New English Translation
Genesis 12:7
7The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Genesis 12:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.
- New International Version (NIV)The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Context of Genesis 12:7
5And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they left for the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan. 6Abram traveled through the land as far as the oak tree of Moreh at Shechem. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord. 9Abram continually journeyed by stages down to the Negev.
Read all of Genesis 12Genesis 12:7 word by word
וַיֵּרָ֤א יְהוָה֙ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם וַיֹּ֕אמֶר לְזַ֨רְעֲךָ֔ אֶתֵּ֖ן אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֑את וַיִּ֤בֶן שָׁם֙ מִזְבֵּ֔חַ לַיהוָ֖ה הַנִּרְאֶ֥ה אֵלָֽיו׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- appearedרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- unto Abramאַבְרָם'abrâm · AbramH87
- and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Unto thy seedזֶ֫רַעzera‛ · seed: childrenH2233
- will I giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
- thisזֹאתzô'th · thisH2063
- landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- and there buildedבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
- he an altarמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
Cross-references for Genesis 12:7
- Genesis 17:1When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless.
- Genesis 18:1The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest time of the day.
- Genesis 32:30So Jacob named the place Peniel, explaining, “Certainly I have seen God face to face and have survived.”
- Genesis 13:15I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants forever.
- Genesis 17:3Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, and God said to him,
- Genesis 26:3Stay in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will fulfill the solemn promise I made to your father Abraham.
- Genesis 28:13and the Lord stood at its top. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the ground you are lying on.
- Exodus 33:1The Lord said to Moses, “Go up from here, you and the people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’
- Numbers 32:11‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old and upward who came from Egypt will see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
- Deuteronomy 1:8Look! I have already given the land to you. Go, occupy the territory that I, the Lord, promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants.”
- Deuteronomy 6:10Then when the Lord your God brings you to the land he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you – a land with large, fine cities you did not build,
- Deuteronomy 30:20I also call on you to love the Lord your God, to obey him and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
- Psalms 105:9the promise he made to Abraham, the promise he made by oath to Isaac!
- Romans 9:8This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.
- Galatians 3:16Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not say, “and to the descendants,” referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ.
- Galatians 4:28But you, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise like Isaac.
Commentaries on Genesis 12:7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7The Lord appeared - In what way this appearance was made we know not; it was probably by the great angel of the covenant, Jesus the Christ. The appearance, whatsoever it was, perfectly satisfied Abram, and proved itself to be supernatural and Divine. It is worthy of remark that Abram is the first man to whom God is said to have shown himself or appeared: In Ur of the Chaldees, Acts 7:2; and 2. At the oak of Moreh, as in this verse. As מורה Moreh signifies…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-9Verses 1-9 - The Call of Abram 6. שׁכם shekem Shekem, “the upper part of the back.” Here it is the name of a person, the owner of this place, where afterward is built the town called at first Shekem, then Flavia Neapolis, and now Nablous. אלון 'ēlôn “the oak;” related: “be lasting, strong.” מורה môreh In Onkelos “plain;” Moreh, “archer, early rain, teacher.” Here the name of a man who owned the oak that marked the spot. In the Septuagint it is rendered…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-9Verses 6-9 Abram found the country peopled by Canaanites, who were bad neighbours. He journeyed, going on still. Sometimes it is the lot of good men to be unsettled, and often to remove into various states. Believers must look on themselves as strangers and sojourners in this world, He 11:8, 13, 14. But observe how much comfort Abram had in God. When he could have little satisfaction in converse with the Canaanites whom he found there, he had abundance of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7the LORD appeared to Abram at Shechem (12:6) to confirm that this was the promised land. Israel was meant to live in this land, but they needed faith to share in God's promises (compare Numbers 14; Joshua 1:6–9). to your offspring: Abram did not own the land yet. He lived there as a temporary settler.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. Unto thy seed will I give this land--God was dealing with Abram not in his private and personal capacity merely, but with a view to high and important interests in future ages. That land his posterity was for centuries to inhabit as a peculiar people; the seeds of divine knowledge were to be sown there for the benefit of all mankind; and considered in its geographical situation, it was chosen in divine wisdom as the fittest of all lands to serve as the…Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 12:7
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 12
- 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
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