The real meaning of Jacob’s vow

The strange promise

Reading the translation, it seems like Jacob did bargain with God. The dream took place when Jacob was on the way to Haran from Beer-Sheba. When Jacob wakes up, he promises that if God is his protector, he will worship God and give him the tithe. This promise seems very strange: if God does his part – and does it first – Jacob will do his part and accept Him as his God.
  

The Hebrew perspective

In Hebrew, however, these verses sound different. Only the word “and” separates the two clauses of Jacob’s vow, “If God will be with me … AND the LORD shall be my God”. Therefore, we can read verse 22 as the beginning of Jacob’s part, “THEN this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house….”. With this word “and”, Hebrew gives us a completely different meaning to this event.

Understand Jacob’s promise

Did Jacob bargain with God? Of course, Jacob at Bethel is not yet that man of faith who will be called Israel. His vow was his human response to the covenant God just offered him. And yet, Hebrew lets us see that even at Bethel, Jacob wasn’t bargaining with God – he was just holding Him to His own promise. Enroll in our live online course, Discovering the Hebrew Bible, and see how Hebrew sheds a new light on familiar Biblical stories.