Genesis 17:4
in Genesis 17“As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations.
KJV
As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
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This verse in Genesis 17
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Chapter 17—Verse 3 and following) And the Lord spoke to him, saying: Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. It should be noted that wherever we read Testament in Greek, in the Hebrew language it is the word covenant or pact, that is, Berith ().
This site's exposition
Abram fell facedown
on Genesis 17:3-5
Abram fell facedown while God was still speaking. Bede notes that no one earlier in Genesis is recorded doing this. Abram becomes Abraham by one added Hebrew letter, and Sarai is renamed the same way in verse 15. The name states what God has made him, a father of many nations.
This site's exposition
As for Me, this is My covenant with you
Jerome notes that the Hebrew word for covenant here is berith, a pact, which the Greek Bible renders as testament. God states His own part first, that Abram will be the father of many nations. Abraham's part comes at verse 9.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 10 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The promise of a bodily posterity was made to Abraham, for it is written: "So shall your posterity be." The promise of a spiritual posterity was also made to him, for through faith he was to be the father of a multitude.
A commentator
BonaventureDisputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 3 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Conjugal chastity accords with the written law by reason of the divine promise: because the Lord promised to Abraham, Genesis 17: You shall be the father of many nations; and I will make you increase most exceedingly, and I will establish you among nations, and …
And God said to him: I am, and my covenant is with you. For what is it for the Lord to say: I am, if not to clearly declare the state of his eternity, in which he is always the same?
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
my covenant is with thee--Renewed mention is made of it as the foundation of the communication that follows. It is the covenant of grace made with all who believe in the Saviour.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲנִ֕י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| הִנֵּ֥ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| בְרִיתִ֖י | veriti | covenant my | H1285 → | 284 times |
| אִתָּ֑ךְ | ʾitakh | [is] with you | H854 → | 929 times |
| וְהָיִ֕יתָ | vehayita | and you will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְאַ֖ב | leav | <into> a father of | H1 → | 1212 times |
| הֲמ֥וֹן | hamon | a multitude of | H1995 → | |
| גּוֹיִֽם׃ | goyim | nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
אֲנִ֕יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
הִנֵּ֥הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
בְרִיתִ֖יcovenant my
veritiH1285 →284 times
אִתָּ֑ךְ[is] with you
ʾitakhH854 →929 times
וְהָיִ֕יתָand you will become
vehayitaH1961 →3559 times
לְאַ֖ב<into> a father of
leavH1 →1212 times
הֲמ֥וֹןa multitude of
hamonH1995 →
גּוֹיִֽם׃nations
goyimH1471 →561 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
Genesis 12:2I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 7:9
I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make for you a name like the greatest in the land.
- Galatians 3:14
He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
- Genesis 18:18
Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
- Genesis 17:4–6
“As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.
- Genesis 28:3–4
May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
- 2 Samuel 7:9
Through
Genesis 35:11And God told him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation—even a company of nations—shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you.
it leads to
- Genesis 22:17
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 17:1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
- Genesis 9:1
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
- Genesis 22:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Genesis; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 10; Bonaventure, Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).