Genesis 28:20

Webster's Bible (1833)

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 clothing 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 your servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If Yahweh shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve Yahweh.
• Gen 31:13 : 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you vowed a vow to me. Now arise, get out from this land, and return to the land of your birth."
• 1 Tim 6:8 : 8 But having food and clothing, we will be content with that.
• Gen 28:15 : 15 Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you."
• Lev 27:1-9 : 1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, 'When a man makes a vow, the persons shall be for Yahweh by your valuation. 3 Your valuation shall be of a male from twenty years old even to sixty years old, even your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 If it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5 If the person is from five years old even to twenty years old, then your valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 6 If the person is from a month old even to five years old, then your valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver. 7 If the person is from sixty years old and upward; if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 8 But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to the ability of him who vowed shall the priest value him. 9 "'If it is an animal, of which men offer an offering to Yahweh, all that any man gives of such to Yahweh becomes 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 animal for animal, then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy. 11 If it is any unclean animal, of which they do not offer as an offering to Yahweh, then he shall set the animal before the priest; 12 and the priest shall value it, whether it is good or bad. As you the priest values it, so shall it be. 13 But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of it to its valuation. 14 "'When a man dedicates his house to be holy to Yahweh, then the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad: as the priest shall evaluate it, so shall it stand. 15 If he who dedicates it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall be his. 16 "'If a man dedicates to Yahweh part of the field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it: the sowing of a homer of barley shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand. 18 But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money according to the years that remain to the Year of Jubilee; and an abatement shall be made from your valuation. 19 If he who dedicated the field will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall remain his. 20 If he will not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more; 21 but the field, when it goes out in the Jubilee, shall be holy to Yahweh, as a field devoted; it shall be owned by the priests. 22 "'If he dedicates to Yahweh a field which he has bought, which is not of the field of his possession, 23 then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation up to the Year of Jubilee; and he shall give your valuation on that day, as a holy thing to Yahweh. 24 In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongs. 25 All your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel. 26 "'Only the firstborn among animals, which is made a firstborn to Yahweh, no man may dedicate it; whether an ox or sheep, it is Yahweh's. 27 If it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back according to your valuation, and shall add to it the fifth part of it: or if it isn't redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation. 28 "'Notwithstanding, no devoted thing, that a man shall devote to Yahweh of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy to Yahweh. 29 "'No one devoted, who shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death. 30 "'All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is Yahweh's. It is holy to Yahweh. 31 If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it. 32 All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to Yahweh. 33 He shall not search whether it is good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he changes 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 Yahweh commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.
• Num 6:1-9 : 1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh, 3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried. 4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins. 5 "All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come on his head, until the days are fulfilled, in which he separates himself to Yahweh. He shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long. 6 "All the days that he separates himself to Yahweh he shall not go near 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 to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy to Yahweh. 9 "If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his separation; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. On the seventh day he shall shave it. 10 On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting. 11 The priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall make his head holy that same day. 12 He shall separate to Yahweh the days of his separation, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a trespass offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled. 13 "This is the law of the Nazirite: when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the Tent of Meeting, 14 and he shall offer his offering to Yahweh, one male 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 mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal offering, and their drink offerings. 16 The priest shall present them before Yahweh, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering. 17 He shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its meal offering, and its drink offering. 18 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 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 on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the head of his separation; 20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. This is holy for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.
• Num 21:2-3 : 2 Israel vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. 3 Yahweh listened 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 Jephthah vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, 31 then it shall be, that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
• 1 Sam 1:11 : 11 She vowed a vow, and said, Yahweh of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your handmaid, and remember me, and not forget your handmaid, but will give to your handmaid a man-child, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come on his head.
• 1 Sam 1:28 : 28 therefore also I have granted him to Yahweh; as long as he lives he is granted to Yahweh. He worshiped Yahweh there.
• 1 Sam 14:24 : 24 The men of Israel were distressed that day; for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man who eats any food until it be evening, and I be avenged on my enemies. So none of the people tasted food.
• Neh 9:1-9 : 1 Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth on them. 2 The seed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 They stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of Yahweh their God a fourth part of the day; and [another] fourth part they confessed, and worshiped Yahweh their God. 4 Then stood up on the stairs of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, [and] Chenani, and cried with a loud voice to Yahweh their God. 5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless Yahweh your God from everlasting to everlasting; and blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You are Yahweh, even you alone; you have 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 you preserve them all; and the host of heaven worships you. 7 You are Yahweh the God, who did choose Abram, and brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gave him the name of Abraham, 8 and found his heart faithful before you, and made 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 to his seed, and have performed your words; for you are righteous. 9 You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red Sea, 10 and shown signs and wonders on Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land; for you knew that they dealt proudly against them, and did get you a name, as it is this day.
• Ps 22:25 : 25 Of you comes my praise in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him.
• Ps 56:12 : 12 Your vows are on me, God. I will give thank offerings to you.
• Ps 61:5 : 5 For you, God, have heard my vows. You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
• Ps 61:8 : 8 So I will sing praise to your name forever, That I may fulfill my vows daily.
• Ps 66:13 : 13 I will come into your temple with burnt offerings. I will pay my vows to you,
• Ps 76:11 : 11 Make vows to Yahweh your God, and fulfill them! Let all of his neighbors bring presents to him who is to be feared.
• Ps 116:14 : 14 I will pay my vows to Yahweh, Yes, in the presence of all his people.
• Ps 116:18 : 18 I will pay my vows to Yahweh, Yes, in the presence of all his people,
• Ps 119:106 : 106 I have sworn, and have confirmed it, That I will obey your righteous ordinances.
• Ps 132:2 : 2 How he swore to Yahweh, And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:
• Eccl 5:1-7 : 1 Guard your steps when you go to God's house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they don't know that they do evil. 2 Don't be rash with your mouth, and don't let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few. 3 For as a dream comes with a multitude of cares, so a fool's speech with a multitude of words. 4 When you vow a vow to God, don't defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Don't allow your mouth to lead you into sin. Don't protest before the messenger that this was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, as well as in many words: but you must fear God.
• Isa 19:21 : 21 Yahweh shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Yahweh in that day; yes, they shall worship with sacrifice and offering, and shall vow a vow to Yahweh, and shall perform it.
• John 1:16 : 16 From his fullness we all received grace upon grace.
• Acts 18:18 : 18 Paul, having stayed after this many more days, took his leave of the brothers,{The word for "brothers" here and where the context allows may also be correctly translated "brothers and sisters" or "siblings."} and sailed from there for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head in Cenchreae, for he had a vow.
• Acts 23:12-15 : 12 When it was day, some of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty people who had made this conspiracy. 14 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, you with the council inform the commanding officer that he should bring him down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to judge his case more exactly. We are ready to kill him before he comes near."