This is the last time that God is said to speak directly to one of the patriarchs.

And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night: Israel may be replaced by “him,” since there is no other person referred to. A vision (see 15.1) is normally a dream-like experience in which something is seen. However, here there is no appearance to Jacob, only a spoken message. Visions is plural in the Hebrew text. However, the use of the plural here does not necessarily mean that Jacob had more than one vision, and most modern versions use the singular, although Hebrew Old Testament Text Project favors the plural.

It is possible to avoid such words as visions, or “dream,” or “dream-like appearance” and say, as does Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, “In the night he heard the voice of God….”

Jacob, Jacob … Here am I: see 22.11.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .