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Then Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
Genesis 48:3 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
  • KJV And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
  • BSB Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me
  • NKJV Then Jacob said to Joseph: “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
  • NLT Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me.

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

Jacob recounts how God Almighty appeared to him at Luz (Bethel) and blessed him. He grounds the coming blessing in God's own promise.

Overview

Jacob recalls the theophany at Bethel where God Almighty (El Shaddai) confirmed the covenant to him. By rehearsing this divine encounter, he shows that the blessings he passes on rest on God's word, not human authority. The faithfulness of the covenant-keeping God is the foundation of all that follows.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Gen 35:9–12God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him.
  • 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.
  • Gen 28:3May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a company of peoples,
  • 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 28:12–19He dreamed. Behold, a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
  • Hos 12:4Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us,
  • Rev 21:11having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, as if it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
  • Gen 35:6–7So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.
  • Judg 1:23The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city before that was Luz.)

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 48:3YouTube · 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 48:3 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.