Genesis 15:5

15:5 The Lord ¹  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, ²  and I will greatly multiply ³  your descendants ⁴  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 ⁵  of the strongholds ⁶  of their enemies.

Genesis 26:4

26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them ⁷  all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. ⁸ 

Genesis 49:25

49:25 because of the God of your father,

who will help you, ⁹ 

because of the sovereign God, ¹⁰ 

who will bless you ¹¹ 

with blessings from the sky above,

blessings from the deep that lies below,

and blessings of the breasts and womb. ¹² 

Exodus 32:13

32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants ¹³  like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about ¹⁴  I will give to your descendants, ¹⁵  and they will inherit it forever.’”

Numbers 6:27

6:27 So they will put my name ¹⁶  on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Numbers 22:12

22:12 But God said to Balaam, “You must not go with them; you must not curse the people, ¹⁷  for they are blessed.” ¹⁸ 

[15:5]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:17]  ² 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]  ³ tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).

[22:17]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Or “inherit.”

[22:17]  ⁶ 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”).

[26:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “your descendants.”

[26:4]  ⁸ 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.)

[49:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he will help you.”

[49:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Shaddai.” See the note on the title “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1. The preposition אֵת (’et) in the Hebrew text should probably be emended to אֵל (’el, “God”).

[49:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he will bless you.”

[49:25]  ¹² sn Jacob envisions God imparting both agricultural (blessings from the sky above, blessings from the deep that lies below) and human fertility (blessings of the breasts and womb) to Joseph and his family.

[32:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “your seed.”

[32:13]  ¹⁴ tn “about” has been supplied.

[32:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “seed.”

[6:27]  ¹⁶ tn The idea of their putting the name of Yahweh on the people is somewhat problematic. The pronouncing of the name of Yahweh in this context over the people was taken to be the effectual means of blessings. “Putting the name on them” is an expression that emphasizes the truth that he is their God and they are his people or that having his name is having his blessing.

[22:12]  ¹⁷ tn The two verbs are negated imperfects; they have the nuance of prohibition: You must not go and you must not curse.

[22:12]  ¹⁸ tn The word בָּרוּךְ (barukh) is the Qal passive participle, serving here as the predicate adjective after the supplied verb “to be.” The verb means “enrich,” in any way, materially, spiritually, physically. But the indication here is that the blessing includes the promised blessing of the patriarchs, a blessing that gave Israel the land. See further, C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).