Genesis 17:8

17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing¹ – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent² possession. I will be their God.”

Genesis 26:3

26:3 Stay³ in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you,⁴ for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants,⁵ and I will fulfill⁶ the solemn promise I made⁷ to your father Abraham.

Psalms 105:9-10

105:9 the promise⁸ he made to Abraham,

the promise he made by oath to Isaac!

105:10 He gave it to Jacob as a decree,

to Israel as a lasting promise,⁹

Luke 1:72-73

1:72 He has done this¹⁰ to show mercy¹¹ to our ancestors,¹²

and to remember his holy covenant¹³ –

1:73 the oath¹⁴ that he swore to our ancestor¹⁵ Abraham.

This oath grants¹⁶

Hebrews 6:16-18

6:16 For people¹⁷ swear by something greater than themselves,¹⁸ and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute.¹⁹ 6:17 In the same way²⁰ God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable,²¹ and so he intervened with an oath, 6:18 so that we who have found refuge in him²² may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.

¹tn The verbal root is גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to reside temporarily,” i.e., as a resident alien). It is the land in which Abram resides, but does not yet possess as his very own.

²tn Or “as an eternal.”

³tn 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.

⁴tn After the imperative “stay” the two prefixed verb forms with prefixed conjunction here indicate consequence.

⁵tn 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.

⁶tn 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.

⁷tn Heb “the oath which I swore.”

⁸tn Heb “which.”

⁹tn Or “eternal covenant.”

¹⁰tn The words “He has done this” (referring to the raising up of the horn of salvation from David’s house) are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to allow a new sentence to be started in the translation. The Greek sentence is lengthy and complex at this point, while contemporary English uses much shorter sentences.

¹¹sn Mercy refers to God’s loyal love (steadfast love) by which he completes his promises. See Luke 1:50.

¹²tn Or “our forefathers”; Grk “our fathers.” This begins with the promise to Abraham (vv. 55, 73), and thus refers to many generations of ancestors.

¹³sn The promises of God can be summarized as being found in the one promise (the oath that he swore) to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3).

¹⁴tn This is linked back grammatically by apposition to “covenant” in v. 72, specifying which covenant is meant.

¹⁵tn Or “forefather”; Grk “father.”

¹⁶tn Again for reasons of English style, the infinitival clause “to grant us” has been translated “This oath grants” and made the beginning of a new sentence in the translation.

¹⁷tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποι (anqrwpoi) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, and is thus translated “people.”

¹⁸tn Grk “by something greater”; the rest of the comparison (“than themselves”) is implied.

¹⁹tn Grk “the oath for confirmation is an end of all dispute.”

²⁰tn Grk “in which.”

²¹tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”

²²tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.