New International Version
Genesis 17:18
18And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”
Genesis 17:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
- 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!”
- New Living Translation (NLT)So Abraham said to God, “May Ishmael live under your special blessing!”
Context of Genesis 17:18
16I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” 17Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” 19Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.
Read all of Genesis 17Genesis 17:18 word by word
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אַבְרָהָ֖ם אֶל־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים ל֥וּ יִשְׁמָעֵ֖אל יִחְיֶ֥ה לְפָנֶֽיךָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Genesis 17:18
- Jeremiah 32:39I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.
- Acts 2:39The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
- Genesis 4:12When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”
- Psalms 4:6Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?” Let the light of your face shine on us.
- Psalms 41:12Because of my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever.
- Isaiah 59:2But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden 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
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