Exodus 32:13

13 Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thyself, and saidst to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall possess [it] for ever!

Exodus 32:13 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 32:13

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants
The covenant he made with them, the promise he had made unto them, with an oath annexed to it:

to whom thou swarest by thine own self;
which he did, because he could swear by no greater; and for the confirmation of his covenant and promise, see ( Genesis 22:16 )

and saidst unto them;
for what was said to Abraham was repeated and confirmed to Isaac and Jacob:

I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven;
multitudes of which are out of sight, and cannot be seen with the naked eye, nor numbered:

and all this land that I have spoken of;
the land of Canaan, then inhabited by several nations:

will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever;
as long as they are a people, a body politic, and especially while obedient to the divine will; but should they be now cut off, this promise would become of no effect: this is the great argument Moses makes use of, and the most forcible one.

Exodus 32:13 In-Context

11 And Moses besought Jehovah his God, and said, Why, Jehovah, doth thy wrath burn against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand?

12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, For misfortune he has brought them out, to slay them on the mountains, and to annihilate them from the face of the earth? Turn from the heat of thine anger, and repent of this evil against thy people!

13 Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thyself, and saidst to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall possess [it] for ever!

14 And Jehovah repented of the evil that he had said he would do to his people.

15 And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, [with] the two tables of the testimony in his hand -- tables written on both their sides: on this side and on that were they written.