God said, “No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”
Parallel Translations
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God said, “No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”
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And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
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And God said: 'Nay, but Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee; behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
But My covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.'
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (29)
- Genesis 21:18 (v20) Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him with your hand. For I will make him a great nation.”
- Genesis 21:2-3 (vv19, 21) Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called his son who was born…
- Genesis 18:10-14 (v19) He said, “I will certainly return to you at about this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” Sarah heard in the…
- Luke 1:13-20 (v19) But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and…
- Genesis 21:6 (v19) Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
Show all 28 cross-references
- Genesis 21:13 (v20) I will also make a nation of the son of the servant, because he is your child.”
- 2 Kings 4:16-17 (v19) He said, “At this season, when the time comes around, you will embrace a son.” She said, “No, my lord, you man of God, do not lie to your…
- Galatians 4:28-31 (v19) Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born…
- Genesis 25:12-18 (v20) Now this is the history of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham. These are…
- Genesis 26:2-5 (v21) Yahweh appeared to him, and said, “Don’t go down into Egypt. Live in the land I will tell you about. Live in this land, and I will be with…
- Romans 9:6-9 (v19) But it is not as though the word of God has come to nothing. For they are not all Israel that are of Israel. Neither, because they are…
- Genesis 16:10-12 (v20) Yahweh’s angel said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, that they will not be counted for multitude.” Yahweh’s angel said to…
- Genesis 17:21 (v19) But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”
- Genesis 18:10 (v21) He said, “I will certainly return to you at about this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” Sarah heard in the…
- Genesis 26:3 (v19) Live in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For I will give to you, and to your offspring, all these lands, and I will…
- Romans 9:5-6 (v21) of whom are the fathers, and from whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen. But it is not as…
- Romans 9:9 (v21) For this is a word of promise, “At the appointed time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.”
- Galatians 3:29 (v21) If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise.
- Genesis 21:10-12 (v21) Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my son, Isaac.” The…
- Genesis 46:1 (v21) Israel traveled with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac.
- Exodus 2:24 (v21) God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
- Exodus 3:6 (v21) Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he…
- Job 14:13 (v21) “Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would keep me secret until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time and…
- Luke 1:55 (v21) as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever.”
- Luke 1:72 (v21) to show mercy toward our fathers, to remember his holy covenant,
- Acts 1:7 (v21) He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority.
- Hebrews 11:9 (v21) By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him…
- Genesis 48:15 (v21) He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
28 distinct cross-references across this passage (29 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv19–20 19. Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son…
19. Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed Some take the adverb אבל (abal,) to mean ‘Truly.’ Others, however, more rightly suppose it to be used for increasing the force of the expression. For God rouses the slumbering mind of his servant; as if he would say, ‘The sight of one favor prevents thee from raising thyself higher; and thus it happens that thou dost confine thy thoughts within too narrow limits. Now, therefore, enlarge thy mind, to receive also what I promise concerning Sarah. For the door of hope ought to be sufficiently open to admit the word in its full magnitude.’
And I will establish my covenant with him He confines the spiritual covenant to one family, in order that Abraham may hence learn to hope for the blessing before promised; for since he had framed for himself a false hope, not founded on the word of God, it was necessary that this false hope should first be dislodged from his heart, in order that he might now the more fully rely upon the heavenly oracles, and might fix the anchor of his faith, which before had wavered in a fallacious imagination, on the firm truth of God. He calls the covenant everlasting, in the sense which we have previously explained. He then declares that it shall not be bound to one person only, but shall be common to his whole race, that it may, by continual succession, descend to his posterity. Yet it may seem absurd, that God should command Ishmael, whom he deprives of his grace, to be circumcised. I answer; although the Lord constitutes Isaac the firstborn and the head, from whom he intends the covenant of salvation to flow, he still does not entirely exclude Ishmael, but rather, in adopting the whole family of Abraham, joins Ishmael to his brother Isaac as an inferior member, until Ishmael cut himself off from his father’s house, and his brother’s society. Therefore his circumcision was not useless, until he apostatized from the covenant: for although it was not deposited with him, he might, nevertheless, participate in it, with his brother Isaac. In short, the Lord intends nothing else, by these words, than that Isaac should be the legitimate heir of the promised benediction.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv19–20 The everlasting Covenant is made with the children of…
The everlasting Covenant is made with the children of the Spirit: and with the children of the flesh is made the temporal promise, as was promised to Ishmael.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv19–21 Gen 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall…
Gen 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, [and] with his seed after him.
Ver. 19. I will establish my covenant with him.] This was a far greater favour than that bestowed on Ishmael in the next verse, "Twelve princes shall he beget." Nothing so ennobleth as Christ, graces, being in the covenant, &c. {Isa 19:25} "Assyria" is "the work of" God’s "hands," but "Israel" his "inheritance."
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv19–21 Isaac signifies laughter, not from Sarah’s laughter, which as…
Isaac signifies laughter, not from Sarah’s laughter, which as yet had not happened, but from Abraham’s past laughter, Gen 17:17, and future joy in his son.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv19–21 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee…
And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed,.... This is repeated for the confirmation of it, and thus expressed to remove all doubt about it, if any there were, that hung upon Abraham's mind; as well as to let him know that the promise of a son by Sarah was not to be superseded by his prayer for Ishmael, for whom he might have a greater flow of natural affection than for his unborn son, in whom his seed should be called:
and thou shall call his name Isaac; which signifies "laughter"; and which name was given him from the laughter of Abraham at the promise of him, and not from the laughter of Sarah, which as yet was not; wherefore Josephus (p) is wrong when he suggests, that Isaac had this name from Sarah's laughing at God's saying, that she should bear a son: though his birth was matter of laughter and joy to both, as it was to all good people that heard of it, Gen 21:8. So Polyhistor (q) from Melo, an Heathen writer, speaking of Abraham, says, that of his married or lawful wife one son was born to him, whose name in Greek is "Gelos", that is, laughter. Isaac is one of those the Jews (r) observe had his name given him before he was born; see Gill on Gen 16:11,
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and I will establish my covenant with him, for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him; the covenant of circumcision just made with Abraham, the promise of the land of Canaan to him and his posterity, and of the Messiah that should spring from him, until whose coming this covenant would continue, and therefore called everlasting.
(p) Antiqu. l. 1. c. 12. sect. 2. (q) Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 19. p. 421. (r) Pirke Eliezer, c. 32. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 2. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv20–21 As for Ishmael, I have heard thee; I have…
As for Ishmael, I have heard thee; I have blessed him - That is, I have many blessings in store for him.
1. His posterity shall be numerous; I will multiply him exceedingly;
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2. They shall be considerable; twelve princes shall he beget. We may charitably hope that spiritual blessings also were bestowed upon him, though the visible church was not brought out of his loins.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv20–21 Verse 20. Twelve princes shall he beget, &c.] See…
Verse 20. Twelve princes shall he beget, &c.] See the names of these twelve princes, Ge 25:12-16. From Ishmael proceeded the various tribes of the Arabs, called also Saracens by Christian writers. They were anciently, and still continue to be, a very numerous and powerful people. "It was somewhat wonderful, and not to be foreseen by human sagacity," says Bishop Newton, "that a man's whole posterity should so nearly resemble him, and retain the same inclinations, the same habits, and the same customs, throughout all ages! These are the only people besides the Jews who have subsisted as a distinct people from the beginning, and in some respects they very much resemble each other
1. The Arabs, as well as the Jews, are descended from Abraham, and both boast of their descent from the father of the faithful.
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2. The Arabs, as well as the Jews, are circumcised, and both profess to have derived this ceremony from Abraham.
3. The Arabs, as well as the Jews, had originally twelve patriarchs, who were their princes or governors.
4. The Arabs, as well as the Jews, marry among themselves, and in their own tribes.
5. The Arabs, as well as the Jews, are singular in several of their customs, and are standing monuments to all ages of the exactness of the Divine predictions, and of the veracity of Scripture history.
We may with more confidence believe the particulars related of Abraham and Ishmael when we see them verified in their posterity at this day. This is having, as it were, ocular demonstration for our faith." See Bp. Newton's Second Dissertation on the Prophecies, and See Clarke on Ge 16:12.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv20–21 Gen 17:20. As for Ishmael, I have heard thee;…
Gen 17:20. As for Ishmael, I have heard thee; I have blessed him — That is, I have many blessings in store for him. 1st, His posterity shall be numerous: I will multiply him exceedingly. 2d, They shall be considerable: twelve princes shall he beget. We may charitably hope that spiritual blessings also were bestowed upon him, though the visible church was not brought out of his loins.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv19–20 Isaac, "laughter," alluding to the exultation of Abraham, more…
Isaac, "laughter," alluding to the exultation of Abraham, more than to the laughter of Sara, which deserved some reprehension, chap. xxi. 6.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v19 The blessings of the covenant are reserved for Isaac,…
The blessings of the covenant are reserved for Isaac, but common blessings were abundantly promised to Ishmael; and though the visible Church did not descend from his family, yet personally he might, and it is to be hoped did, enjoy its benefits.
Next: Genesis Chapter 18
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv19–20 19. Call his name Isaac — Which means, he…
19. Call his name Isaac — Which means, he shall laugh. A memorial of Abraham’s joyful emotion and wonder here recorded.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv19–20 19. Sarah thy wife] God’s answer in this verse…
19. Sarah thy wife] God’s answer in this verse is made to the utterance of Abraham’s heart (Gen_17:17), and not of his lips (Gen_17:18).
thou shalt call his name Isaac] R.V. marg. “From the Heb. word meaning to laugh.” See Gen_21:3. The name Isaac is here, and in 18 and 21, associated with “laughter.” The word “he laughed,” used in Gen_17:17, has the same root letters (ṣḥq) as the name “Isaac.” The name “laughter” will thus commemorate the involuntary doubt of Abraham (Gen_17:17) to which St Paul refers (Rom_4:19), “without being weakened in faith he considered his own body now as good as dead (he being about a hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.”
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Note that the father is commanded to give the name; see note on Gen_5:3 (P).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v19 (19) Indeed.—In the Hebrew this word comes first, and…
(19) Indeed.—In the Hebrew this word comes first, and is intended to remove all doubt or desire for any other turn of affairs. It should be rendered, “And God said, For a certainty Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son.”
Thou shalt call his name Isaac.—That is, he laughs. The name was to be a perpetual memorial that Isaac’s birth was naturally such an impossibility as to excite ridicule.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv19–21 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee…
And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac. "Laughter," or "he laughs (the third person future (yitsak) being frequently employed in personal designations; cf. Jacob, Jair, Jabin, &c.), with obvious reference to Abraham"s laughter (vide Ver. 17). Cf. on naming before birth Gen_16:11. ;And I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v21 My covenant will I establish with Isaac
Gen_17:21
My covenant will I establish with Isaac
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Isaac, a type of Christ
1.
He is born in a miraculous manner. He was the child given by promises, and came not in the ordinary course of nature. So Christ was long promised and miraculously born.
2. He was the son of the house, while all others were his servants. So the position of Christ in the heavenly household was made by His birth. No circumstances could alter His relationship to that household. He was there by a natural necessity. Others may come and go, but the Son abides.
3. He was the progenitor of a free race. Isaac was the son of the free woman, and the ancestor of a great and free people. Christ makes men free when they are born into the kingdom of God by His spirit, and thus belong to that holy nation whose children walk in perfect liberty.
4. He was the channel of blessing to all nations. Christ was the life and power which gave effect to that blessing. He was that blessing itself.
Isaac, a type of the regenerate man
1. He was born by a distinct act of the will of God. So the regenerate man becomes Gods child, not by the course of nature, but by a special grace. He is eminently born of God.
2. He was free born. So each child of God is made free from all bondage. He needs not the commands of law to compel him to obedience, for he obeys from love of his Father. Thus Isaac was the type of the evangelical dispensation, as Ishmael was that of the legal.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v19 No, but Sarah your wife will bear
No, but Sarah your wife will bear
God said this to correct Abraham's belief that Sarah could not have a son.
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you must name him
The word "you" refers to Abraham.
As for Ishmael
The words "As for" show that God is switching from talking about the baby that would be born to talking about Ishmael.
Behold
"Look" or "Listen" or "Pay attention to what I am about to tell you"
will make him fruitful
This is an idiom that means "will cause him to have many children." (See: Idiom)
will multiply him abundantly
"I will cause him to have many descendants"
leaders of tribes
"chiefs" or "rulers." These leaders are not the twelve sons and grandsons of Jacob that will lead the twelve tribes of Israel.
But my covenant I will establish with Isaac
God returns to talking about his covenant with Abraham and emphasizes that he would fulfill his promise with Isaac, not with Ishmael.
translationWords
Sarah
Isaac
eternity
covenant
descend
Ishmael
tribe
nation
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv19–20 17:19 The name Isaac (Hebrew yitskhaq, “he laughs”) would…
17:19 The name Isaac (Hebrew yitskhaq, “he laughs”) would constantly recall Abraham’s disbelieving laughter when he heard the promise. It was also a reminder of God’s favor and his pleasure in the birth (cp. 21:6).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.