Genesis 16:10
in Genesis 16Then the angel added, “I will greatly multiply your offspring so that they will be too numerous to count.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the angel of Jehovah said unto her, I will greatly multiply thy seed, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
KJV
And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
⋯
This verse in Genesis 16
Commentary
7 notes on this verseI will multiply thy seed exceedingly - Who says this? The person who is called the Angel of the Lord; and he certainly speaks with all the authority which is proper to God.
This site's exposition
submit to her authority
on Genesis 16:9-10
The command comes first and it is the hard one, back under the hand that afflicted her. The promise follows, offspring too numerous to count, the words God had spoken over Abram at 13:16 and 15:5. Clarke notes that the speaker promises this on his own authority, speaking as God.
This site's exposition
too numerous to count
John Wesley reads the doubled Hebrew verb as offspring multiplied in every age. Matthew Henry reads the angel's words as Abram's promise of offspring too many to count, reaching a son outside the covenant. Genesis 25 names Ishmael's twelve sons.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
It is not implausible that one who is living the life of a beginner should also be judged worthy of a blessing, for, if his progress continues toward the appropriate goal, he will arrive at perfection.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
This was in pursuance of the promise made to Abram: I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, ch. xiii. Note, Many that are children of godly parents have, for their sakes, a very large share of outward common blessings, though, like Ishmael, they are not taken into covenant: many are multiplied that are not sanctified.
I will multiply thy seed exceedingly - Hebrew. multiplying I will multiply it, that is, multiply it in every age, so as to perpetuate it. 'Tis supposed that the Turks at this day descended from Ishmael, and they are a great people.
And the angel of the Lord said unto her,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
הרבה ארבה, the angel being G'd's messenger, may speak in the first person as if he were to do what he says, seeing that he delivers G'd's message. It is as if G'd Himself had spoken.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The angel of Adonoy said to her: I will greatly multiply your descendants that they can not be counted because of their great number.
The angel informed Hagar that his name will be Ishmael — just as in the verse, Behold, a son shall be born unto the house of David Josiah by name. I Kings:2.
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. 3 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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָהּ֙ | lah | to <the> her | ||
| מַלְאַ֣ךְ | malakh | [the] angel of | H4397 → | 213 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הַרְבָּ֥ה | harbah | certainly <to increase> | H7235 → | 227 times |
| אַרְבֶּ֖ה | ʾarbeh | I will increase | H7235 → | 227 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| זַרְעֵ֑ךְ | zarekh | offspring your | H2233 → | 229 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִסָּפֵ֖ר | yisafer | it will be counted | H5608 → | 159 times |
| מֵרֹֽב׃ | mero | from multitude | H7230 → | 149 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
לָהּ֙to <the> her
lah
מַלְאַ֣ךְ[the] angel of
malakhH4397 →213 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הַרְבָּ֥הcertainly <to increase>
harbahH7235 →227 times
אַרְבֶּ֖הI will increase
ʾarbehH7235 →227 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
זַרְעֵ֑ךְoffspring your
zarekhH2233 →229 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יִסָּפֵ֖רit will be counted
yisaferH5608 →159 times
מֵרֹֽב׃from multitude
meroH7230 →149 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
6 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 17:20As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make…
it leads to
- Genesis 21:18
Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 16:10–12
Then the angel added, “I will greatly multiply your offspring so that they will be too numerous to count.”
- Genesis 21:18
Through
Genesis 21:13But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.”
it leads to
- Genesis 25:12–18
This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 17:20
As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 25:12–18
Through
Genesis 21:18Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
it leads to
- Genesis 21:13
But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Chronicles 1:29–31
These are their genealogies:
- Genesis 21:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies8
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Didymus the Blind, ON GENESIS 244-45; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.