Genesis 17:19

19 But God said, "No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will name him Isaac. I will keep my covenant with him and with his descendants forever. It is an everlasting covenant.

Genesis 17:19 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 17:19

And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed,
&c.] This is repeated for the confirmation of it, and thus expressed to remove all doubt about it, if any there were, that hung upon Abraham's mind; as well as to let him know that the promise of a son by Sarah was not to be superseded by his prayer for Ishmael, for whom he might have a greater flow of natural affection than for his unborn son, in whom his seed should be called:

and thou shall call his name Isaac;
which signifies "laughter"; and which name was given him from the laughter of Abraham at the promise of him, and not from the laughter of Sarah, which as yet was not; wherefore Josephus F16 is wrong when he suggests, that Isaac had this name from Sarah's laughing at God's saying, that she should bear a son: though his birth was matter of laughter and joy to both, as it was to all good people that heard of it, ( Genesis 21:8 ) . So Polyhistor F17 from Melo, an Heathen writer, speaking of Abraham, says, that of his married or lawful wife one son was born to him, whose name in Greek is "Gelos", that is, laughter. Isaac is one of those the Jews F18 observe had his name given him before he was born, (See Gill on Genesis 16:11):

and I will establish my covenant with him, for an everlasting
covenant, [and] with his seed after him;
the covenant of circumcision just made with Abraham, the promise of the land of Canaan to him and his posterity, and of the Messiah that should spring from him, until whose coming this covenant would continue, and therefore called everlasting.


FOOTNOTES:

F16 Antiqu. l. 1. c. 12. sect. 2.
F17 Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 19. p. 421.
F18 Pirke Eliezer, c. 32. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 2. 1.

Genesis 17:19 In-Context

17 Abraham bowed down with his face touching the ground, but he began to laugh when he thought, "Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah have a child at ninety?"
18 He asked God, "Why not let Ishmael be my heir?"
19 But God said, "No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will name him Isaac. I will keep my covenant with him and with his descendants forever. It is an everlasting covenant.
20 I have heard your request about Ishmael, so I will bless him and give him many children and many descendants. He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make a great nation of his descendants.
21 But I will keep my covenant with your son Isaac, who will be born to Sarah about this time next year."

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. isaac: [This name in Hebrew means "he laughs."]
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.