Genesis 28:20

American Standard Version (1901)

And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיִּדַּ֥ר יַעֲקֹ֖ב נֶ֣דֶר לֵאמֹ֑ר אִם־יִהְיֶ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֜ים עִמָּדִ֗י וּשְׁמָרַ֙נִי֙ בַּדֶּ֤רֶךְ הַזֶּה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָנֹכִ֣י הוֹלֵ֔ךְ וְנָֽתַן־לִ֥י לֶ֛חֶם לֶאֱכֹ֖ל וּבֶ֥גֶד לִלְבֹּֽשׁ

Transliteration

wə-yiddar yaʿăqōb neder lēʾmōr if-yihyeh ʾĕlōhîm ʿimmādî û-šəmāranî in-the-derek the-this which I hôlēk wə-nātan-lî leḥem to-eat and-beged to-wear

Grammar Details

• *wə-yiddar*: waw consecutive + qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - and he vowed
• *yaʿăqōb*: proper noun - Jacob
• *neder*: noun, masculine singular - vow
• *lēʾmōr*: qal infinitive construct - saying
• *yihyeh*: qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - will be
• *ʾĕlōhîm*: noun, masculine plural - God
• *ʿimmādî*: preposition + 1st common singular suffix - with me
• *û-šəmāranî*: waw conjunction + qal perfect 3rd masculine singular + 1st common singular suffix - and will keep me
• *derek*: noun, masculine singular + definite article - the way/road
• *hôlēk*: qal participle masculine singular - going
• *wə-nātan-lî*: waw conjunction + qal perfect 3rd masculine singular + preposition + 1st common singular suffix - and will give to me
• *leḥem*: noun, masculine singular - bread/food
• *beged*: noun, masculine singular - clothing/garment

Word Meanings

• *yiddar*: vowed/made a vow/pledged
• *neder*: vow/pledge/promise
• *yihyeh*: will be/becomes/remains
• *ʾĕlōhîm*: God/divine beings (plural form with singular meaning)
• *ʿimmādî*: with me/by my side
• *šəmāranî*: will keep me/will protect me/will watch over me
• *derek*: way/road/journey/path
• *hôlēk*: going/walking/traveling
• *nātan*: will give/will provide/will grant
• *leḥem*: bread/food/nourishment
• *beged*: clothing/garment/covering

Referenced Verses

• 2 Sam 15:8 : 8 For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If Jehovah shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve Jehovah.
• Gen 31:13 : 13 I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst a pillar, where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy nativity.
• 1 Tim 6:8 : 8 but having food and covering we shall be therewith content.
• Gen 28:15 : 15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
• Lev 27:1-9 : 1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall accomplish a vow, the persons shall be for Jehovah by thy estimation. 3 And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels. 5 And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 6 And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver. 7 And if it be from sixty years old and upward; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 8 But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to the ability of him that vowed shall the priest value him. 9 And if it be a beast, whereof men offer an oblation unto Jehovah, all that any man giveth of such unto Jehovah shall be holy. 10 He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy. 11 And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer an oblation unto Jehovah, then he shall set the beast before the priest; 12 and the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou the priest valuest it, so shall it be. 13 But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part thereof unto thy estimation. 14 And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto Jehovah, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand. 15 And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his. 16 And if a man shall sanctify unto Jehovah part of the field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the sowing thereof: the sowing of a homer of barley [shall be valued] at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he sanctify his field from the year of jubilee, according to thy estimation it shall stand. 18 But if he sanctify his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain unto the year of jubilee; and an abatement shall be made from thy estimation. 19 And if he that sanctified the field will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him. 20 And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more: 21 but the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee, shall be holy unto Jehovah, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest's. 22 And if he sanctify unto Jehovah a field which he hath bought, which is not of the field of his possession; 23 then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation unto the year of jubilee: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto Jehovah. 24 In the year of jubilee the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongeth. 25 And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel. 26 Only the firstling among beasts, which is made a firstling to Jehovah, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox or sheep, it is Jehovah's. 27 And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall ransom it according to thine estimation, and shall add unto it the fifth part thereof: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation. 28 Notwithstanding, no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto Jehovah of all that he hath, whether of man or beast, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto Jehovah. 29 No one devoted, that shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death. 30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is Jehovah's: it is holy unto Jehovah. 31 And if a man will redeem aught of his tithe, he shall add unto it the fifth part thereof. 32 And all the tithe of the herd or the flock, whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto Jehovah. 33 He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed. 34 These are the commandments, which Jehovah commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.
• Num 6:1-9 : 1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself unto Jehovah, 3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried. 4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the grape-vine, from the kernels even to the husk. 5 All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in which he separateth himself unto Jehovah, he shall be holy; he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long. 6 All the days that he separateth himself unto Jehovah he shall not come near to a dead body. 7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because his separation unto God is upon his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy unto Jehovah. 9 And if any man die very suddenly beside him, and he defile the head of his separation; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it. 10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tent of meeting: 11 and the priest shall offer one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, and make atonement for him, for that he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. 12 And he shall separate unto Jehovah the days of his separation, and shall bring a he-lamb a year old for a trespass-offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled. 13 And this is the law of the Nazirite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tent of meeting: 14 and he shall offer his oblation unto Jehovah, one he-lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt-offering, and one ewe-lamb a year old without blemish for a sin-offering, and one ram without blemish for peace-offerings, 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings. 16 And the priest shall present them before Jehovah, and shall offer his sin-offering, and his burnt-offering: 17 and he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace-offerings unto Jehovah, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also the meal-offering thereof, and the drink-offering thereof. 18 And the Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tent of meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace-offerings. 19 And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazirite, after he hath shaven [the head of] his separation; 20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave-offering before Jehovah; this is holy for the priest, together with the wave-breast and heave- thigh: and after that the Nazirite may drink wine.
• Num 21:2-3 : 2 And Israel vowed a vow unto Jehovah, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. 3 And Jehovah hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and the name of the place was called Hormah.
• Judg 11:30-31 : 30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto Jehovah, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, 31 then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Jehovah's, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering.
• 1 Sam 1:11 : 11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O Jehovah of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but wilt give unto thy handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto Jehovah all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
• 1 Sam 1:28 : 28 therefore also I have granted him to Jehovah; as long as he liveth he is granted to Jehovah. And he worshipped Jehovah there.
• 1 Sam 14:24 : 24 And the men of Israel were distressed that day; for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until it be evening, and I be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted food.
• Neh 9:1-9 : 1 Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth upon them. 2 And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of Jehovah their God a fourth part of the day; and [another] fourth part they confessed, and worshipped Jehovah their God. 4 Then stood up upon the stairs of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, [and] Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto Jehovah their God. 5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless Jehovah your God from everlasting to everlasting; and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 Thou art Jehovah, even thou alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are thereon, the seas and all that is in them, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. 7 Thou art Jehovah the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham, 8 and foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it unto his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous. 9 And thou sawest the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red Sea, 10 and showedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land; for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them, and didst get thee a name, as it is this day.
• Ps 22:25 : 25 Of thee cometh my praise in the great assembly: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
• Ps 56:12 : 12 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render thank-offerings unto thee.
• Ps 61:5 : 5 For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: Thou hast given [me] the heritage of those that fear thy name.
• Ps 61:8 : 8 So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, That I may daily perform my vows.
• Ps 66:13 : 13 I will come into thy house with burnt-offerings; I will pay thee my vows,
• Ps 76:11 : 11 Vow, and pay unto Jehovah your God: Let all that are round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.
• Ps 116:14 : 14 I will pay my vows unto Jehovah, Yea, in the presence of all his people.
• Ps 116:18 : 18 I will pay my vows unto Jehovah, Yea, in the presence of all his people,
• Ps 119:106 : 106 I have sworn, and have confirmed it, That I will observe thy righteous ordinances.
• Ps 132:2 : 2 How he sware unto Jehovah, And vowed unto the Mighty One of Jacob:
• Eccl 5:1-7 : 1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God; for to draw nigh to hear is better than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they know not that they do evil. 2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. 3 For a dream cometh with a multitude of business, and a fool's voice with a multitude of words. 4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou vowest. 5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands? 7 For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, and in many words: but fear thou God.
• Isa 19:21 : 21 And Jehovah shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Jehovah in that day; yea, they shall worship with sacrifice and oblation, and shall vow a vow unto Jehovah, and shall perform it.
• John 1:16 : 16 For of his fulness we all received, and grace for grace.
• Acts 18:18 : 18 And Paul, having tarried after this yet many days, took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila: having shorn his head in Cenchreae; for he had a vow.
• Acts 23:12-15 : 12 And when it was day, the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. 13 And they were more than forty that made this conspiracy. 14 And they came to the chief priests and the elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. 15 Now therefore do ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you, as though ye would judge of his case more exactly: and we, before he comes near, are ready to slay him.