to whom it was said, “Your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac,”
Parallel Translations
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to whom it was said, “Your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac,”
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of whom it was sayde in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
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(To whom it was said, In Isaac shall thy seede be called.)
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Hebrews 11:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 21:12 God said to Abraham, “Don’t let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your servant. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For your offspring will be named through Isaac.
- Romans 9:7 Neither, because they are Abraham’s offspring, are they all children. But, “your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac.”
- Genesis 17:19 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.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac…
18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Ver. 18. Of whom it was said] This was one of those many promises that Abraham might think were all lost in the loss of his Isaac. Never was gold tried in so hot a fire.
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 This did greaten Abraham’s trial, that unto him it…
This did greaten Abraham’s trial, that unto him it was promised by God himself: That in this only begotten son Isaac, the eminently blessed and blessing Seed, with all his mystical body, should be called; that is, put in being, propagated and made known as by name in Isaac, Gal 4:28. This God revealed to Abraham, Gen 17:19,21, and hereby was his faith put to it to reconcile contradictions, as to believe this special promise, and yet execute this special command to sacrifice Isaac, yet to believe in him his seed should be called.
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 Accounting that God was able to raise him up,…
Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead,.... Abraham did not go about this affair without thought; and yet he did not consult with flesh and blood; his reasoning was the reasoning of faith; and the conclusion of it was, not that he believed that God would raise his son from the dead, but that he was able to do it. He knew that he had received him at first, as it were, from the dead; he sprung from his own dead body, and out of Sarah's dead womb; and though his faith did not prescribe to God, yet as he believed the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, he might believe that God would raise his son from the dead, rather than that his promise should fail; and this conclusion proceeded upon the power and faithfulness of God:
from whence also he received him in a figure; or for an "example" of faith and obedience; or for a "parable or proverb", that such a proverbial expression might be made use of, for the comfort and encouragement of saints in distressed and difficult circumstances, as is in Gen 22:14 or as a type of the death and resurrection of Christ, whose type he was in other things, as well as in this; as in his birth, and the circumstances of it; he was long promised and expected, as Christ, was; his birth was beyond the ordinary course of nature, and attended with great joy; he was circumcised the eighth day; at his weaning a great feast was made, typical of the Gospel feast; and as he was persecuted by Ishmael, so was Christ by Herod, in his infancy: and he was a figure of him in his oblation; they were both sons of Abraham; both only begotten and beloved sons; both heirs; both carried the wood on which they were offered; both were offered on a Mount, and by their father, by whom neither of them were spared; and both by the command of God, and alone, none were with them: and Isaac prefigured him in his deliverance; Abraham stretched out his hand, but was restrained, and not a bone of Christ must be broken; not Isaac, but the ram was slain, not the divine, but the human nature suffered; both were delivered on the third day, the one as from death, the other really from death; and both returned to their father's house. Moreover, Abraham received his son in the similitude of a resurrection; it was as life from the dead; it was like the return of the prodigal, Luk 15:32. Abraham, looked upon him as dead to him, and Isaac thought himself a dead man; so that he that was accounted as one dead, was received alive. The Jews speak of this matter agreeably to the apostle; they say, a man has two breaths or souls, one in this world, and another in the world to come; and of Isaac they say (d), that
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"in the time that he was offered upon the altar, his soul (or "breath"), which he had in this world, "went out"; and when it was said to Abraham (or by him) blessed be he that quickeneth the dead, his soul (or breath), which he had in the world to come, returned to him--for , "he was accounted as dead".''
They speak of him as if he was just dead; they say (e),
"when he saw the sword over his neck, his breath fled from him, and came to the place of the soul, , "as if he was at the point of giving up the ghost".''
So that a Jew cannot find fault with the apostle for expressing himself in this manner.
(d) Tosaphta in Zohar in Gen. fol. 46. 21. (e) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 58. 2. Pirke Eliezer, c. 31.
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 In Isaac shall thy seed be called - From…
In Isaac shall thy seed be called - From him shall the blessed seed spring. Gen. xxi, 12.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall…
Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called; - Gen 21:12. A numerous posterity had been promised to him. It was there said expressly that this promise was not to be fulfilled through the son of Abraham, by the bondwoman Hagar, but through Isaac. Of course, it was implied that Isaac was to reach manhood, and yet notwithstanding this, and notwithstanding Abraham fully believed it, be prepared deliberately, in obedience to the divine command, to put him to death. The phrase “thy seed be called” means, that his posterity was to be named after Isaac, or was to descend only from him. The word “called” in the Scriptures is often equivalent to the verb “to be;” see Isa 56:7. To “name” or “call” a thing was the same as to say that it was, or that it existed. It does not mean here that his “spiritual” children were to be called or selected from among the posterity of Isaac, but that the posterity promised to Abraham would descend neither from Ishmael nor the sons of Keturah, but in the line of Isaac. This is a strong circumstance insisted on by the apostle to show the strength of Abraham’s faith. It was shown not only by his willing hess to offer up the child of his old age - his only son by his beloved wife, but by his readiness, at the command of God, to sacrifice even him on whom the fulfillment of the promises depended.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Of whom--rather as Greek "He (Abraham, not Isaac) TO…
Of whom--rather as Greek "He (Abraham, not Isaac) TO whom it was said" [ALFORD]. BENGEL supports English Version. So Heb 1:7 uses the same Greek preposition, "unto," for "in respect to," or "of." This verse gives a definition of the "only-begotten Son" (Heb 11:17).
in Isaac shall thy seed be called-- (Gen 21:12). The posterity of Isaac alone shall be accounted as the seed of Abraham, which is the heir of the promises (Rom 9:7).
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 18. In Isaac—On this phrase Alford notes: “‘Three ways,’…
18. In Isaac—On this phrase Alford notes: “‘Three ways,’ says Delitzsch, ‘of interpreting this are possible—1. After Isaac shall thy seed be named; 2. In, through, of, Isaac shall seed be called into being to thee; 3. In Isaac shall seed be named to thee; that is, in or through him shall it come that a seed of Abraham shall be possible.’ Then he puts aside the first, seeing that only once is the seed of Abraham called Isaac, [Amo_7:9;] and the second, seeing that the Hebrew word for call [though sometimes bearing the meaning, see Isa_41:4] never so absolutely signifies ‘to call into existence,’ as it must on that interpretation; and he prefers the third: in Isaac, through and in descent from him, shall thy seed be called thy seed: that is, only Isaac’s descendants shall be known as Abraham’s seed.”
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 18. of whom] Lit. “with reference to whom” (Isaac);…
18. of whom] Lit. “with reference to whom” (Isaac); or perhaps “to whom,” i.e. to Abraham.
in Isaac shall thy seed be called] Gen_17:8; Gen_17:19; Gen_21:12, &c.
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 (18) Of whom.—That is, Isaac. But the Greek words…
(18) Of whom.—That is, Isaac. But the Greek words should perhaps be rendered to whom (Abraham): “Even he to whom it was said.” On this quotation from Gen_21:12 see the Note on Rom_9:7.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.