Exodus 32:13
in Exodus 32Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
KJV
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
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This verse in Exodus 32
Commentary
2 notes on this verseon Exodus 32:11-13
Now Moses is standing in the gap to turn away the wrath of God, Ps. cvi. He wisely took the hint which God gave him when he said, Let me alone, which, though it seemed to forbid his interceding, did really encourage it, by showing what power the prayer of faith has with God.
This site's exposition
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants
on Exodus 32:13-14
Moses' last argument is the oath God swore by his own self at Genesis 22:16, and he asks nothing on the ground of what the people deserve. The text then says the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people, while Numbers 23:19 says God is not a man that he should repent. Readers have long divided here, some taking the language as spoken after the manner of men, which is how Charles Spurgeon takes it in his sermon on the mediation of Moses, and others reading a real turn made in answer to prayer.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Heaven forbid for the Lord to repent. 63 To change His mind. Medieval Jewish philosophers taught that God is unchanging.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
25 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זְכֹ֡ר | zekhor | remember | H2142 → | 230 times |
| לְאַבְרָהָם֩ | leavraham | <to> Abraham | H85 → | 175 times |
| לְיִצְחָ֨ק | leyitzchak | <to> Isaac | H3327 → | 108 times |
| וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל | uleyisrael | and <to> Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| עֲבָדֶ֗יךָ | ʾavadeikha | servants your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נִשְׁבַּ֣עְתָּ | nishba'ta | you swore | H7650 → | 186 times |
| לָהֶם֮ | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| בָּךְ֒ | bokh | by <the> yourself | ||
| וַתְּדַבֵּ֣ר | vatedaber | and you said | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֲלֵהֶ֔ם | ʾalehem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַרְבֶּה֙ | ʾarbeh | I will increase | H7235 → | 227 times |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| זַרְעֲכֶ֔ם | zarakhem | offspring your | H2233 → | 229 times |
| כְּכוֹכְבֵ֖י | kechokhvei | like [the] stars of | H3556 → | |
| הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאָ֨רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הַזֹּ֜את | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אָמַ֗רְתִּי | ʾamarti | I have promised | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶתֵּן֙ | ʾeten | I will give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לְזַרְעֲכֶ֔ם | lezarakhem | to offspring your | H2233 → | 229 times |
| וְנָחֲל֖וּ | venachalu | and they will possess [it] | H5157 → | 59 times |
| לְעֹלָֽם׃ | leolam | for ever | H5769 → | 438 times |
זְכֹ֡רremember
zekhorH2142 →230 times
לְאַבְרָהָם֩<to> Abraham
leavrahamH85 →175 times
לְיִצְחָ֨ק<to> Isaac
leyitzchakH3327 →108 times
וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵ֜לand <to> Israel
uleyisraelH3478 →2507 times
עֲבָדֶ֗יךָservants your
ʾavadeikhaH5650 →799 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
נִשְׁבַּ֣עְתָּyou swore
nishba'taH7650 →186 times
לָהֶם֮to <the> them
lahem
בָּךְ֒by <the> yourself
bokh
וַתְּדַבֵּ֣רand you said
vatedaberH1696 →1141 times
אֲלֵהֶ֔םto them
ʾalehemH413 →5510 times
אַרְבֶּה֙I will increase
ʾarbehH7235 →227 times
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
זַרְעֲכֶ֔םoffspring your
zarakhemH2233 →229 times
כְּכוֹכְבֵ֖יlike [the] stars of
kechokhveiH3556 →
הַשָּׁמָ֑יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
הָאָ֨רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
הַזֹּ֜את<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אָמַ֗רְתִּיI have promised
ʾamartiH559 →5305 times
אֶתֵּן֙I will give
ʾetenH5414 →2011 times
לְזַרְעֲכֶ֔םto offspring your
lezarakhemH2233 →229 times
וְנָחֲל֖וּand they will possess [it]
venachaluH5157 →59 times
לְעֹלָֽם׃for ever
leolamH5769 →438 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hebrews 6:13When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,
it leads to
- Genesis 22:15–18
And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time,
- Genesis 22:15–18
Through
Genesis 15:18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
it leads to
- Genesis 13:15
for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 1:3–4
I have given you every place where the sole of your foot will tread, just as I promised to Moses.
- Genesis 12:7
Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
- Genesis 13:15
Through
Genesis 22:16saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son,
it leads to
- Luke 1:73
the oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 1:73
Through
Genesis 15:5And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
it leads to
- Hebrews 11:12
And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
- Romans 4:18
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
- Deuteronomy 1:10
The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.
- Hebrews 11:12
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus

Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon 2398, Mediation of Moses and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
