New English Translation
Genesis 17:8
8I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent possession. I will be their God.”
Genesis 17:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
- New International Version (NIV)The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
Context of Genesis 17:8
6I will make you extremely fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. 7I will confirm my covenant as a perpetual covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent possession. I will be their God.” 9Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep the covenantal requirement I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.
Read all of Genesis 17Genesis 17:8 word by word
וְנָתַתִּ֣י לְ֠ךָ וּלְזַרְעֲךָ֨ אַחֲרֶ֜יךָ אֵ֣ת׀ אֶ֣רֶץ מְגֻרֶ֗יךָ אֵ֚ת כָּל־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנַ֔עַן לַאֲחֻזַּ֖ת עוֹלָ֑ם וְהָיִ֥יתִי לָהֶ֖ם לֵאלֹהִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And I will giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
- unto thee, and to thy seedזֶ֫רַעzera‛ · seed: childrenH2233
- after theeאַחַר'achar · afterH310
- the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- wherein thou art a strangerמָגוֹרmâgûr mâgûr · sojourningH4033
- of Canaanכְּנַ֫עַןkena‛an · CanaanH3667
- for an everlastingעוֹלָם‛ôlâm ‛ôlâm · forever: enduringH5769
- possessionאֲחֻזָּה'ăchûzzâh · possessionH272
- and I will be their Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
Cross-references for Genesis 17:8
- Genesis 12:7The 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 13:15I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants forever.
- Genesis 15:7The Lord said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
- Psalms 105:9the promise he made to Abraham, the promise he made by oath to Isaac!
- Genesis 23:4“I am a temporary settler among you. Grant me ownership of a burial site among you so that I may bury my dead.”
- Genesis 28:4May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham so that you may possess the land God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.”
- Genesis 48:4He said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and will multiply you. I will make you into a group of nations, and I will give this land to your descendants as an everlasting possession.’
- Exodus 21:6then his master must bring him to the judges, and he will bring him to the door or the doorposts, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.
- Exodus 31:16The Israelites must keep the Sabbath by observing the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.
- Exodus 40:15and anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may minister as my priests; their anointing will make them a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.”
- Leviticus 16:34This is to be a perpetual statute for you to make atonement for the Israelites for all their sins once a year.” So he did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
- Numbers 25:13So it will be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of a permanent priesthood, because he has been zealous for his God, and has made atonement for the Israelites.’”
- Deuteronomy 32:8When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided up humankind, he set the boundaries of the peoples, according to the number of the heavenly assembly.
- 2 Samuel 23:5My dynasty is approved by God, for he has made a perpetual covenant with me, arranged in all its particulars and secured. He always delivers me, and brings all I desire to fruition.
- Psalms 103:17But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers, and is faithful to their descendants,
- Hebrews 9:15And so he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised, since he died to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant.
Commentaries on Genesis 17:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8Everlasting possession - Here עולם olam appears to be used in its accommodated meaning, and signifies the completion of the Divine counsel in reference to a particular period or dispensation. And it is literally true that the Israelites possessed the land of Canaan till the Mosaic dispensation was terminated in the complete introduction of that of the Gospel. But as the spiritual and temporal covenants are both blended together, and the former was pointed…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. 7-14Verses 7-14 The covenant of grace is from everlasting in the counsels of it, and to everlasting in the consequences of it. The token of the covenant was circumcision. It is here said to be the covenant which Abraham and his seed must keep. Those who will have the Lord to be to them a God, must resolve to be to him a people. Not only Abraham and Isaac, and his posterity by Isaac, were to be circumcised, but also Ishmael and the bond-servants. It sealed not…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-8The land of Canaan was to be an everlasting possession for the descendants of Abraham. The Lord would always be their God (see Jeremiah 31:31–40; Zechariah 8:8; Luke 1:68–79; Revelation 21:1–4).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. I will give unto thee ... the land--It had been previously promised to Abraham and his posterity (Ge 15:18). Here it is promised as an "everlasting possession," and was, therefore, a type of heaven, "the better country" (He 11:16).Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 17:8
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries