What Does Genesis 28:20 Mean in the King James?
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,
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 verb translated “keep” means to guard and watch, placing care inside the steps of Jacob’s journey.
THE MEANING
The path you are on is pictured in ordinary terms: someone with you, a guarded way, bread to eat, clothing to wear. The vow is conditional; here, the care Jacob asks for remains an if rather than a settled outcome.
THE ROOT
וּשְׁמָרַנִי
u-shemarani
GROWS FROM
שמר
shamar
To guard, watch, or keep.
The root carries active guarding and watching, so “keep me” evokes attention along the road, not only preservation at some later point. Jacob asks for that watchfulness while he is going his way.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: Keeper, guard, or watchman.
שֹׁמֵר
This branch makes the keeping a watchful presence.
mishmeret: Watch, charge, or guard duty.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
The same root can name ongoing care entrusted to someone.
דֶּרֶךְ
déreḵ
GROWS FROM
דרך
d-r-k
To tread, step, or march.
Derekh comes from a root meaning to tread: a way is ground crossed step by step. The verse places the request within the actual movement of the journey, not only at its destination.
ALSO GROWS
darak: To tread, step, or march.
דָּרַךְ
This verb makes the path’s connection to physical movement audible.
dorek: One who treads or steps.
דֹּרֵךְ
The path is made by someone moving along it, as Jacob is here.
יַעֲקֹב
Ya'aqov
GROWS FROM
עקב
ʿ-q-b
Heel; the related verb can mean to follow at the heel or supplant.
Jacob’s name echoes the heel, while the related verb can mean to follow at the heel or supplant. That heel image meets the verse’s journey language: his way is accompanied by a request for guarding, bread, and clothing.
ALSO GROWS
aqev: Heel.
עָקֵב
The heel in the name echoes the verse’s concern with the way Jacob is going.
aqav: To follow at the heel or supplant.
עָקַב
This related verb adds the sense of someone moving close behind or taking another’s place.
THE PATTERN
Care along a journey takes shape as presence, watchfulness, and ordinary provision.
The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.THE THREAD
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither 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.The same root behind “keep”, שמר (shamar), guard or watch, appears in both verses. The promise pairs “I am with thee” with keeping Jacob wherever he goes; his vow echoes that pairing and names bread and clothing as part of the care he seeks.
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