Isaiah 51:2

51:2 Look at Abraham, your father,

and Sarah, who gave you birth. ¹ 

When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, ² 

but I blessed him ³  and gave him numerous descendants. ⁴ 

Acts 7:5

7:5 He ⁵  did not give any of it to him for an inheritance, ⁶  not even a foot of ground, ⁷  yet God ⁸  promised to give it to him as his possession, and to his descendants after him, ⁹  even though Abraham ¹⁰  as yet had no child.

[51:2]  ¹ sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.

[51:2]  ² tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”

[51:2]  ³ tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.

[51:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”

[7:5]  ⁵ tn Grk “And he.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[7:5]  ⁶ tn Grk “He did not give him an inheritance in it.” This could be understood to mean that God did not give something else to Abraham as an inheritance while he was living there. The point of the text is that God did not give any of the land to him as an inheritance, and the translation makes this clear.

[7:5]  ⁷ tn Grk “a step of a foot” (cf. Deut 2:5).

[7:5]  ⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:5]  ⁹ sn An allusion to Gen 12:7; 13:15; 15:2, 18; 17:8; 24:7; 48:4. On the theological importance of the promise and to his descendants after him, see Rom 4 and Gal 3.

[7:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.