Genesis 17:21

21 But I will confirm My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year."[a]

Genesis 17:21 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 17:21

But my covenant will one establish with Isaac
The covenant of circumcision; for though Ishmael was circumcised, and his posterity practised that rite, yet it was not enjoined them of God; nor was it to them, or served the same purpose as to the Israelites; and particularly the promise of the land of Canaan, made in that covenant, belonged only to the posterity of Isaac, and to those only in the line of Jacob, and especially that of the Messiah springing from him, which circumcision had a respect unto:

whom Sarah shall bear unto thee, at this set time, in the next year:
that is, at the end of nine months, which is the set time a woman goes with child.

Genesis 17:21 In-Context

19 But God said, "No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father 12 tribal leaders, and I will make him into a great nation.
21 But I will confirm My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year."
22 When He finished talking with him, God withdrew from Abraham.
23 Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the slaves born in his house or purchased with his money-every male among the members of Abraham's household-and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day, just as God had said to him.

Footnotes 1

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