Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Genesis 35:27 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 27. 27And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Jacob comes to Isaac at Mamre, also identified with Kiriath-arba and Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. The arrival reconnects Jacob's returned household with the ancestral place before Isaac's death is recorded.
Read It With
- Genesis 35:23–29
Read verses 27–29 with Genesis 23:2, 19; 27:1–4; and 49:31. The place-name history and Isaac's earlier death expectation frame the arrival; the following death and burial notice supplies its literary purpose. The verse does not say this was Jacob's first post-return contact or whether Rebekah was alive.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Once the twelve sons are named, Jacob's arrival to Isaac reconnects the returned household to the ancestral generation before Isaac's death.
Read Genesis 35:27–29 together
Why these verses belong together: Jacob's arrival to Isaac supplies the setting for Isaac's age, death, and burial by Esau and Jacob.
Verse 27. 27 And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.
Verse 28. 28 And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.
Verse 29. 29 And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
What Remains True
Returning to an ancestral responsibility can matter even when the narrative does not give a complete reunion scene.
How It Can Shape Life
- Honor real family responsibilities and places of memory without inventing relational details or using ancestral claims to justify harm against present people.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 35:23–29 — Jacob's Sons Are Listed and Isaac DiesSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? very strong
Where care is needed
Genesis does not say this was Jacob's first meeting with Isaac after returning.
Rebekah's death date and presence at this event are not narrated.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Displayed wording, family list, maternal grouping, Paddan-aram summary, ancestral location, Isaac's age and death, burial by both sons, firstborn consequence, later burial location, and canonical chronology.
Exact location: Genesis 35:23–29 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 27:1–4; 29:31–30:24; 35:16–22; 36:1–8; 37:2, 28; 41:46, 53–54; 47:9; 49:3–4, 31; and 1 Chronicles 5:1–2
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Hebrew list structure, social labels, Paddan-aram wording, travel syntax, age formula, death idioms, and burial action.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 35:23–29; forms and syntax for sons, firstborn, maidservant, born, Paddan-aram, came, sojourned, years, expired, gathered to his people, old, full of days, and buried
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Translation comparison, death-language clarification, Paddan-aram wording, and chronological cross-checking.
Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 35 and translator notes on verses 23–29, compared with Genesis 27, 37, 41, 47, and 49
Open NET Genesis 35 ↗