2I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.
  • Gen 15:5Yahweh brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So will your offspring be.”
  • Gen 43:14May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”
  • 1 Sam 1:1–28Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
  • Gen 28:14Your offspring will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your offspring will all the families of the earth be blessed.
  • Gen 32:12You said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which can’t be counted because there are so many.’”
  • Gen 18:18since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him?
  • Exod 1:7The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
  • Num 1:1–26Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
  • Gen 48:3–4Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
  • Gen 13:16I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can count the dust of the earth, then your offspring may also be counted.
  • Gen 18:14Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son.”
  • Gen 46:3He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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 35:11YouTube · 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 35:11 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.