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Throughout Genesis, land often symbolizes prosperity that comes from God’s faithfulness. When Abram (later called Abraham) settles in Canaan, led there from Ur, God makes a covenant with him, promising him that the whole land will one day belong to him and his offspring. Along with offspring (which God likewise promises to Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac’s son Jacob), land is the other element needed in order to become a nation. In other words, land is closely tied to the blessing of fruitfulness; Abraham and his offspring will fill the land much as God once commanded Adam and Eve, and then Noah’s family, to multiply and fill the earth. It is also tied to God’s promised faithfulness, as seen when Joseph dies in Egypt at the end of Genesis, assuring his family that God will someday lead them back to the promised land.
Land Quotes in Genesis
The Genesis quotes below all refer to the symbol of Land. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 50
Quotes
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, “When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.” And Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old; he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Genesis LitChart as a printable PDF.
Land Symbol Timeline in Genesis
The timeline below shows where the symbol Land appears in Genesis. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...gathered the waters under the sky into one place, calling them seas. This allowed dry land—the Earth—to appear. God saw that these things were good. Then he created all kinds of...
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Chapter 12
The LORD tells Abram to leave his country and family and enter a land that God will show him. The LORD says that he will make of Abram “a...
(full context)
Chapter 13
...altar, he calls upon the LORD’s name. Meanwhile, Lot and Abram part ways, because the land can’t contain both men’s herds. Lot settles in the plain of the Jordan, placing his...
(full context)
...Lot’s departure, the LORD tells Abram to look around. God will give Abram all the land he can see, to him and his offspring forever. What’s more, Abram’s offspring will become...
(full context)
Chapter 15
The LORD reminds Abram that he brought Abram out of Ur to give him this land. Abram asks how he can know that he will possess the land. So God instructs...
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...that he can know for sure that his offspring will be aliens in a foreign land, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years. But God will judge their...
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Chapter 17
...God’s covenant with Abraham will also include his offspring forever; he will give them the land of Canaan perpetually.
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Chapter 23
Sarah lives for 127 years and dies at Hebron in the land of Canaan. Abraham asks the Hittites, among whom he lives, to let him buy property...
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Chapter 24
...not among the Canaanites, but from Abraham’s native country. Isaac must not return to that land; the woman must be willing to follow the servant back to the land of the...
(full context)
Chapter 26
There is a famine in the land, so Isaac goes to King Abimelech of the Philistines in Gerar. The LORD warns Isaac...
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God blesses Isaac, and he reaps a great harvest in his new land, becoming wealthy. The Philistines become envious, so Abimelech tells Isaac to move away. Isaac moves...
(full context)
Chapter 28
...him not to marry a Canaanite woman. Instead, he must travel to his grandfather Bethuel’s homeland of Paddan-aram and take one of his uncle Laban’s daughters as his wife. Isaac prays...
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...In the dream, the LORD stands beside him and declares his promise to give this land to Jacob and his many offspring, blessing the earth’s families through them. He further promises...
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Chapter 31
...Laban is trying to cheat Jacob. Then he tells Jacob to return to his own land. Jacob’s wives agree to this; there is nothing left for them in their father’s house...
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Chapter 33
...follow more slowly. When Jacob arrives at the city of Shechem in Canaan, he purchases land, pitches his tent, and builds an altar there.
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Chapter 35
...will make nations and kings from Jacob’s offspring. He promises again to give Jacob the land that he gave to Abraham and Isaac. Jacob establishes a pillar at Bethel.
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Chapter 37
Jacob (Israel) settles in the land of Canaan, where his father Isaac had lived. When Israel’s son Joseph is 17 years...
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Chapter 50
...he dies, he tells his brothers that God will surely bring them up from this land to the land he’d promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He makes the Israelites swear...
(full context)
