Genesis 17:8

8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you {the land in which you are living as an alien}, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting property. And I will be to them as God."

Genesis 17:8 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 17:8

And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee
To him in right, and to them in possession, and for an inheritance:

the land wherein thou art a stranger;
or "the land of sojournings" or "pilgrimages" F12, which were many; for he often removed from place to place, and sometimes sojourned in one place, and sometimes in another:

all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession;
this respects only the natural seed of Abraham, and those in the line of Isaac and Jacob, to whom this land was given to hold for ever, in case they were obedient to the will of God; and therefore whenever they were disobedient, they were carried captive from it, as they are at this day; but when they shall be converted, they will return to this land and possess it to the end of the world; and which was a figure of the heavenly inheritance, which is an eternal one, and will be enjoyed by all his spiritual seed to all eternity:

and I will be their God;
as he was to all the natural seed of Abraham in a spiritual sense, to whom the adoption belonged, and whom he chose and separated as a peculiar people to himself, and bestowed in providence many peculiar favours upon them, both in a civil and religious way; and as he is to all his spiritual seed in an evangelic sense, to whom he stands in the relation of their covenant God and Father in Christ, in whom he blesses them with all spiritual blessings, and will continue to be so unto death, and to all eternity.


FOOTNOTES:

F12 (Kyrgm Ura) "terram peregrinationum tuarum", Pagninus, Montanus

Genesis 17:8 In-Context

6 And I will make you {exceedingly} fruitful. I will make you a nation, and kings shall go out from you.
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and between your offspring after you, throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant to be as God for you and to your offspring after you.
8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you {the land in which you are living as an alien}, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting property. And I will be to them as God."
9 And God said to Abraham, "Now [as for] you, you must keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you, throughout their generations.
10 This [is] my covenant which you shall keep, between me and you, and [also] with your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "a land of your sojournings"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.