Genesis 26:4

Gen 26:4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

Ver. 4. As the stars of heaven.] {See Trapp on "Gen 13:16"}

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.

Gen 26:4. I will make thy seed to multiply — Here we find a renewal to Isaac of all God’s promises made to Abraham; and the great fundamental mysterious promise is renewed exactly in the same words in which it had been given to Abraham. When God said to Abraham, In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed — Perhaps Abraham might, at first, suppose God spake of his immediate seed, namely, of Isaac; but when he came upon the stage of life, he brought no such blessing with him; and when the promise was renewed to him in the very same words, it became evident that the seed which was to be this universal blessing was still to come.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 4. I will make thy seed - as the stars of heaven] A promise often repeated to Abraham, and which has been most amply fulfilled both in its literal and spiritual sense.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. as the stars of heaven] See note on Gen_13:1-6; cf. Gen_15:5, Gen_22:17.

be blessed] R.V. marg. rightly, bless themselves. See Gen_12:3, Gen_22:18.

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 I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven,.... Meaning in the line of Jacob especially, if not only; from whom sprung twelve patriarchs, the heads of so many tribes, which in process of time became very numerous, even as the stars of heaven:

and I will give unto thy seed all these countries; which is repeated from Gen 26:3 for the greater confirmation of it:

and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; meaning in the Messiah that should spring from him, see Gen 22:18.

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

4. All these countries — All the different districts or territories of the different Canaanitish tribes.

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

And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, (Gen_15:1-6) and will give unto thy seed all these countries (i.e. the territories occupied by the Canaanitish tribes); and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (cf. Gen_12:3 Gen_22:18)

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

General Information:

Yahweh continues speaking to Isaac.

I will multiply your descendants

"I will cause you to have very many descendants."

like the stars of heaven

This speaks about the number of Isaac's descendants as if they were the same as the number of stars. See how you translated this in Genesis 22:17. (See: Simile)

heaven

This refers to everything we see above the earth, including the sun, moon, and stars.

all the nations of the earth will be blessed

This can be stated in active form. AT: "I will bless all the nations of the earth" (See: Active or Passive)

Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my instructions, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws

The phrases "obeyed my voice" and "kept my instructions, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws" mean basically the same thing. AT: "Abraham obeyed me and did everything I commanded him to do" (See: Parallelism)

obeyed my voice

Here "voice" stands for Yahweh. AT: "obeyed me" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

multiply

descend

heaven

nation

bless

Abraham

obey

instruct

command

statute

law, laws

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

והתברכו בזרעך AND IN THY SEED SHALL BLESS THEMSELVES — A man will say to his son, “May your seed be as the seed of Isaac”. Such is the meaning of this phrase wherever it occurs in the entire Scriptures. The following passage is that from which this meaning may be derived for all such passages: (48:20) “By thee shall all Israel bless their children saying, “May God make thee [as Ephraim and Manasseh]”. So, too, in the case of a curse do we find a similar idea: (Numbers 5:27) “And the woman shall become a curse”, meaning that one who curses his enemy will say “May you be like such and such a woman”. Similar, also, is (Isaiah 65:15) “And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto mine elect”, meaning that one who takes an oath will say “May I be like such-and-such a person if I have really done so-and-so”.

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.

והרבתי...ונתתי לך לזרעך, for them it will be an outright gift as they will not only dwell there but will expel the gentiles from this land. The word זרעך is intended to apply to the descendants of Yaakov, seeing that this is the only seed common to Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov. והתברכו, I have explained this on 23,18.

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.