American Standard Version
Genesis 17:18
18And Abraham said unto God, Oh that Ishmael might live before thee!
Genesis 17:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
- New International Version (NIV)And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!"
- New King James Version (NKJV)And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”
Context of Genesis 17:18
16And I will bless her, and moreover I will give thee a son of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be of her. 17Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, Oh that Ishmael might live before thee! 19And 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. 20And 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.
Read all of Genesis 17Genesis 17:18 word by word
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אַבְרָהָ֖ם אֶל־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים ל֥וּ יִשְׁמָעֵ֖אל יִחְיֶ֥ה לְפָנֶֽיךָ׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Genesis 17:18
- Jeremiah 32:39and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
- Acts 2:39For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him.
- Genesis 4:12when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee its strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth.
- Psalms 4:6Many there are that say, Who will show us any good? Jehovah, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
- Psalms 41:12And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, And settest me before thy face for ever.
- Isaiah 59:2but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, so that he will not hear.
Commentaries on Genesis 17:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18O that Ishmael might live before thee! - Abraham, finding that the covenant was to be established in another branch of his family, felt solicitous for his son Ishmael, whom he considered as necessarily excluded; on which God delivers that most remarkable prophecy which follows in Genesis 17:20, and which contains an answer to the prayer and wish of Abraham: And as for Ishmael I have heard thee; so that the object of Abraham's prayer was, that his son…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-27Verses 1-27 - The Sealing of the Covenant 1. שׁדי shaday Shaddai, “Irresistible, able to destroy, and by inference to make, Almighty.” שׁדד shādad “be strong, destroy.” This name is found six times in Genesis, and thirty-one times in Job. 5. אברהם 'abrâhām Abraham, from אברם 'abrām “high-father,” and הם hām the radical part of המין hāmôn a “multitude,” is obtained by a euphonic abbreviation אברהם 'abrâhām “father of a multitude.” The root רהם rhm…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-22Verses 15-22 Here is the promise made to Abraham of a son by Sarai, in whom the promise made to him should be fulfilled. The assurance of this promise was the change of Sarai's name into Sarah. Sarai signifies my princess, as if her honour were confined to one family only; Sarah signifies a princess. The more favours God confers upon us, the more low we should be in our own eyes. Abraham showed great joy; he laughed, it was a laughter of delight, not of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-18he laughed (Hebrew yitskhaq): This was because the promise seemed unbelievable. He thought his family line would continue through Ishmael. But Abraham and Sarah would have their own son.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. O that Ishmael might live before thee--natural solicitude of a parent. But God's thoughts are not as man's thoughts [Is 55:8].Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 17:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries