What Does Genesis 28:13 Mean in the King James?
And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The LORD’s stationed presence turns Jacob’s resting place into the point where land is given and the future is sown.
THE MEANING
The LORD identifies himself through Abraham and Isaac, יִצְחָק (Yitzchak, “laughter”), and gives Jacob the land beneath him and its future to his seed. As you read, the verse holds place and continuation together: what lies under Jacob is joined to what grows beyond him.
THE ROOT
נִצָּב
nitsav
GROWS FROM
יצב
yatsav
To stand, take one’s position, or be stationed.
“stood” in this verse is nitsav. The verb carries the sense of being stationed, not merely upright. Its root also forms the word for a standing pillar, linking the LORD’s position over the encounter with the stone Jacob sets up at this place.
ALSO GROWS
matzevah: Standing stone, pillar.
מַצֵּבָה
The same root names the pillar Jacob raises at this place in the next verse, turning a stance into a marker.
nitzavim: Those standing or stationed.
נִצָּבִים
This form keeps the root’s sense of being positioned in a presence, echoing the LORD’s stance over the encounter.
נָתַן
nathan
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
To give, set, or place.
“give” in this verse is nathan. The same verb holds giving and placing together: the land is bestowed and located beneath Jacob at once. The gift is not abstract or separate from place; it meets Jacob where he lies.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: Gift.
מַתָּנָה
The land arrives as a gift rather than as something Jacob brings into being.
nathun: Given, set, or placed.
נָתוּן
This form makes the connection between what is bestowed and what is set in place visible in the promised land.
זֶרַע
zeraʿ
GROWS FROM
זרע
z-r-ʿ
To sow or scatter seed.
זֶרַע means both seed and offspring, so the family line is heard as what is sown and continues to grow. The promise reaches beyond Jacob without leaving the concrete image of seed behind.
ALSO GROWS
zaraʿ: To sow.
זָרַע
Sowing makes the promised line an image of continuation, carried forward from what is placed in the ground.
zore’a: Sower.
זֹרֵעַ
The sower carries seed onward, opening the land’s gift toward generations after Jacob.
THE PATTERN
Divine presence joins heaven to a particular earthly place or embodied life, turning encounter into a threshold of revelation.
And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.THE THREAD
And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.In the next verse, “pillar” comes from the same root as “stood” here. The LORD’s stationing over Jacob’s encounter is answered by a stone Jacob sets upright, joining divine presence and human remembrance through one root.
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