17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. 1 I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual 2 covenant for his descendants after him. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. 3 I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. 4 He will become the father of twelve princes; 5 I will make him into a great nation.
1 tn Heb “will call his name Isaac.” The name means “he laughs,” or perhaps “may he laugh” (see the note on the word “laughed” in v. 17).
2 tn Or “as an eternal.”
3 sn The Hebrew verb translated “I have heard you” forms a wordplay with the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.
4 tn Heb “And I will multiply him exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
5 tn For a discussion of the Hebrew word translated “princes,” see E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical Nasi’,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.