Genesis 17:6

And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
make	וְהִפְרֵתִ֤י ve.hif.re.Ti	H6509	to bear fruit (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
exceeding	בִּמְאֹ֣ד bim.'Od	H3966	properly · preposition + cardinal number, masculine singular absolute
fruitful	פָּרָה pârâh	H6509	to bear fruit (literally or figuratively)
make	וּנְתַתִּ֖יךָ u.ne.ta.Ti.kha	H5414	to give · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
nations	לְגוֹיִ֑ם le.go.Yim	H1471	a foreign nation · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
kings	וּמְלָכִ֖ים u.me.la.Khim	H4428	a king · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
out	יֵצֵֽאוּ ye.Tze.'u	H3318	to go (causatively · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 17:4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
Genesis 35:11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come…
Matthew 1:6-17 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;
Genesis 17:16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be…
Genesis 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve pri…
Ezra 4:20 There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was p…
Genesis 36:31-43 And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 17:4-6

The promise here is introduced with solemnity: "As for me," says the great God, "behold, behold and admire it, behold and be assured of it, my covenant is with thee;" as before (Gen 17:2), I will make my covenant. Note, The covenant of grace is a covenant of God's own making; this he glories in (as for me), and so may we. Now here, I. It is promised to Abraham that he should be a father of many nations; that is, 1. That his seed after the flesh should be very numerous, both in Isaac and Ishmael, as well as in the sons of Keturah: something extraordinary is doubtless included in this promise, and we may suppose that the event answered to it, and that there have been, and are, more of the chil…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 17:5

but thy name shall be Abraham--In Eastern countries a change of name is an advertisement of some new circumstance in the history, rank, or religion of the individual who bears it. The change is made variously, by the old name being entirely dropped for the new, or by conjoining the new with the old; or sometimes only a few letters are inserted, so that the altered form may express the difference in the owner's state or prospects. It is surprising how soon a new name is known and its import spread through the country. In dealing with Abraham and Sarai, God was pleased to adapt His procedure to the ideas and customs of the country and age. Instead of Abram, "a high father," he was to be called…

Read the whole note in the console

Adam Clarke on Genesis 17:5

Thy name shall be Abraham - Abram אברם literally signifies a high or exalted father. Ab-ra-ham אברהם differs from the preceding only in one letter; it has ה he before the last radical. Though this may appear very simple and easy, yet the true etymology and meaning of the word are very difficult to be assigned. The reason given for the change made in the patriarch's name is this: For a father of many nations have I made thee, אב המון גוים ab-hamon goyim, "a father of a multitude of nations." This has led some to suppose that אברהם Abraham, is a contraction for אב רב המון ab-rab-hamon, "the father of a great multitude." Aben Ezra says the name is derived from אביר המון abir-hamon, "a powerful…

The Church Fathers

Hence, the Stoic philosophers drew their doctrine as if from a source, saying that all things belong to the wise. For the East and the West, the North and the South are parts of the universe. The whole world is enclosed in them. When God promised Abraham that He would give him these things, what else does He declare but that He will provide everything to the wise and faithful, leaving nothing lacking? Thus, Solomon also says in Proverbs: the whole world of riches belongs to the faithful. How much greater is Solomon than Zeno, the master and founder of the Stoic sect! How much greater than Plato, the father of philosophy, or Pythagoras, the inventor of his name! But who is faithful, if not wise? For the fool is like the moon, always changing, but the wise person remains steadfast in their faith.
— Ambrose of Milan, On Abraham

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Abraham — Father of a multitude, son of Terah, named (Gen. 11:27) before his older brothers Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises. Till the age of seventy, Abram sojourned among his kindred…
Circumcision — Cutting around. This rite, practised before, as some think, by divers races, was appointed by God to be the special badge of his chosen people, an abiding sign of their consecration to him. It was…
Covenant — A contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word berith is always thus translated. Berith is derived from a root which means “to cut,” and hence a covenant is a…
Prophecy — Or prediction, was one of the functions of the prophet. It has been defined as a “miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human…
Circumcision · Covenant promises of — Covenant promises of
Covenant, The · Made with: Abraham — Made with: Abraham
Rulers · .Abraham — .Abraham

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 17:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 17:4-6

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 17:5

Adam Clarke on Genesis 17:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 17:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 17:4-6

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 17:5

Adam Clarke on Genesis 17:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Genesis 17:6

John Calvin on Genesis 17:4-6

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 17:4-8

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 17:6