Genesis 22:17

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
blessing	בָרֵ֣ךְ va.Rekh	H1288	to kneel · verb, piel infinitive construct
bless	אֲבָרֶכְךָ֗ 'a.va.rekh.Kha	H1288	to kneel · verb, piel imperfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
multiplying	וְהַרְבָּ֨ה ve.har.Bah	H7235	to increase (in whatever respect) · conjunction + verb, hiphil infinitive absolute
multiply	אַרְבֶּ֤ה 'ar.Beh	H7235	to increase (in whatever respect) · verb, hiphil imperfect, 1st person common singular
seed	זַרְעֲךָ֙ zar.'a.Kha	H2233	seed · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
stars	כְּכוֹכְבֵ֣י ke.chokh.Vei	H3556	a star (as round or as shining) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
heaven	הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם ha.sha.Ma.yim	H8064	the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
sand	וְכַח֕וֹל ve.kha.Chol	H2344	sand (as round or whirling particles) · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
sea	הַיָּ֑ם hai.Yam	H3220	a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
shore	שְׂפַ֣ת se.Fat	H8193	the lip (as a natural boundary) · noun, common feminine singular construct
seed	זַרְעֲךָ֔ zar.'a.Kha	H2233	seed · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
possess	וְיִרַ֣שׁ ve.yi.Rash	H3423	to occupy (by driving out previous tenants · conjunction + verb, qal, 3rd person masculine singular
gate	שַׁ֥עַר Sha.'ar	H8179	an opening · noun, common masculine singular construct
enemies	אֹיְבָֽיו 'o.ye.Vav	H341	hating · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

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 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him,…
Genesis 24:60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the…
Jeremiah 33:22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Lev…
Genesis 26:4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the…
Genesis 13:16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
Numbers 24:17-19 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel…
Psalms 2:8-9 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Psalms 72:8-9 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 22:15-19

Abraham's obedience was graciously accepted; but this was not all: here we have it recompensed, abundantly recompensed, before he stirred from the place; probably while the ram he had sacrificed was yet burning God sent him this gracious message, renewed and ratified his covenant with him. All covenants were made by sacrifice, so was this by the typical sacrifices of Isaac and the ram. Very high expressions of God's favour to Abraham are employed in this confirmation of the covenant with him, expressions exceeding any he had yet been blessed with. Note, Extraordinary services shall be crowned with extraordinary honours and comforts; and favours in the promise, though not yet performed, ought…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 22:13

Abraham lifted up his eyes . . . and behold . . . a ram, &c.--No method was more admirably calculated to give the patriarch a distinct idea of the purpose of grace than this scenic representation: and hence our Lord's allusion to it (Joh 8:56). Next: Genesis Chapter 23

Adam Clarke on Genesis 22:17

Shall possess the gate of his enemies - Instead of gate the Septuagint have πολεις, cities; but as there is a very near resemblance between πολεις, cities, and πυλας, gates, the latter might have been the original reading in the Septuagint, though none of the MSS. now acknowledge it. By the gates may be meant all the strength, whether troops, counsels, or fortified cities of their enemies. So Mat 16:18 : On this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it - the counsels, stratagems, and powers of darkness shall not be able to prevail against or overthrow the true Church of Christ; and possibly our Lord had this promise to Abraham and his spiritual posterit…

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John Gill on Genesis 22:17

That in blessing I will bless thee,.... With temporal and spiritual blessings; with the Spirit and all his graces; with Christ and redemption, justification, and salvation by him; and with eternal life, as the gift of God, through him: and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore: both his natural seed, descending from him in the line of Isaac, and his spiritual seed, both among Jews and Gentiles, that tread in his steps; see Genesis 13:15, and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies: "gate" for "gates", where courts of judicature were held, and which are the security of cities and put for them, and which also in…

The Church Fathers

Rightly then is he blessed because he was faithful; and rightly was he faithful because he was patient.
— Tertullian, ON PATIENCE 6.2

Let us then cling to his blessing, and let us see what are the ways of blessedness. Let us recall the events of old. Why was our father Abraham blessed? Was it not because he performed justice and truth through faith? Isaac, knowing the future in confidence, was willingly led forth as a sacrifice.
— Clement of Rome, 1 CLEMENT 31.1-3

To be able to find [these treasures], we need the help of God who alone can "break in pieces the doors of bronze" by which they are shut up and hidden and who "cuts asunder the bars of iron" and the bolts by which access was prohibited for attaining all the truths that were written and hidden in Genesis. [These truths are] concerning the different kinds of souls, concerning the seeds and generations that either pertain directly to Israel or are separated much further from his offspring.
— Origen of Alexandria, ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 3.11

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

Gate — (1.) Of cities, as of Jerusalem (Jer. 37:13; Neh. 1:3; 2:3; 3:3), of Sodom (Gen. 19:1), of Gaza (Judg. 16:3). (2.) Of royal palaces (Neh. 2:8). (3.) Of the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 6:34, 35; 2…
Gerizim — A mountain of Samaria, about 3,000 feet above the Mediterranean. It was on the left of the valley containing the ancient town of Shechem (q.v.), on the way to Jerusalem. It stood over against Mount…
Isaac — Laughter. (1) Israel, or the kingdom of the ten tribes (Amos 7:9, 16). (2.) The only son of Abraham by Sarah. He was the longest lived of the three patriarchs (Gen. 21:1-3). He was circumcised when…
Lip — Besides its literal sense (Isa. 37:29, etc.), is used in the original (saphah) metaphorically for an edge or border, as of a cup (1 Kings 7:26), a garment (Ex. 28:32), a curtain (26:4), the sea (Gen.…
Sacrifice — The offering up of sacrifices is to be regarded as a divine institution. It did not originate with man. God himself appointed it as the mode in which acceptable worship was to be offered to him by…
Temptation — (1.) Trial; a being put to the test. Thus God “tempted [Gen. 22: 1; R.V., ‘did prove’] Abraham;” and afflictions are said to tempt, i.e., to try, men (James 1:2, 12; comp. Deut. 8:2), putting their…
Burnt Offering, The · Abraham tried by the command to offer Isaac as — Abraham tried by the command to offer Isaac as
Communion · .Abraham — .Abraham
Isaac · .Offered in sacrifice by his father — .Offered in sacrifice by his father
Jews, The · Their vast numbers — Their vast numbers
Sea, The · The shore of, covered with sand — The shore of, covered with sand

Genesis 22:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 22:15-19

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 22:13

Adam Clarke on Genesis 22:17

John Gill on Genesis 22:17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 22:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 22:15-19

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 22:13

Adam Clarke on Genesis 22:17

John Gill on Genesis 22:17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 22:17-18

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 22:15-19

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 22:17

Rashi on Genesis 22:17