Genesis 17:16

¹⁴ But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.

And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”

¹⁷ Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”

¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!”

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”
KJV: And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
WEB: I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her.”
ASV: And I will bless her, and moreover I will give thee a son of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be [a mother of] nations; kings of peoples shall be of her.
DARBY: And I will bless her, and I will give thee a son also of her; and I will bless her, and she shall become nations: kings of peoples shall be of her.
BLB: And I will bless her, and also I have given to you a son by her. And I have blessed her, and she has become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

ÅB: Og jeg vil velsigne henne, og jeg vil gi deg en sønn også med henne; ja, jeg vil velsigne henne, og hun skal bli til mange folk, konger over folkeslag skal fremgå av henne.
OTB: Jeg vil velsigne henne, og sannelig, jeg vil gi deg en sønn ved henne. Jeg vil velsigne henne, og hun skal bli mor til folkeslag; konger over folk skal komme fra henne.”
B1930: Og jeg vil velsigne henne, og jeg vil gi dig en sønn også med henne; ja, jeg vil velsigne henne, og hun skal bli til mange folk, konger over folkeslag skal fremgå av henne.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Genesis 35:11
And 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.
Read in context
1 Peter 3:6
just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. And you are her children if you do what is right and refuse to give way to fear.
Read in context
Isaiah 49:23
Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”
Read in context
Galatians 4:26–31
But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
Read in context
Genesis 18:10–14
Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.
Read in context
Genesis 17:6
I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.
Read in context
Genesis 1:28
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”
Read in context
Genesis 24:60
And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands upon thousands. May your offspring possess the gates of their enemies.”
Read in context