Kejadian 22:16-17

22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ ¹  decrees the Lord, ²  ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, ³  and I will greatly multiply ⁴  your descendants ⁵  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 ⁶  of the strongholds ⁷  of their enemies.

Kejadian 24:7

24:7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, ⁸  promised me with a solemn oath, ⁹  ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel ¹⁰  before you so that you may find ¹¹  a wife for my son from there.

Kejadian 26:3

26:3 Stay ¹²  in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, ¹³  for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, ¹⁴  and I will fulfill ¹⁵  the solemn promise I made ¹⁶  to your father Abraham.

[22:16]  ¹ tn Heb “By myself I swear.”

[22:16]  ² tn Heb “the oracle of the Lord.” The phrase refers to a formal oracle or decree from the Lord.

[22:17]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “inherit.”

[22:17]  ⁷ 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”).

[24:7]  ⁸ tn Or “the land of my birth.”

[24:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying.”

[24:7]  ¹⁰ tn Or “his messenger.”

[24:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “before you and you will take.”

[26:3]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn After the imperative “stay” the two prefixed verb forms with prefixed conjunction here indicate consequence.

[26:3]  sn I will be with you and I will bless you. The promise of divine presence is a promise to intervene to protect and to bless.

[26:3]  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.

[26:3]  sn To you and to your descendants. The Abrahamic blessing will pass to Isaac. Everything included in that blessing will now belong to the son, and in turn will be passed on to his sons. But there is a contingency involved: If they are to enjoy the full blessings, they will have to obey the word of the Lord. And so obedience is enjoined here with the example of how well Abraham obeyed.

[26:3]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the oath which I swore.”

[26:3]  sn The solemn promise I made. See Gen 15:18-20; 22:16-18.