Génesis 17:20

20 En cuanto a Ismael, ya te he escuchado. Yo lo bendeciré, lo haré fecundo y le daré una descendencia numerosa. Él será el padre de doce príncipes. Haré de él una nación muy grande.

Génesis 17:20 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 17:20

And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee, &c,
Took notice of his prayer for him, and accepted of and would answer him, and did, as follows:

behold, I have blessed him;
determined in his mind to bless him, promised to bless him, ( Genesis 16:10 Genesis 16:12 ) ; had blessings laid up and in reserve for him:

and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly;
as he did, many of the Arabian nations, the Hagarenes, Saracens, and Turks, all springing from him:

twelve princes shall he beget;
whose names are given, ( Genesis 25:13-15 ) ; and their number there exactly agrees with this prophecy. Melo F19, the Heathen writer above mentioned, says, that Abraham, of his other wife, the Egyptian servant (that is, Hagar), begat twelve sons, which he mistakes for twelve sons of Ishmael, his son by Hagar; and, adds he, these going into Arabia, divided the country among them, and were the first that reigned over the inhabitants of it; hence down to our times the kings of the Arabians have twelve names like to those. So the Saracens were divided into twelve tribes, of which there were so many "phylarchi", or governors; and the Turks also are divided into the same number of tribes F20. And

I will make him a great nation;
as the nation of the Turks especially is; and the Turkish empire is frequently called in Jewish writings the kingdom of Ishmael, as the Arabic language is called the Ishmaelitish language.


FOOTNOTES:

F19 Apud. Euseb. ut supra. (Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 19. p. 421.)
F20 Vid. Vales. Not. in Ammian. Marcellin. l. 24. p. 283.

Génesis 17:20 In-Context

18 Por eso le dijo a Dios:—¡Concédele a Ismael vivir bajo tu bendición!
19 A lo que Dios contestó:—¡Pero es Sara, tu esposa, la que te dará un hijo, al que llamarás Isaac! Yo estableceré mi pacto con él y con sus descendientes, como pacto perpetuo.
20 En cuanto a Ismael, ya te he escuchado. Yo lo bendeciré, lo haré fecundo y le daré una descendencia numerosa. Él será el padre de doce príncipes. Haré de él una nación muy grande.
21 Pero mi pacto lo estableceré con Isaac, el hijo que te dará Sara de aquí a un año, por estos días.
22 Cuando Dios terminó de hablar con Abraham, se retiró de su presencia.
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