Genesis 17:7

17:7 I will confirm ¹  my covenant as a perpetual ²  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. ³ 

Genesis 26:3-4

26:3 Stay ⁴  in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, ⁵  for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, ⁶  and I will fulfill ⁷  the solemn promise I made ⁸  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 ⁹  all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 28:13-15

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. ¹¹  I will give you and your descendants the ground ¹²  you are lying on. 28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, ¹³  and you will spread out ¹⁴  to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ¹⁵  using your name and that of your descendants. ¹⁶  28:15 I am with you! ¹⁷  I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”

Exodus 6:7

6:7 I will take you to myself for a people, and I will be your God. ¹⁸  Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from your enslavement to ¹⁹  the Egyptians.

Jeremiah 31:31-33

31:31 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, ²⁰  “when I will make a new covenant ²¹  with the people of Israel and Judah. ²²  31:32 It will not be like the old ²³  covenant that I made with their ancestors ²⁴  when I delivered them ²⁵  from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” ²⁶  says the Lord. ²⁷  31:33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel ²⁸  after I plant them back in the land,” ²⁹  says the Lord. ³⁰  “I will ³¹  put my law within them ³²  and write it on their hearts and minds. ³³  I will be their God and they will be my people. ³⁴ 

Jeremiah 32:38

32:38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. ³⁵ 

Hebrews 11:16

11:16 But as it is, ³⁶  they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

[17:7]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:7]  ³ tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”

[26:3]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn After the imperative “stay” the two prefixed verb forms with prefixed conjunction here indicate consequence.

[26:3]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “the oath which I swore.”

[26:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “your descendants.”

[26:4]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn This is the same Hebrew word translated “ground” in the preceding verse.

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

[28:14]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and they will pronounce blessings by you, all the families of the earth, and by your offspring.”

[28:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Look, I [am] with you.” The clause is a nominal clause; the verb to be supplied could be present (as in the translation) or future, “Look, I [will be] with you” (cf. NEB).

[6:7]  ¹⁸ sn These covenant promises are being reiterated here because they are about to be fulfilled. They are addressed to the nation, not individuals, as the plural suffixes show. Yahweh was their God already, because they had been praying to him and he is acting on their behalf. When they enter into covenant with God at Sinai, then he will be the God of Israel in a new way (19:4-6; cf. Gen 17:7-8; 28:20-22; Lev 26:11-12; Jer 24:7; Ezek 11:17-20).

[6:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from under the burdens of” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “from under the yoke of.”

[31:31]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:31]  ²¹ tn Or “a renewed covenant” (also in vv. 22-23).

[31:31]  ²² tn Heb “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”

[31:32]  ²³ tn The word “old” is not in the text but is implicit in the use of the word “new.” It is supplied in the translation for greater clarity.

[31:32]  ²⁴ tn Heb “fathers.”

[31:32]  ²⁵ tn Heb “when I took them by the hand and led them out.”

[31:32]  ²⁶ tn Or “I was their master.” See the study note on 3:14.

[31:32]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:33]  ²⁸ tn Heb “with the house of Israel.” All commentators agree that the term here refers to both the whole nation which was divided into the house of Israel and the house of Judah in v. 30.

[31:33]  ²⁹ tn Heb “after those days.” Commentators are generally agreed that this refers to the return from exile and the repopulation of the land referred to in vv. 27-28 and not to something subsequent to the time mentioned in v. 30. This is the sequencing that is also presupposed in other new covenant passages such as Deut 30:1-6; Ezek 11:17-20; 36:24-28.

[31:33]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:33]  ³¹ tn Heb “‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days:’ says the Lord, ‘I will….’” The sentence has been reworded and restructured to avoid the awkwardness of the original style.

[31:33]  ³² tn Heb “in their inward parts.” The Hebrew word here refers to the seat of the thoughts, emotions, and decisions (Jer 9:8 [9:7 HT]). It is essentially synonymous with “heart” in Hebrew psychological terms.

[31:33]  ³³ tn The words “and minds” is not in the text but is supplied in the translation to bring the English psychology more into line with the Hebrew where the “heart” is the center both of knowing/thinking/reflecting and deciding/willing.

[31:33]  ³⁴ sn Compare Jer 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and see the study note on 30:2.

[32:38]  ³⁵ sn The covenant formula setting forth the basic relationship is reinstituted along with a new covenant (v. 40). See also 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and the study note on 30:22.

[11:16]  ³⁶ tn Grk “now.”