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 15:18

15:18 That day the Lord made a covenant ³  with Abram: “To your descendants I give ⁴  this land, from the river of Egypt ⁵  to the great river, the Euphrates River –

Genesis 17:7-8

17:7 I will confirm ⁶  my covenant as a perpetual ⁷  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. ⁸  17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing ⁹  – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent ¹⁰  possession. I will be their God.”

Genesis 22:16-18

22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ ¹¹  decrees the Lord, ¹²  ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, ¹³  and I will greatly multiply ¹⁴  your descendants ¹⁵  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 ¹⁶  of the strongholds ¹⁷  of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, ¹⁸  all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ¹⁹  using the name of your descendants.’”

Deuteronomy 7:8-9

7:8 Rather it is because of his ²⁰  love ²¹  for you and his faithfulness to the promise ²²  he solemnly vowed ²³  to your ancestors ²⁴  that the Lord brought you out with great power, ²⁵  redeeming ²⁶  you from the place of slavery, from the power ²⁷  of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 7:9 So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, ²⁸  the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully ²⁹  with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

Deuteronomy 9:5

9:5 It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness, ³⁰  that you have come here to possess their land. Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out ahead of you in order to confirm the promise he ³¹  made on oath to your ancestors, ³²  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Psalms 105:8-9

105:8 He always remembers his covenantal decree,

the promise he made ³³  to a thousand generations –

105:9 the promise ³⁴  he made to Abraham,

the promise he made by oath to Isaac!

Luke 1:72-73

1:72 He has done this ³⁵  to show mercy ³⁶  to our ancestors, ³⁷ 

and to remember his holy covenant ³⁸  –

1:73 the oath ³⁹  that he swore to our ancestor ⁴⁰  Abraham.

This oath grants ⁴¹ 

[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.

[15:18]  ³ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[15:18]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not to the River Nile.

[17:7]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”

[17:8]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[22:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “By myself I swear.”

[22:16]  ¹² tn Heb “the oracle of the Lord.” The phrase refers to a formal oracle or decree from the Lord.

[22:17]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).

[22:17]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Or “inherit.”

[22:17]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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.)

[7:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the Lord’s.” See note on “He” in 7:6.

[7:8]  ²¹ tn For the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) as a term of choice or election, see note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.

[7:8]  ²² tn Heb “oath.” This is a reference to the promises of the so-called “Abrahamic Covenant” (cf. Gen 15:13-16).

[7:8]  ²³ tn Heb “swore on oath.”

[7:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13).

[7:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “by a strong hand” (NAB similar); NLT “with such amazing power.”

[7:8]  ²⁶ sn Redeeming you from the place of slavery. The Hebrew verb translated “redeeming” (from the root פָּדָה, padah) has the idea of redemption by the payment of a ransom. The initial symbol of this was the Passover lamb, offered by Israel to the Lord as ransom in exchange for deliverance from bondage and death (Exod 12:1-14). Later, the firstborn sons of Israel, represented by the Levites, became the ransom (Num 3:11-13). These were all types of the redemption effected by the death of Christ who described his atoning work as “a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28; cf. 1 Pet 1:18).

[7:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NRSV), a metaphor for power or domination.

[7:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the God.” The article here expresses uniqueness; cf. TEV “is the only God”; NLT “is indeed God.”

[7:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “who keeps covenant and loyalty.” The syndetic construction of בְּרִית (bÿrit) and חֶסֶד (khesed) should be understood not as “covenant” plus “loyalty” but as an adverbial construction in which חֶסֶד (“loyalty”) modifies the verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “keeps”).

[9:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “uprightness of your heart” (so NASB, NRSV). The Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “righteousness”), though essentially synonymous here with יֹשֶׁר (yosher, “uprightness”), carries the idea of conformity to an objective standard. The term יֹשֶׁר has more to do with an inner, moral quality (cf. NAB, NIV “integrity”). Neither, however, was grounds for the Lord’s favor. As he states in both vv. 4-5, the main reason he allowed Israel to take this land was the sinfulness of the Canaanites who lived there (cf. Gen 15:16).

[9:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

[9:5]  ³² tn Heb “fathers.”

[105:8]  ³³ tn Heb “[the] word he commanded.” The text refers here to God’s unconditional covenantal promise to Abraham and the patriarchs, as vv. 10-12 make clear.

[105:9]  ³⁴ tn Heb “which.”

[1:72]  ³⁵ tn 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.

[1:72]  ³⁶ sn Mercy refers to God’s loyal love (steadfast love) by which he completes his promises. See Luke 1:50.

[1:72]  ³⁷ tn Or “our forefathers”; Grk “our fathers.” This begins with the promise to Abraham (vv. 55, 73), and thus refers to many generations of ancestors.

[1:72]  ³⁸ sn 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).

[1:73]  ³⁹ tn This is linked back grammatically by apposition to “covenant” in v. 72, specifying which covenant is meant.

[1:73]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “forefather”; Grk “father.”

[1:73]  ⁴¹ tn 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.