Genesis 17:18 — compare English translations

Compare translations

Genesis 17:18 in 3 English versions, beneath the original-language interlinear. Each original word links to its lexicon entry, so you can weigh the renderings against the morphology yourself. Full word study →

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ʼâmar H559 to say אַבְרָהָ֖ם ʼAbrâhâm H85 Abraham אֶל ʼêl H413 to הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים ʼĕlôhîym H430 God ל֥וּ lûwʼ H3863 if only יִשְׁמָעֵ֖אל Yishmâʻêʼl H3458 Ishmael יִחְיֶ֥ה châyâh H2421 to live לְפָנֶֽיךָ pânîym H6440 face

Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.

Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.

World English Bible Public Domain

Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!"
King James Version Public Domain

And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Then Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live before you!”

unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).