Genesis 17:7
in Genesis 17I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee.
KJV
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
⋯
This verse in Genesis 17
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAn everlasting covenant - ברית עולם berith olam. See note on Gen 13:15. Here the word olam is taken in its own proper meaning, as the words immediately following prove - to be a God unto thee, and thy seed after thee; for as the soul is to endure for ever, so it shall eternally stand in need of the supporting power and energy of God; and as the reign of the Gospel dispensation shall be as long as sun and moon endure, and its consequences eternal, so must the covenant be on which these are founded.
This site's exposition
kings will descend from you
on Genesis 17:6-7
Kings are promised to a man who has one son by a servant and no child by his wife. Sarah receives the same promise in verse 16. Matthew opens his gospel by tracing that line from Abraham through David to Jesus Christ. God calls this covenant everlasting here and again in verses 8, 13 and 19.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The covenant of grace is everlasting; it is from everlasting in the counsels of it, and to everlasting in the consequences of it; and the external administration of it is transmitted, with the seal of it, to the seed of believers, and the internal administration of it by the Spirit to Christ's seed in every age. This is a covenant of exceeding great and precious promises.
on Genesis 17:7-8
What God is himself, that he will be to his people: his wisdom theirs, to guide and counsel them; his power theirs, to protect and support them; his goodness theirs, to supply and comfort them. What faithful worshippers can expect from the God they serve believers shall find in God as theirs. This is enough, yet not all.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַהֲקִמֹתִ֨י | vahakimoti | and I will establish | H6965 → | 628 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּרִיתִ֜י | beriti | covenant my | H1285 → | 284 times |
| בֵּינִ֣י | beini | between me | H996 → | 407 times |
| וּבֵינֶ֗ךָ | uveinekha | and between you | H996 → | 407 times |
| וּבֵ֨ין | uvein | and between | H996 → | 407 times |
| זַרְעֲךָ֧ | zarakha | offspring your | H2233 → | 229 times |
| אַחֲרֶ֛יךָ | ʾachareikha | after you | H310 → | 715 times |
| לְדֹרֹתָ֖ם | ledorotam | for generations their | H1755 → | 167 times |
| לִבְרִ֣ית | livrit | to a covenant of | H1285 → | 284 times |
| עוֹלָ֑ם | olam | perpetuity | H5769 → | 438 times |
| לִהְי֤וֹת | lihyot | to become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְךָ֙ | lekha | for <the> you | ||
| לֵֽאלֹהִ֔ים | lelohim | <into> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וּֽלְזַרְעֲךָ֖ | ulezarakha | and for offspring your | H2233 → | 229 times |
| אַחֲרֶֽיךָ׃ | ʾachareikha | after you | H310 → | 715 times |
וַהֲקִמֹתִ֨יand I will establish
vahakimotiH6965 →628 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּרִיתִ֜יcovenant my
beritiH1285 →284 times
בֵּינִ֣יbetween me
beiniH996 →407 times
וּבֵינֶ֗ךָand between you
uveinekhaH996 →407 times
וּבֵ֨יןand between
uveinH996 →407 times
זַרְעֲךָ֧offspring your
zarakhaH2233 →229 times
אַחֲרֶ֛יךָafter you
ʾachareikhaH310 →715 times
לְדֹרֹתָ֖םfor generations their
ledorotamH1755 →167 times
לִבְרִ֣יתto a covenant of
livritH1285 →284 times
עוֹלָ֑םperpetuity
olamH5769 →438 times
לִהְי֤וֹתto become
lihyotH1961 →3559 times
לְךָ֙for <the> you
lekha
לֵֽאלֹהִ֔ים<into> God
lelohimH430 →2601 times
וּֽלְזַרְעֲךָ֖and for offspring your
ulezarakhaH2233 →229 times
אַחֲרֶֽיךָ׃after you
ʾachareikhaH310 →715 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 8:10For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. And…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 36:26–28
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
- Jeremiah 31:33
“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And…
- 2 Corinthians 3:3
It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on…
- Ezekiel 11:19–20
And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
- Hebrews 10:16–17
“This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their hearts and inscribe them on their minds.”
- Ezekiel 36:26–28
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
- Joshua 1:3–4
I have given you every place where the sole of your foot will tread, just as I promised to Moses.
- Joshua 1:3–4
Through
Acts 2:39This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 44:3
For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.
- Romans 8:30
And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
- Isaiah 44:3
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Covenant34 verses
On this page
Studies6
On this verse
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.