Genesis 28:14

14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.^[a]

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Genesis 28:14 in Other Translations

KJV

14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

ESV

14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

NLT

14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.

MSG

14 Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they'll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants.

CSB

14 Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

Genesis 28:14 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 28:14

And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth
Innumerable, see ( Genesis 13:16 ) ( Numbers 23:10 ) ; and thou shalt spread abroad to the west;
or "the sea", the Mediterranean sea, which was west of the land of Canaan: and to the east, and to the north, and to the south;
not of the whole world, but of the land of Canaan: the meaning is, that his posterity should be numerous, and break out and spread themselves like a flood of water, and reach to the utmost bounds of the land on all sides: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be
blessed;
that is, in that eminent and principal seed that should spring from him, the Messiah, in whom some of all nations should, as they have been, be blessed with all spiritual blessings, as redemption, peace, pardon, justification, adoption, and eternal life; the same promise had been made to Abraham, was renewed to Isaac, and now confirmed to Jacob, see ( Genesis 22:18 ) ( 26:4 ) .

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Genesis 28:14 In-Context

12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

13 There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.

15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”

Cross References 3

1. Genesis 26:4
2. S Genesis 12:2; S Genesis 13:14; S Genesis 26:24
3. S Genesis 12:3; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 22:18; Acts 3:25; Galatians 3:8

Footnotes 1

[a]. Or "will use your name and the name of your offspring in blessings" (see 48:20)