because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my requirements, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
Parallel Translations
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because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my requirements, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
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Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
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because that Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.'
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Genesis 26:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Matthew 7:24 “Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock.
- Genesis 22:18 All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, because you have obeyed my voice.’ ”
- Genesis 22:16 and said, “ ‘I have sworn by myself,’ says Yahweh, ‘because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,
- Psalms 112:1-2 Praise Yah! Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, who delights greatly in his commandments. His offspring will be mighty in the land. The generation of the upright will be blessed.
- James 2:21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
- Hebrews 11:8 By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went.
- Psalms 128:1-6 Blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh, who walks in his ways. For you will eat the labor of your hands. You will be happy, and it will be well with you. Your wife will be as a fruitful vine in the innermost parts of your house, your children like olive plants around your table. Behold, thus is the man blessed who fears Yahweh. May Yahweh bless you out of Zion, and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Yes, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel.
- Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.
- Genesis 12:4 So Abram went, as Yahweh had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
- Genesis 18:19 For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
- Genesis 17:23 Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money: every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day, as God had said to him.
- Matthew 5:19 Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 5. Because that Abraham obeyed my voice. Moses does…
5. Because that Abraham obeyed my voice. Moses does not mean that Abraham’s obedience was the reason why the promise of God was confirmed and ratified to him; but from what has been said before, (Genesis 22:18,) where we have a similar expression, we learn, that what God freely bestows upon the faithful is sometimes, beyond their desert, ascribed to themselves; that they, knowing their intention to be approved by the Lord, may the more ardently addict and devote themselves entirely to his service: so he now commends the obedience of Abraham, in order that Isaac may be stimulated to an imitation of his example. And although laws, statutes, rites, precepts, and ceremonies, had not yet been written, Moses used these terms, that he might the more clearly show how sedulously Abraham regulated his life according to the will of God alone — how carefully he abstained from all the impurities of the heathen — and how exactly he pursued the straight course of holiness, without turning aside to the right hand or to the left: for the Lord often honors his own law with these titles for the sake of restraining our excesses; as if he should say that it wanted nothing to constitute it a perfect rule, but embraced everything pertaining to absolute holiness. The meaning therefore is, that Abraham, having formed his life in entire accordance with the will of God, walked in his pure service.
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 Hebrew, my keeping.
Hebrew, my keeping.
He commendeth Abraham’s obedience, because Isaac should be the more ready to follow the like: for as God made this promise of his free mercy, so doth the confirmation thereof proceed of the same fountain.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and…
Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Ver. 5. Because that Abraham.] His obedience was universal to all the wills of God; and is here alleged, not as the meritorious cause, but as an antecedent, of the blessing. Our good works do truly please God in Christ, and move him, after a sort, to do us good; yet not as merits, but as certain effects of Christ’s merits alone, and such as of his merit. {a}
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{a} Rulloc., De Vocatione, p. 25.
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 Here was a covenant made between God and Abraham;…
Here was a covenant made between God and Abraham; and as, if Abraham had broken the condition of walking before God required on his part, God had been discharged from the promise made on his part; so contrarily, because Abraham performed his condition, God engageth himself to perform his promise to him, and to his seed. But as that promise and covenant was made by God of mere grace, as is evident and confessed; so the mercies promised and performed to him and his are so great and vast, that it is an idle thing to think they could be merited by so mean a compensation as Abraham’s obedience, which was a debt that he owed to God, had there been no such covenant or promise made by God, and which also was an effect of God’s graces to him and in him.
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 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice,.... In all things,…
Because that Abraham obeyed my voice,.... In all things, and particularly in offering up his son at his command:
and kept my charge; whatever was given him in charge to observe; this, as Aben Ezra thinks, is the general, of which the particulars follow:
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my commandments, my statutes, and my laws; whether moral, ceremonial, or civil and judicial; all and everyone which God enjoined him, he was careful to observe. Here seems to be something wanting, for the words are not to be joined with the preceding, as if Abraham's obedience was the cause of the above promises made to Isaac, or to himself: but this is mentioned rather as an example to Isaac, and to stir him up to do the like, as if it was said, because or seeing that Abraham thy father did so and so, do thou likewise.
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 Abraham obeyed my voice - Do thou do so…
Abraham obeyed my voice - Do thou do so too, and the promise shall be sure to thee. A great variety of words is here used to express the Divine Will to which Abraham was obedient, my voice, my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws - Which may intimate, that Abraham's obedience was universal; he obeyed the original laws of nature, the revealed laws of divine worship, particularly that of circumcision, and all the extraordinary precepts God gave him, as that of quitting his country, and that (which some think is more especially referred to) the offering up of his son, which Isaac himself had reason enough to remember. Those only shall have the benefit of God's covenant with their parents, that tread the steps of their obedience.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. Abraham obeyed my voice] מימרי meimeri, my…
Verse 5. Abraham obeyed my voice] מימרי meimeri, my WORD. See Ge 15:1.
My charge] משמרתי misitmarti, from שמר shamar, he kept, observed, &c., the ordinances or appointments of God. These were always of two kinds: 1. Such as tended to promote moral improvement, the increase of piety, the improvement of the age, &c. And 2. Such as were typical of the promised seed, and the salvation which was to come by him. For commandments, statutes, &c., the reader is particularly desired to refer to Le 16:15, &c., where these things are all explained in the alphabetical order of the Hebrew words.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 26:5. My voice, my charge, my commandments —…
Gen 26:5. My voice, my charge, my commandments — This variety of expression seems to be designed to show the universality and exactness of Abraham’s obedience, that he readily complied with every intimation of the divine will. He obeyed the original laws of nature, the revealed laws of divine worship, particularly that of circumcision, and all the extraordinary precepts God gave him, as that of quitting his country, and that (which some think is more especially referred to) respecting the offering up of his son, which Isaac himself had reason enough to remember. Those only shall have the benefit of God’s covenant with their parents that tread in the steps of their obedience. It must be observed, however, as the covenant made with Abraham, and God’s promises to him, were made by God of his mere grace and mercy, so the blessings promised and conferred were so very great, that it is idle to imagine they could be merited by so mean a compensation as Abraham’s obedience which obedience was a debt that he would have owed to God, if there had been neither covenant nor promise made by God, and which was the effect of God’s grace to and in him.
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 Ceremonies of religion, observed under the law of nature.…
Ceremonies of religion, observed under the law of nature. (Menochius)
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5. Voice… charge… commandments… statutes… laws — A comprehensive…
5. Voice… charge… commandments… statutes… laws — A comprehensive summary of all the various revelations of the divine will. God’s voice denotes more particularly the spoken revelations; his charge the special trusts of promise he had given Abraham to guard; his commandments the occasional precepts given from time to time; his statutes the more permanent prescriptions of his will; his laws the everlasting and unchangeable expressions of his righteousness. Already had God spoken “at sundry times and in divers manners,” (Heb_1:1,) and we note that the son is blessed because of his father’s obedience.
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 5. because that, &c.] The blessing of Isaac is…
5. because that, &c.] The blessing of Isaac is here treated as the reward of the obedience of Abraham; the emphasis is laid on the unity and continuity of the Chosen Family.
my charge … my laws] A strange redundancy of expression, reminding us of the style of Deut. The four words “charge,” “commandments,” “statutes,” “laws,” correspond to the more simple phrase “the way of the Lord” in Gen_18:19. The observance of legal enactments, ascribed to Abraham, is, strictly speaking, an anachronism. Cf. Deu_11:1, “Therefore thou shall love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgements, and his commandments, alway”; 1Ki_2:3.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Because that Abraham obeyed (literally, hearkened to) my voice…
Because that Abraham obeyed (literally, hearkened to) my voice (a general description of the patriarch"s obedience, which the next clause further particularizes), and kept my charge, custodierit custodiam (Calvin); observed my observances (Kalisch); the charge being that which is intended to be keptmy commandments, i.e. particular injunctions, specific enactments, express or occasional orders (cf. 2Ch_35:16) my statutes, or permanent ordinances, such as the Passover; literally, that which is graven on tables or monuments (compare Exo_12:14) and my laws which refer to the great doctrines of moral obligation. The three terms express the contents of the Divine observances which Abraham observed.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.