Genesis 13:16

13:16 And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted. ¹ 

Genesis 46:3

46:3 He said, “I am God, ²  the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.

Exodus 1:7

1:7 The Israelites, ³  however, ⁴  were fruitful, increased greatly, multiplied, and became extremely strong, ⁵  so that the land was filled with them.

Deuteronomy 26:5

26:5 Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering ⁶  Aramean ⁷  was my ancestor, ⁸  and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, ⁹  but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people.

Acts 7:17

7:17 “But as the time drew near for God to fulfill the promise he had declared to Abraham, ¹⁰  the people increased greatly in number ¹¹  in Egypt,

Hebrews 11:12

11:12 So in fact children ¹²  were fathered by one man – and this one as good as dead – like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand ¹³  on the seashore. ¹⁴ 

¹ tn The translation “can be counted” (potential imperfect) is suggested by the use of יוּכַל (yukhal, “is able”) in the preceding clause.

² tn Heb “the God.”

³ tn Heb “the sons of Israel.”

⁴ tn The disjunctive vav marks a contrast with the note about the deaths of the first generation.

⁵ tn Using מְאֹד (mÿ’od) twice intensifies the idea of their becoming strong (see GKC 431-32 §133.k).

⁶ tn Though the Hebrew term אָבַד (’avad) generally means “to perish” or the like (HALOT 2-3 s.v.; BDB 1-2 s.v.; cf. KJV “a Syrian ready to perish”), a meaning “to go astray” or “to be lost” is also attested. The ambivalence in the Hebrew text is reflected in the versions where LXX Vaticanus reads ἀπέβαλεν (apebalen, “lose”) for a possibly metathesized reading found in Alexandrinus, Ambrosianus, ἀπέλαβεν (apelaben, “receive”); others attest κατέλειπεν (kateleipen, “leave, abandon”). “Wandering” seems to suit best the contrast with the sedentary life Israel would enjoy in Canaan (v. 9) and is the meaning followed by many English versions.

⁷ sn A wandering Aramean. This is a reference to Jacob whose mother Rebekah was an Aramean (Gen 24:10; 25:20, 26) and who himself lived in Aram for at least twenty years (Gen 31:41-42).

⁸ tn Heb “father.”

⁹ tn Heb “sojourned there few in number.” The words “with a household” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Grk “But as the time for the fulfillment of the promise drew near that God had declared to Abraham.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged to improve English style. See vv. 6-7 above.

¹¹ tn Grk “the people increased and multiplied.”

¹² tn Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.

¹³ tn Grk a collective “the sand.”

¹⁴ sn An allusion to Gen 22:17 (which itself goes back to Gen 15:5).