'God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee,

that thou mayest be a multitude of people; and give thee the blessing

of Abraham ...' (Gen. 28:3,4).

Ishmael, though a son of Abraham, is passed by; Esau, though a son of

Isaac, is passed by; Jacob is the chosen medium through which the promised

seed must come, and he was to become 'a multitude of people'.  Jacob

remembered this promise, when at last he travelled down to Egypt to look on

the face of his son Joseph, and to see Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and

Manasseh (Gen. 48:3,4), and as no reference to Israel as a 'people' is found

in the intervening chapters, the examination of the expression 'a multitude

of nations' can be conducted from Genesis 48 quite as well as from the

chapter where the expression originally occurs.  It is not easy to understand

the choice of this word 'multitude' by the translators, for the Hebrew

substantive qahal has a distinct and recognized meaning, and while it occurs

one hundred and twenty -three times in the Old Testament it is rendered

'multitude' but thrice, leaving 'assembly', 'company' or 'congregation' to

translate the remainder.  That the Septuagint translators understood the word

in its primary sense is evident, for in both passages (Gen. 28:3; 48:4) they

use the word 'synagogue'.  Coupled with these references we can include the

words spoken at Bethel where the word translated 'multitude' is rendered

'A nation and a company of nations shall be of thee' (Gen. 35:11).

There is need for care in examining the references, because in the near

context, and the blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh of Jacob, the Authorized

Version uses the word 'multitude' again:

'Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth' (Gen.

'His seed shall become a multitude of nations' (Gen. 48:19).

Three different words translated 'multitude' are used in this chapter.

In verse 4 it is qahal, 'a congregation', in verse 16 it is rob, 'abundance',

and in verse 19 it is melo, 'fulness'.  Each word has its own significance

and this is hidden by using the word multitude in each case.  We must not

digress further, however, but return to Genesis 48:4 to complete our

examination of the expression 'multitude of people'.  First we observe that

the word 'people' is plural, and should be rendered 'peoples'.  This

therefore cannot refer exclusively to one nation, but a gathering or company

of nations or peoples.

Then the word qahal.  The primary meaning of the verb qahal is 'to call

together' and gives us the title 'koheleth' translated 'Preacher' (Eccles.

1:1), and hence gives us the title of the book 'Ecclesiastes', for the word

ekklesia, 'church', means 'a called -out company'.  Hence also Stephen could

speak of 'The Church' which was in the wilderness (Acts 7:38).

The promise to Jacob was that he should not only be the father of the

people of Israel, but more was intended as the apostle reveals in Galatians

3:8, for the initial promise made to Abraham is evangelical in its meaning:

'The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through

faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall

all nations be blessed'.