Genesis 17:19

Gen 17:19 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.

Ver. 19. I will establish my covenant with him.] This was a far greater favour than that bestowed on Ishmael in the next verse, "Twelve princes shall he beget." Nothing so ennobleth as Christ, graces, being in the covenant, &c. {Isa 19:25} "Assyria" is "the work of" God’s "hands," but "Israel" his "inheritance."

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17:19 The name Isaac (Hebrew yitskhaq, “he laughs”) would constantly recall Abraham’s disbelieving laughter when he heard the promise. It was also a reminder of God’s favor and his pleasure in the birth (cp. 21:6).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

אבל VERILY — This word implies confirmation of a statement, just as (Genesis 42:21) “Verily (אבל) we are guilty”, and (2 Kings 4:14) “Verily (אבל) she has no son”.

וקראת את שמו יצחק AND THOU SHALL CALL HIS NAME ISAAC — with reference to his laughter. Some say the name has reference to the ten (י) trials, the ninety (צ) years of Sarah’s age, the eight (ח) days of the circumcision and the hundred (ק) years of Abraham’s age (Genesis Rabbah 53:7).

והקמתי את בריתי AND I WILL ESTABLISH MY COVENANT WITH HIM — Why is this stated? Is it not already written (Genesis 17:9) “as for thee, thou shalt keep My Covenant, thou and thy seed etc.”? But since is said, (Genesis 17:7) and I will establish My Covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations”, it might be inferred that the children of Ishmael and the children of Keturah (who are all descendants of Abraham) are included in this promise of the establishment of the Covenant, therefore it states here (Genesis 17:19) “And I will establish My Covenant with him (Isaac), not with the others” (cf. Sanhedrin 59b). If so, why is there a repetition of the statement that the covenant will be established with Isaac in the words (Genesis 17:21) ואת בריתי אקים את יצחק “but My Covenant will I establish with Isaac”? But it is repeated in order to add the words אשר תלד so as to teach that he was holy from his birth (Shabbat 137b). Another explanation of why 5:21 is repeated is: R. Aba said, “from here Scripture draws a logical conclusion regarding the son of the Mistress (Sarah) from what is said regarding the son of the handmaid (Hagar): It is written (Genesis 17:20) “Behold I have blessed him and will make him fruitful”, and this refers to Ishmael: Surely then, it follows logically that “I must establish my covenant (of blessing) with Isaac also!” (Genesis Rabbah 47:5).

את בריתי [I WILL ESTABLISH] MY COVENANT — The Covenant of circumcision shall be transmitted only to the descendants of Isaac.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

The everlasting Covenant is made with the children of the Spirit: and with the children of the flesh is made the temporal promise, as was promised to Ishmael.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The blessings of the covenant are reserved for Isaac, but common blessings were abundantly promised to Ishmael; and though the visible Church did not descend from his family, yet personally he might, and it is to be hoped did, enjoy its benefits.

Next: Genesis Chapter 18

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

19. Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed Some take the adverb אבל (abal,) to mean ‘Truly.’ Others, however, more rightly suppose it to be used for increasing the force of the expression. For God rouses the slumbering mind of his servant; as if he would say, ‘The sight of one favor prevents thee from raising thyself higher; and thus it happens that thou dost confine thy thoughts within too narrow limits. Now, therefore, enlarge thy mind, to receive also what I promise concerning Sarah. For the door of hope ought to be sufficiently open to admit the word in its full magnitude.’

And I will establish my covenant with him He confines the spiritual covenant to one family, in order that Abraham may hence learn to hope for the blessing before promised; for since he had framed for himself a false hope, not founded on the word of God, it was necessary that this false hope should first be dislodged from his heart, in order that he might now the more fully rely upon the heavenly oracles, and might fix the anchor of his faith, which before had wavered in a fallacious imagination, on the firm truth of God. He calls the covenant everlasting, in the sense which we have previously explained. He then declares that it shall not be bound to one person only, but shall be common to his whole race, that it may, by continual succession, descend to his posterity. Yet it may seem absurd, that God should command Ishmael, whom he deprives of his grace, to be circumcised. I answer; although the Lord constitutes Isaac the firstborn and the head, from whom he intends the covenant of salvation to flow, he still does not entirely exclude Ishmael, but rather, in adopting the whole family of Abraham, joins Ishmael to his brother Isaac as an inferior member, until Ishmael cut himself off from his father’s house, and his brother’s society. Therefore his circumcision was not useless, until he apostatized from the covenant: for although it was not deposited with him, he might, nevertheless, participate in it, with his brother Isaac. In short, the Lord intends nothing else, by these words, than that Isaac should be the legitimate heir of the promised benediction.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(19) Indeed.—In the Hebrew this word comes first, and is intended to remove all doubt or desire for any other turn of affairs. It should be rendered, “And God said, For a certainty Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son.”

Thou shalt call his name Isaac.—That is, he laughs. The name was to be a perpetual memorial that Isaac’s birth was naturally such an impossibility as to excite ridicule.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. Sarah thy wife] God’s answer in this verse is made to the utterance of Abraham’s heart (Gen_17:17), and not of his lips (Gen_17:18).

thou shalt call his name Isaac] R.V. marg. “From the Heb. word meaning to laugh.” See Gen_21:3. The name Isaac is here, and in 18 and 21, associated with “laughter.” The word “he laughed,” used in Gen_17:17, has the same root letters (ṣḥq) as the name “Isaac.” The name “laughter” will thus commemorate the involuntary doubt of Abraham (Gen_17:17) to which St Paul refers (Rom_4:19), “without being weakened in faith he considered his own body now as good as dead (he being about a hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.”

Note that the father is commanded to give the name; see note on Gen_5:3 (P).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed,.... 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 (p) 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, Gen 21:8. So Polyhistor (q) 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 (r) observe had his name given him before he was born; see Gill on Gen 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.

(p) Antiqu. l. 1. c. 12. sect. 2. (q) Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 19. p. 421. (r) Pirke Eliezer, c. 32. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 2. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Isaac, "laughter," alluding to the exultation of Abraham, more than to the laughter of Sara, which deserved some reprehension, chap. xxi. 6.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Isaac signifies laughter, not from Sarah’s laughter, which as yet had not happened, but from Abraham’s past laughter, Gen 17:17, and future joy in his son.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19. Call his name Isaac — Which means, he shall laugh. A memorial of Abraham’s joyful emotion and wonder here recorded.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac. "Laughter," or "he laughs (the third person future (yitsak) being frequently employed in personal designations; cf. Jacob, Jair, Jabin, &c.), with obvious reference to Abraham"s laughter (vide Ver. 17). Cf. on naming before birth Gen_16:11. ;And I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

No, but Sarah your wife will bear

God said this to correct Abraham's belief that Sarah could not have a son.

you must name him

The word "you" refers to Abraham.

As for Ishmael

The words "As for" show that God is switching from talking about the baby that would be born to talking about Ishmael.

Behold

"Look" or "Listen" or "Pay attention to what I am about to tell you"

will make him fruitful

This is an idiom that means "will cause him to have many children." (See: Idiom)

will multiply him abundantly

"I will cause him to have many descendants"

leaders of tribes

"chiefs" or "rulers." These leaders are not the twelve sons and grandsons of Jacob that will lead the twelve tribes of Israel.

But my covenant I will establish with Isaac

God returns to talking about his covenant with Abraham and emphasizes that he would fulfill his promise with Isaac, not with Ishmael.

translationWords

Sarah

Isaac

eternity

covenant

descend

Ishmael

tribe

nation

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

‘AVAL’ SARAH THY WIFE. This is like the verse, “Aval” she has no son, the word aval meaning “only.” He thus said: “Only the son of whom I informed you, your wife Sarah will give birth to, and with him will I establish My covenant forever and with his seed after him; and Ishmael I will bless by making his children numerous, but this will not be because of My covenant with him.”

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ויאמר... אבל שרה אשתך, Ishmael will not remain your only son, but also Sarah will bear a son for you and you are to call his name Yitzchok, as a reminder that you laughed happily when you heard Me inform you of this.

לברית עולם לזרעו אחריו, the covenant I made with you will be perpetuated through Yitzchok's seed.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.