Genesis 15:5

15:5 The Lord ¹  took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars – if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.”

Genesis 22:17

22:17 I will indeed bless you, ²  and I will greatly multiply ³  your descendants ⁴  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 ⁵  of the strongholds ⁶  of their enemies.

Genesis 26:4

26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them ⁷  all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. ⁸ 

Exodus 32:13

32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants ⁹  like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about ¹⁰  I will give to your descendants, ¹¹  and they will inherit it forever.’”

Deuteronomy 1:10

1:10 The Lord your God has increased your population ¹²  to the point that you are now as numerous as the very stars of the sky. ¹³ 

Deuteronomy 28:62

28:62 There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, ¹⁴  because you will have disobeyed ¹⁵  the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 28:1

The Covenant Blessings

28:1 “If you indeed ¹⁶  obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving ¹⁷  you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth.

Deuteronomy 27:23

27:23 ‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Nehemiah 9:23

9:23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the sky. You brought them to the land you had told their ancestors to enter in order to possess.

Romans 4:17

4:17 (as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”). ¹⁸  He is our father ¹⁹  in the presence of God whom he believed – the God who ²⁰  makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do. ²¹ 

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form (either an imperfect or cohortative) emphasizes the certainty of the blessing.

³ tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).

⁴ 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.

⁵ tn Or “inherit.”

⁶ 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”).

⁷ tn Heb “your descendants.”

⁸ 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.)

⁹ tn Heb “your seed.”

¹⁰ tn “about” has been supplied.

¹¹ tn Heb “seed.”

¹² tn Heb “multiplied you.”

¹³ tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

¹⁴ tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

¹⁵ tn Heb “have not listened to the voice of.”

¹⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “indeed.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 15).

¹⁸ tn Verses 16-17 comprise one sentence in Greek, but this has been divided into two sentences due to English requirements.

¹⁹ tn The words “He is our father” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to show that they resume Paul’s argument from 16b. (It is also possible to supply “Abraham had faith” here [so REB], taking the relative clause [“who is the father of us all”] as part of the parenthesis, and making the connection back to “the faith of Abraham,” but such an option is not as likely [C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:243].)

²⁰ tn “The God” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.

²¹ tn Or “calls into existence the things that do not exist.” The translation of ὡς ὄντα (Jw" onta) allows for two different interpretations. If it has the force of result, then creatio ex nihilo is in view and the variant rendering is to be accepted (so C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:244). A problem with this view is the scarcity of ὡς plus participle to indicate result (though for the telic idea with ὡς plus participle, cf. Rom 15:15; 1 Thess 2:4). If it has a comparative force, then the translation given in the text is to be accepted: “this interpretation fits the immediate context better than a reference to God’s creative power, for it explains the assurance with which God can speak of the ‘many nations’ that will be descended from Abraham” (D. Moo, Romans [NICNT], 282; so also W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans [ICC], 113). Further, this view is in line with a Pauline idiom, viz., verb followed by ὡς plus participle (of the same verb or, in certain contexts, its antonym) to compare present reality with what is not a present reality (cf. 1 Cor 4:7; 5:3; 7:29, 30 (three times), 31; Col 2:20 [similarly, 2 Cor 6:9, 10]).