Genesis 12:7

12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants ¹  I will give this land.” So Abram ²  built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 13:14-15

13:14 After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, ³  “Look ⁴  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 ⁵  forever.

Genesis 15:16

15:16 In the fourth generation ⁶  your descendants ⁷  will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” ⁸ 

Genesis 15:18

15:18 That day the Lord made a covenant ⁹  with Abram: “To your descendants I give ¹⁰  this land, from the river of Egypt ¹¹  to the great river, the Euphrates River –

Genesis 17:7-8

17:7 I will confirm ¹²  my covenant as a perpetual ¹³  covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ¹⁴  17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing ¹⁵  – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent ¹⁶  possession. I will be their God.”

Genesis 22:16-18

22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ ¹⁷  decrees the Lord, ¹⁸  ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, ¹⁹  and I will greatly multiply ²⁰  your descendants ²¹  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 ²²  of the strongholds ²³  of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, ²⁴  all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ²⁵  using the name of your descendants.’”

Genesis 26:3-4

26:3 Stay ²⁶  in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, ²⁷  for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, ²⁸  and I will fulfill ²⁹  the solemn promise I made ³⁰  to your father Abraham. 26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them ³¹  all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. ³² 

Genesis 28:13-14

28:13 and the Lord stood at its top. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. ³³  I will give you and your descendants the ground ³⁴  you are lying on. 28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, ³⁵  and you will spread out ³⁶  to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ³⁷  using your name and that of your descendants. ³⁸ 

[12:7]  ¹ tn The same Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.

[12:7]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[13:14]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “lift up your eyes and see.”

[13:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “for all the land which you see to you I will give it and to your descendants.”

[15:16]  ⁶ sn The term generation is being used here in its widest sense to refer to a full life span. When the chronological factors are considered and the genealogies tabulated, there are four hundred years of bondage. This suggests that in this context a generation is equivalent to one hundred years.

[15:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (“your descendants”) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[15:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “is not yet complete.”

[15:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[15:18]  ¹⁰ tn The perfect verbal form is understood as instantaneous (“I here and now give”). Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, indicating certitude (“I have given” meaning it is as good as done, i.e., “I will surely give”).

[15:18]  ¹¹ sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not to the River Nile.

[17:7]  ¹² tn The verb קוּם (qum, “to arise, to stand up”) in the Hiphil verbal stem means “to confirm, to give effect to, to carry out” (i.e., a covenant or oath; see BDB 878-79 s.v. קוּם).

[17:7]  ¹³ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”

[17:8]  ¹⁵ tn 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.

[17:8]  ¹⁶ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[22:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “By myself I swear.”

[22:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the oracle of the Lord.” The phrase refers to a formal oracle or decree from the Lord.

[22:17]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).

[22:17]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Or “inherit.”

[22:17]  ²³ 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”).

[22:18]  ²⁴ tn In the Hebrew text this causal clause comes at the end of the sentence. The translation alters the word order for stylistic reasons.

[22:18]  ²⁵ 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 26:4). 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.)

[26:3]  ²⁶ tn 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.

[26:3]  ²⁷ tn After the imperative “stay” the two prefixed verb forms with prefixed conjunction here indicate consequence.

[26:3]  ²⁸ 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.

[26:3]  ²⁹ tn 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.

[26:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the oath which I swore.”

[26:4]  ³¹ tn Heb “your descendants.”

[26:4]  ³² 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.)

[28:13]  ³³ tn Heb “the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” The Hebrew word for “father” can typically be used in a broader sense than the English word, in this case referring to Abraham (who was Jacob’s grandfather). For stylistic reasons and for clarity, the words “your father” are supplied with “Isaac” in the translation.

[28:13]  ³⁴ tn The Hebrew term אֶרֶץ (’erets) can mean “[the] earth,” “land,” “region,” “piece of ground,” or “ground” depending on the context. Here the term specifically refers to the plot of ground on which Jacob was lying, but at the same time this stands by metonymy for the entire land of Canaan.

[28:14]  ³⁵ tn This is the same Hebrew word translated “ground” in the preceding verse.

[28:14]  ³⁶ tn The verb is singular in the Hebrew; Jacob is addressed as the representative of his descendants.

[28:14]  ³⁷ tn Theoretically the Niphal stem 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 Jacob were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in other 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 upon) themselves/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 28:14 predicts that Jacob will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae (see Gen 12:2 and 18:18 as well, where Abram/Abraham receives this promise). For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.

[28:14]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and they will pronounce blessings by you, all the families of the earth, and by your offspring.”