Genesis 17:21

21 But I will keep my covenant with your son Isaac, who will be born to Sarah about this time next year."

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 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."
22 When God finished speaking to Abraham, he left him.
23 On that same day Abraham obeyed God and circumcised his son Ishmael and all the other males in his household, including the slaves born in his home and those he had bought.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.