Tree of Life Version
Genesis 17:18
18So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live before you!”
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 you a son from her. I will bless her and she will give rise to nations. Kings of the peoples will come from her.” 17Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to his heart, “Will a son be born to a 100-year-old man? Or will Sarah—who is 90 years old—give birth?” So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live before you!” 19But God said, “On the contrary, Sarah your wife will bear you a son and you must name him Isaac. So I will confirm My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. 20As for Ishmael, I have heard you. See, I have blessed him and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him very very much. He will father twelve princes 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
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Genesis 17:18
- Jeremiah 32:39I will give them one heart and one way, so they may fear Me forever; for their good and for their children after them.
- Acts 2:39For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away—as many as Adonai our God calls to Himself.”
- Genesis 4:12As often as you work the ground, it will not yield its crops to you again. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”
- Psalms 4:6Offer righteous sacrifices and put your trust in Adonai.
- Psalms 41:12By this I know that You delight in me: that my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
- Isaiah 59:2Rather, your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God. Your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does 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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