Genesis 12:1-3

The Obedience of Abram

12:1 Now the Lord said ¹  to Abram, ² 

“Go out ³  from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household

to the land that I will show you. ⁴ 

12:2 Then I will make you ⁵  into a great nation, and I will bless you, ⁶ 

and I will make your name great, ⁷ 

so that you will exemplify divine blessing. ⁸ 

12:3 I will bless those who bless you, ⁹ 

but the one who treats you lightly ¹⁰  I must curse,

and all the families of the earth will bless one another ¹¹  by your name.”

Genesis 13:14-17

13:14 After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, ¹²  “Look ¹³  from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west. 13:15 I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants ¹⁴  forever. 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. ¹⁵  13:17 Get up and ¹⁶  walk throughout ¹⁷  the land, ¹⁸  for I will give it to you.”

Genesis 15:4-5

15:4 But look, ¹⁹  the word of the Lord came to him: “This man ²⁰  will not be your heir, ²¹  but instead ²²  a son ²³  who comes from your own body will be ²⁴  your heir.” ²⁵  15:5 The Lord ²⁶  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, ²⁷  and I will greatly multiply ²⁸  your descendants ²⁹  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 ³⁰  of the strongholds ³¹  of their enemies.

Genesis 24:1

The Wife for Isaac

24:1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, ³²  and the Lord had blessed him ³³  in everything.

Genesis 24:35

24:35 “The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. ³⁴  The Lord ³⁵  has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

Nehemiah 9:7-8

9:7 “You are the LORD God who chose Abram and brought him forth from Ur of the Chaldeans. You changed his name to Abraham. 9:8 When you perceived that his heart was faithful toward you, you established a ³⁶  covenant with him to give his descendants ³⁷  the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites. You have fulfilled your promise, ³⁸  for you are righteous.

Ezekiel 33:24

33:24 “Son of man, the ones living in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land, but we are many; surely the land has been given to us for a possession.’ ³⁹ 

Galatians 3:9-14

3:9 So then those who believe ⁴⁰  are blessed along with Abraham the believer. 3:10 For all who ⁴¹  rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.” ⁴²  3:11 Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith. ⁴³  3:12 But the law is not based on faith, ⁴⁴  but the one who does the works of the law ⁴⁵  will live by them. ⁴⁶  3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming ⁴⁷  a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) ⁴⁸  3:14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, ⁴⁹  so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.

Hebrews 11:8-12

11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. 11:9 By faith he lived as a foreigner ⁵⁰  in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs ⁵¹  of the same promise. 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, ⁵²  whose architect and builder is God. 11:11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, ⁵³  he received the ability to procreate, ⁵⁴  because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 11:12 So in fact children ⁵⁵  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 ⁵⁶  on the seashore. ⁵⁷ 

[12:1]  ¹ sn The Lord called Abram while he was in Ur (see Gen 15:7; Acts 7:2); but the sequence here makes it look like it was after the family left to migrate to Canaan (11:31-32). Genesis records the call of Abram at this place in the narrative because it is the formal beginning of the account of Abram. The record of Terah was brought to its end before this beginning.

[12:1]  ² tn The call of Abram begins with an imperative לֶךְ־לְךָ (lekh-lÿkha, “go out”) followed by three cohortatives (v. 2a) indicating purpose or consequence (“that I may” or “then I will”). If Abram leaves, then God will do these three things. The second imperative (v. 2b, literally “and be a blessing”) is subordinated to the preceding cohortatives and indicates God’s ultimate purpose in calling and blessing Abram. On the syntactical structure of vv. 1-2 see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 37. For a similar sequence of volitive forms see Gen 45:18.

[12:1]  ³ tn The initial command is the direct imperative (לֶךְ, lekh) from the verb הָלַךְ (halakh). It is followed by the lamed preposition with a pronominal suffix (לְךָ, lÿkha) emphasizing the subject of the imperative: “you leave.”

[12:1]  ⁴ sn To the land that I will show you. The call of Abram illustrates the leading of the Lord. The command is to leave. The Lord’s word is very specific about what Abram is to leave (the three prepositional phrases narrow to his father’s household), but is not specific at all about where he is to go. God required faith, a point that Heb 11:8 notes.

[12:2]  ⁵ tn The three first person verbs in v. 2a should be classified as cohortatives. The first two have pronominal suffixes, so the form itself does not indicate a cohortative. The third verb form is clearly cohortative.

[12:2]  ⁶ sn I will bless you. The blessing of creation is now carried forward to the patriarch. In the garden God blessed Adam and Eve; in that blessing he gave them (1) a fruitful place, (2) endowed them with fertility to multiply, and (3) made them rulers over creation. That was all ruined at the fall. Now God begins to build his covenant people; in Gen 12-22 he promises to give Abram (1) a land flowing with milk and honey, (2) a great nation without number, and (3) kingship.

[12:2]  ⁷ tn Or “I will make you famous.”

[12:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “and be a blessing.” The verb form הְיֵה (hÿyeh) is the Qal imperative of the verb הָיָה (hayah). The vav (ו) with the imperative after the cohortatives indicates purpose or consequence. What does it mean for Abram to “be a blessing”? Will he be a channel or source of blessing for others, or a prime example of divine blessing? A similar statement occurs in Zech 8:13, where God assures his people, “You will be a blessing,” in contrast to the past when they “were a curse.” Certainly “curse” here does not refer to Israel being a source of a curse, but rather to the fact that they became a curse-word or byword among the nations, who regarded them as the epitome of an accursed people (see 2 Kgs 22:19; Jer 42:18; 44:8, 12, 22). Therefore the statement “be a blessing” seems to refer to Israel being transformed into a prime example of a blessed people, whose name will be used in blessing formulae, rather than in curses. If the statement “be a blessing” is understood in the same way in Gen 12:2, then it means that God would so bless Abram that other nations would hear of his fame and hold him up as a paradigm of divine blessing in their blessing formulae.

[12:3]  ⁹ tn The Piel cohortative has as its object a Piel participle, masculine plural. Since the Lord binds himself to Abram by covenant, those who enrich Abram in any way share in the blessings.

[12:3]  ¹⁰ tn In this part of God’s statement there are two significant changes that often go unnoticed. First, the parallel and contrasting participle מְקַלֶּלְךָ (mÿqallelkha) is now singular and not plural. All the versions and a few Masoretic mss read the plural. But if it had been plural, there would be no reason to change it to the singular and alter the parallelism. On the other hand, if it was indeed singular, it is easy to see why the versions would change it to match the first participle. The MT preserves the original reading: “the one who treats you lightly.” The point would be a contrast with the lavish way that God desires to bless many. The second change is in the vocabulary. The English usually says, “I will curse those who curse you.” But there are two different words for curse here. The first is קָלַל (qalal), which means “to be light” in the Qal, and in the Piel “to treat lightly, to treat with contempt, to curse.” The second verb is אָרַר (’arar), which means “to banish, to remove from the blessing.” The point is simple: Whoever treats Abram and the covenant with contempt as worthless God will banish from the blessing. It is important also to note that the verb is not a cohortative, but a simple imperfect. Since God is binding himself to Abram, this would then be an obligatory imperfect: “but the one who treats you with contempt I must curse.”

[12:3]  ¹¹ tn Theoretically the Niphal can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Abram were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in later formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless [i.e., “pronounce blessings on”] themselves [or “one another”].” The Hitpael of “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.

[13:14]  ¹² tn Heb “and the Lord said to Abram after Lot separated himself from with him.” The disjunctive clause at the beginning of the verse signals a new scene.

[13:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “lift up your eyes and see.”

[13:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for all the land which you see to you I will give it and to your descendants.”

[13:16]  ¹⁵ tn The translation “can be counted” (potential imperfect) is suggested by the use of יוּכַל (yukhal, “is able”) in the preceding clause.

[13:17]  ¹⁶ tn The connective “and” is not present in the Hebrew text; it has been supplied for purposes of English style.

[13:17]  ¹⁷ tn The Hitpael form הִתְהַלֵּךְ (hithallekh) means “to walk about”; it also can carry the ideas of moving about, traversing, going back and forth, or living in an area. It here has the connotation of traversing the land to survey it, to look it over.

[13:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the land to its length and to its breadth.” This phrase has not been included in the translation because it is somewhat redundant (see the note on the word “throughout” in this verse).

[15:4]  ¹⁹ tn The disjunctive draws attention to God’s response and the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, translated “look”) mirrors Abram’s statement in v. 3 and highlights the fact that God responded to Abram.

[15:4]  ²⁰ tn The subject of the verb is the demonstrative pronoun, which can be translated “this one” or “this man.” That the Lord does not mention him by name is significant; often in ancient times the use of the name would bring legitimacy to inheritance and adoption cases.

[15:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “inherit you.”

[15:4]  ²² tn The Hebrew כִּי־אִם (ki-’im) forms a very strong adversative.

[15:4]  ²³ tn Heb “he who”; the implied referent (Abram’s unborn son who will be his heir) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:4]  ²⁴ tn The pronoun could also be an emphatic subject: “whoever comes out of your body, he will inherit you.”

[15:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “will inherit you.”

[15:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:17]  ²⁷ tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form (either an imperfect or cohortative) emphasizes the certainty of the blessing.

[22:17]  ²⁸ tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).

[22:17]  ²⁹ 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.

[22:17]  ³⁰ tn Or “inherit.”

[22:17]  ³¹ 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”).

[24:1]  ³² tn Heb “days.”

[24:1]  ³³ tn Heb “Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.

[24:35]  ³⁴ tn Heb “great.” In this context the statement refers primarily to Abraham’s material wealth, although reputation and influence are not excluded.

[24:35]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and he.” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the” (so NAB).

[9:8]  ³⁷ tn Heb “seed.”

[9:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “your words.”

[33:24]  ³⁹ sn Outside of its seven occurrences in Ezekiel the term translated “possession” appears only in Exod 6:8 and Deut 33:4.

[3:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “those who are by faith,” with the Greek expression “by faith” (ἐκ πίστεως, ek pistew") the same as the expression in v. 8.

[3:10]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “For as many as.”

[3:10]  ⁴² tn Grk “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things written in the book of the law, to do them.”

[3:11]  ⁴³ tn Or “The one who is righteous by faith will live” (a quotation from Hab 2:4).

[3:12]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “is not from faith.”

[3:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “who does these things”; the referent (the works of the law, see 3:5) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:12]  ⁴⁶ sn A quotation from Lev 18:5. The phrase the works of the law is an editorial expansion on the Greek text (see previous note); it has been left as normal typeface to indicate it is not part of the OT text.

[3:13]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “having become”; the participle γενόμενος (genomenos) has been taken instrumentally.

[3:13]  ⁴⁸ sn A quotation from Deut 21:23. By figurative extension the Greek word translated tree (ζύλον, zulon) can also be used to refer to a cross (L&N 6.28), the Roman instrument of execution.

[3:14]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus.”

[11:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “settled as a resident alien.”

[11:9]  ⁵¹ tn Or “heirs with him.”

[11:10]  ⁵² tn Grk “that has foundations.”

[11:11]  ⁵³ tn Grk “past the time of maturity.”

[11:11]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “power to deposit seed.” Though it is not as likely, some construe this phrase to mean “power to conceive seed,” making the whole verse about Sarah: “by faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and too old, she received ability to conceive, because she regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy.”

[11:12]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.

[11:12]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk a collective “the sand.”

[11:12]  ⁵⁷ sn An allusion to Gen 22:17 (which itself goes back to Gen 15:5).