And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
Parallel translations
- WEB Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan.
- BSB Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had resided, the land of Canaan.
- NKJV Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
- NASB Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had lived as a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
- NLT So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner.
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
This shifts focus to Jacob, who lived in Canaan, the land of his fathers. It marks the return to the covenant line after Esau's genealogy.
Overview
In contrast to Esau, who settled in Edom, Jacob dwelt in Canaan, the land of promise where his fathers had sojourned as strangers. This deliberate contrast highlights that Jacob, not Esau, was the heir of God's covenant with Abraham. The verse sets the stage for the Joseph narrative, in which God works through Jacob's family to preserve the line that leads to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Gen 17:8And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
- Gen 23:4I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
- Gen 36:7For their riches were more than that they might dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle.
- Gen 28:4And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
- Heb 11:9–16By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
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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 37:1 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
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