Genesis 17:19

19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.[a] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

Genesis 17:19 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
English Standard Version (ESV)
19 God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
New Living Translation (NLT)
19 But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant.
The Message Bible (MSG)
19 But God said, "That's not what I mean. Your wife, Sarah, will have a baby, a son. Name him Isaac (Laughter). I'll establish my covenant with him and his descendants, a covenant that lasts forever.
American Standard Version (ASV)
19 And God said, Nay, but Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
19 God replied, "No! Your wife Sarah will give you a son, and you will name him Isaac [He Laughs]. I will make an everlasting promise to him and his descendants.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
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.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
19 Then God said, "I will bless Ishmael. But your wife Sarah will have a son by you. And you will name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him. It will be a covenant that lasts forever. It will be for Isaac and for his family after him.

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there were, that hung upon Abraham's mind; as well as to let him know that the promise of a son by Sarah was not to be superseded by his prayer for Ishmael, for whom he might have a greater flow of natural affection than for his unborn son, in whom his seed should be called: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 fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”
18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”
19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.
21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”

Cross References 4

  • 1. S ver 6,21; Genesis 18:14; Genesis 21:2; 1 Samuel 1:20
  • 2. S Genesis 16:11; Matthew 1:21; Luke 1:13,31
  • 3. Genesis 26:3; Genesis 50:24; Exodus 13:11; Deuteronomy 1:8
  • 4. S Genesis 9:16; S Galatians 3:16

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. "Isaac" means "he laughs."
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