Jacob elaborates Yahweh’s great and mysterious power, beginning with the most miraculous of Yahweh’s visible works: the earth. A being able to create this world solely through the exercise of his volition can surely command the things that are on it. This power is the basis of Yahweh’s relationship toward us. Again, Jacob implies that we must understand both Yahweh’s actions and the responses he requires to please him.
Jacob indicates that Yahweh creates through his word. In both John 1:1 and Jacob, the word has a creative function. Possibly the Johannine text influenced Joseph’s selection of the term, but both John and Jacob are echoing Yahweh’s creative power as recorded in Genesis (Gen. 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26) where Yahweh needed only to “speak” to form the world. Jacob emphasizes the comparatively negligible effort required for this mighty God to work great wonders.