Luke 1:54-55

1:54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering ¹  his mercy, ² 

1:55 as he promised ³  to our ancestors, ⁴  to Abraham and to his descendants ⁵  forever.”

Genesis 12:3

12:3 I will bless those who bless you, ⁶ 

but the one who treats you lightly ⁷  I must curse,

and all the families of the earth will bless one another ⁸  by your name.”

Genesis 22:18

22:18 Because you have obeyed me, ⁹  all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ¹⁰  using the name of your descendants.’”

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 ¹¹  all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. ¹² 

Genesis 28:14

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 

Psalms 98:3

98:3 He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel. ¹⁷ 

All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us. ¹⁸ 

Acts 3:25-26

3:25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, ¹⁹  saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants ²⁰  all the nations ²¹  of the earth will be blessed.’ ²²  3:26 God raised up ²³  his servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by turning ²⁴  each one of you from your iniquities.” ²⁵ 

Romans 11:28

11:28 In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers.

Hebrews 6:13-18

6:13 Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, 6:14 saying, “Surely I will bless you greatly and multiply your descendants abundantly.” ²⁶  6:15 And so by persevering, Abraham ²⁷  inherited the promise. 6:16 For people ²⁸  swear by something greater than themselves, ²⁹  and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute. ³⁰  6:17 In the same way ³¹  God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, ³²  and so he intervened with an oath, 6:18 so that we who have found refuge in him ³³  may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.

[1:54]  ¹ tn Or “because he remembered mercy,” understanding the infinitive as causal.

[1:54]  ² tn Or “his [God’s] loyal love.”

[1:55]  ³ tn Grk “as he spoke.” Since this is a reference to the covenant to Abraham, ἐλάλησεν (elalhsen) can be translated in context “as he promised.” God keeps his word.

[1:55]  ⁴ tn Grk “fathers.”

[1:55]  ⁵ tn Grk “his seed” (an idiom for offspring or descendants).

[12:3]  ⁶ tn The Piel cohortative has as its object a Piel participle, masculine plural. Since the Lord binds himself to Abram by covenant, those who enrich Abram in any way share in the blessings.

[12:3]  ⁷ tn In this part of God’s statement there are two significant changes that often go unnoticed. First, the parallel and contrasting participle מְקַלֶּלְךָ (mÿqallelkha) is now singular and not plural. All the versions and a few Masoretic mss read the plural. But if it had been plural, there would be no reason to change it to the singular and alter the parallelism. On the other hand, if it was indeed singular, it is easy to see why the versions would change it to match the first participle. The MT preserves the original reading: “the one who treats you lightly.” The point would be a contrast with the lavish way that God desires to bless many. The second change is in the vocabulary. The English usually says, “I will curse those who curse you.” But there are two different words for curse here. The first is קָלַל (qalal), which means “to be light” in the Qal, and in the Piel “to treat lightly, to treat with contempt, to curse.” The second verb is אָרַר (’arar), which means “to banish, to remove from the blessing.” The point is simple: Whoever treats Abram and the covenant with contempt as worthless God will banish from the blessing. It is important also to note that the verb is not a cohortative, but a simple imperfect. Since God is binding himself to Abram, this would then be an obligatory imperfect: “but the one who treats you with contempt I must curse.”

[12:3]  ⁸ tn Theoretically the Niphal 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 Abram were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in later 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 on”] themselves [or “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 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.

[22:18]  ⁹ 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]  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 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.)

[26:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your descendants.”

[26:4]  ¹² 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.)

[28:14]  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.”

[98:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he remembers his loyal love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel.”

[98:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the deliverance of our God,” with “God” being a subjective genitive (= God delivers).

[3:25]  ¹⁹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[3:25]  ²⁰ tn Or “in your offspring”; Grk “in your seed.”

[3:25]  ²¹ tn Or “families.” The Greek word πατριά (patria) can indicate persons of succeeding generations who are related by birth (“lineage,” “family”) but it can also indicate a relatively large unit of people who make up a sociopolitical group and who share a presumed biological descent. In many contexts πατριά is very similar to ἔθνος (eqnos) and λαός (laos). In light of the context of the OT quotation, it is better to translate πατριά as “nations” here.

[3:25]  ²² sn A quotation from Gen 22:18.

[3:26]  ²³ tn Grk “God raising up his servant, sent him.” The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Some translations (e.g., NIV, NRSV) render this participle as temporal (“when God raised up his servant”).

[3:26]  ²⁴ sn The picture of turning is again seen as the appropriate response to the message. See v. 19 above. In v. 19 it was “turning to,” here it is “turning away from.” The direction of the two metaphors is important.

[3:26]  ²⁵ tn For the translation of plural πονηρία (ponhria) as “iniquities,” see G. Harder, TDNT 6:565. The plural is important, since for Luke turning to Jesus means turning away from sins, not just the sin of rejecting Jesus.

[6:14]  ²⁶ tn Grk “in blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply you,” the Greek form of a Hebrew idiom showing intensity.

[6:15]  ²⁷ tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Abraham) has been specified for clarity.

[6:16]  ²⁸ tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποι (anqrwpoi) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, and is thus translated “people.”

[6:16]  ²⁹ tn Grk “by something greater”; the rest of the comparison (“than themselves”) is implied.

[6:16]  ³⁰ tn Grk “the oath for confirmation is an end of all dispute.”

[6:17]  ³¹ tn Grk “in which.”

[6:17]  ³² tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”

[6:18]  ³³ tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.