Kejadian 13:16

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. ¹ 

Kejadian 15:5

15:5 The Lord ²  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.”

Kejadian 17:5-6

17:5 No longer will your name be ³  Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham ⁴  because I will make you ⁵  the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you ⁶  extremely ⁷  fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. ⁸ 

Kejadian 18:18

18:18 After all, Abraham ⁹  will surely become ¹⁰  a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ¹¹  using his name.

Kejadian 22:17-18

22:17 I will indeed bless you, ¹²  and I will greatly multiply ¹³  your descendants ¹⁴  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 ¹⁵  of the strongholds ¹⁶  of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, ¹⁷  all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ¹⁸  using the name of your descendants.’”

Kejadian 24:35

24:35 “The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. ¹⁹  The Lord ²⁰  has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

Kejadian 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 ²¹  all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. ²² 

Kejadian 27:29

27:29 May peoples serve you

and nations bow down to you.

You will be ²³  lord ²⁴  over your brothers,

and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. ²⁵ 

May those who curse you be cursed,

and those who bless you be blessed.”

Kejadian 28:3

28:3 May the sovereign God ²⁶  bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! ²⁷  Then you will become ²⁸  a large nation. ²⁹ 

Kejadian 28:14

28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, ³⁰  and you will spread out ³¹  to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ³²  using your name and that of your descendants. ³³ 

[13:16]  ¹ tn The translation “can be counted” (potential imperfect) is suggested by the use of יוּכַל (yukhal, “is able”) in the preceding clause.

[15:5]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:5]  ³ tn Heb “will your name be called.”

[17:5]  ⁴ sn Your name will be Abraham. The renaming of Abram was a sign of confirmation to the patriarch. Every time the name was used it would be a reminder of God’s promise. “Abram” means “exalted father,” probably referring to Abram’s father Terah. The name looks to the past; Abram came from noble lineage. The name “Abraham” is a dialectical variant of the name Abram. But its significance is in the wordplay with אַב־הֲמוֹן (’av-hamon, “the father of a multitude,” which sounds like אַבְרָהָם, ’avraham, “Abraham”). The new name would be a reminder of God’s intention to make Abraham the father of a multitude. For a general discussion of renaming, see O. Eissfeldt, “Renaming in the Old Testament,” Words and Meanings, 70-83.

[17:5]  ⁵ tn The perfect verbal form is used here in a rhetorical manner to emphasize God’s intention.

[17:6]  ⁶ tn This verb starts a series of perfect verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive to express God’s intentions.

[17:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “and I will make you into nations, and kings will come out from you.”

[18:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “And Abraham.” The disjunctive clause is probably causal, giving a reason why God should not hide his intentions from Abraham. One could translate, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation?”

[18:18]  ¹⁰ tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the finite verb that follows.

[18:18]  ¹¹ 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 upon”] 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 18:18 (like 12:2) predicts that Abraham 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.

[22:17]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).

[22:17]  sn I will greatly multiply. The Lord here ratifies his earlier promise to give Abram a multitude of descendants. For further discussion see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 35-54.

[22:17]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Or “inherit.”

[22:17]  ¹⁶ 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”).

[22:18]  ¹⁷ 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]  sn Because you have obeyed me. Abraham’s obedience brought God’s ratification of the earlier conditional promise (see Gen 12:2).

[22:18]  ¹⁸ 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.)

[24:35]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “great.” In this context the statement refers primarily to Abraham’s material wealth, although reputation and influence are not excluded.

[24:35]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and he.” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “your descendants.”

[26:4]  ²² 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.)

[27:29]  ²³ tn Heb “and be.” The verb is an imperative, which is used rhetorically in this oracle of blessing. It is an invitation to exercise authority his brothers and indicates that he is granted such authority by the patriarch of the family. Furthermore, the blessing enables the recipient to accomplish this.

[27:29]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew word is גְבִיר (gevir, “lord, mighty one”). The one being blessed will be stronger and therefore more powerful than his brother. See Gen 25:23. The feminine form of this rare noun means “mistress” or “queen-mother.”

[27:29]  ²⁵ tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (which is either an imperfect or a jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[28:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

[28:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and make you fruitful and multiply you.” See Gen 17:6, 20 for similar terminology.

[28:3]  ²⁸ tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here indicates consequence. The collocation הָיָה + preposition לְ (hayah + lÿ) means “become.”

[28:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”

[28:14]  ³⁰ tn This is the same Hebrew word translated “ground” in the preceding verse.

[28:14]  ³¹ tn The verb is singular in the Hebrew; Jacob is addressed as the representative of his descendants.

[28:14]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn Heb “and they will pronounce blessings by you, all the families of the earth, and by your offspring.”