Genesis 12:7

12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants ¹  I will give this land.” So Abram ²  built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 22:16-17

22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ ³  decrees the Lord, ⁴  ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, ⁵  and I will greatly multiply ⁶  your descendants ⁷  so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession ⁸  of the strongholds ⁹  of their enemies.

Genesis 26:3-4

26:3 Stay ¹⁰  in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, ¹¹  for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, ¹²  and I will fulfill ¹³  the solemn promise I made ¹⁴  to your father Abraham. 26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them ¹⁵  all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. ¹⁶ 

Joshua 3:10

3:10 Joshua continued, ¹⁷  “This is how you will know the living God is among you and that he will truly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.

Psalms 105:44-45

105:44 He handed the territory of nations over to them,

and they took possession of what other peoples had produced, ¹⁸ 

105:45 so that they might keep his commands

and obey ¹⁹  his laws.

Praise the Lord!

¹ tn The same Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

³ tn Heb “By myself I swear.”

⁴ tn Heb “the oracle of the Lord.” The phrase refers to a formal oracle or decree from the Lord.

⁵ tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form (either an imperfect or cohortative) emphasizes the certainty of the blessing.

⁶ tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).

⁷ tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.

⁸ tn Or “inherit.”

⁹ tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. To break through the gate complex would be to conquer the city, for the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”).

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur) means “to live temporarily without ownership of land.” Abraham’s family will not actually possess the land of Canaan until the Israelite conquest hundreds of years later.

¹¹ tn After the imperative “stay” the two prefixed verb forms with prefixed conjunction here indicate consequence.

¹² tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.

¹³ tn The Hiphil stem of the verb קוּם (qum) here means “to fulfill, to bring to realization.” For other examples of this use of this verb form, see Lev 26:9; Num 23:19; Deut 8:18; 9:5; 1 Sam 1:23; 1 Kgs 6:12; Jer 11:5.

¹⁴ tn Heb “the oath which I swore.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “your descendants.”

¹⁶ tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 22:18). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)

¹⁷ tn Heb “said.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “and the [product of the] work of peoples they possessed.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “guard.”