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 13:14-17

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. 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. ⁶  13:17 Get up and ⁷  walk throughout ⁸  the land, ⁹  for I will give it to you.”

Genesis 15:18-21

15:18 That day the Lord made a covenant ¹⁰  with Abram: “To your descendants I give ¹¹  this land, from the river of Egypt ¹²  to the great river, the Euphrates River – 15:19 the land ¹³  of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 15:20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 15:21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.” ¹⁴ 

Psalms 39:12

39:12 Hear my prayer, O Lord!

Listen to my cry for help!

Do not ignore my sobbing! ¹⁵ 

For I am dependent on you, like one residing outside his native land;

I am at your mercy, just as all my ancestors were. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 105:6-12

105:6 O children ¹⁷  of Abraham, ¹⁸  God’s ¹⁹  servant,

you descendants ²⁰  of Jacob, God’s ²¹  chosen ones!

105:7 He is the Lord our God;

he carries out judgment throughout the earth. ²² 

105:8 He always remembers his covenantal decree,

the promise he made ²³  to a thousand generations –

105:9 the promise ²⁴  he made to Abraham,

the promise he made by oath to Isaac!

105:10 He gave it to Jacob as a decree,

to Israel as a lasting promise, ²⁵ 

105:11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan

as the portion of your inheritance.”

105:12 When they were few in number,

just a very few, and resident aliens within it,

Hebrews 11:9-13

11:9 By faith he lived as a foreigner ²⁶  in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs ²⁷  of the same promise. 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, ²⁸  whose architect and builder is God. 11:11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, ²⁹  he received the ability to procreate, ³⁰  because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 11:12 So in fact children ³¹  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 ³²  on the seashore. ³³  11:13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, ³⁴  but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners ³⁵  on the earth.

[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.”

[13:16]  ⁶ tn The translation “can be counted” (potential imperfect) is suggested by the use of יוּכַל (yukhal, “is able”) in the preceding clause.

[13:17]  ⁷ tn The connective “and” is not present in the Hebrew text; it has been supplied for purposes of English style.

[13:17]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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).

[15:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[15:18]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not to the River Nile.

[15:19]  ¹³ tn The words “the land” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:21]  ¹⁴ tn Each of the names in the list has the Hebrew definite article, which is used here generically for the class of people identified.

[39:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “do not be deaf to my tears.”

[39:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “For a resident alien [am] I with you, a sojourner like all my fathers.”

[105:6]  ¹⁷ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[105:6]  ¹⁸ tc Some mss have “Israel,” which appears in the parallel version of this psalm in 1 Chr 16:13.

[105:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[105:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “sons.”

[105:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[105:7]  ²² tn Heb “in all the earth [are] his judgments.”

[105:8]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Heb “which.”

[105:10]  ²⁵ tn Or “eternal covenant.”

[11:9]  ²⁶ tn Or “settled as a resident alien.”

[11:9]  ²⁷ tn Or “heirs with him.”

[11:10]  ²⁸ tn Grk “that has foundations.”

[11:11]  ²⁹ tn Grk “past the time of maturity.”

[11:11]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.

[11:12]  ³² tn Grk a collective “the sand.”

[11:12]  ³³ sn An allusion to Gen 22:17 (which itself goes back to Gen 15:5).

[11:13]  ³⁴ tn Grk “the promises,” referring to the things God promised, not to the pledges themselves.

[11:13]  ³⁵ tn Or “sojourners.”