Genesis 17:16 kjv
And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
Genesis 17:16 nkjv
And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her."
Genesis 17:16 niv
I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."
Genesis 17:16 esv
I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her."
Genesis 17:16 nlt
And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be among her descendants."
Genesis 17 16 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Gen 12:2-3 | "I will make of you a great nation... I will bless you..." | Initial covenant promise of great nation & blessing. |
| Gen 15:4 | "But he who shall come from your own body shall be your heir." | Foreshadows son from Abraham's own lineage. |
| Gen 15:5 | "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able... So shall your offspring be." | Promise of countless descendants. |
| Gen 17:7 | "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations..." | Eternal covenant with Abraham and his seed. |
| Gen 17:15 | "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name." | Renaming Sarah, sign of her new destiny. |
| Gen 17:19 | "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac." | Confirms Isaac as the promised son. |
| Gen 18:10 | "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son." | Reiteration of the specific timing for Isaac's birth. |
| Gen 18:14 | "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" | Highlights God's omnipotence to fulfill the impossible. |
| Gen 21:1-3 | "The Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised... she bore Abraham a son." | Fulfillment of the promise of Isaac's birth. |
| Gen 25:23 | "Two nations are in your womb..." | Echoes the 'nations' theme through Rebekah, Sarah's daughter-in-law. |
| Gen 35:11 | "And God said to him, 'I am God Almighty... a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.'" | Jacob's blessing reiterates kings & nations. |
| 49:10 | "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet..." | Promise of a perpetual kingly line from Judah. |
| 2 Sam 7:12-16 | "I will raise up your offspring after you... and I will establish his kingdom... Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever..." | Davidic covenant; promise of eternal kingship. |
| Isa 9:6-7 | "For to us a child is born... the government shall be upon His shoulder... Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David..." | Prophecy of the coming Messianic King from the line. |
| Matt 1:1 | "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." | Jesus's lineage traces directly back to Abraham. |
| Gal 3:16 | "Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, 'And to offsprings,' referring to many, but referring to one, 'And to your offspring,' who is Christ." | Christ is the ultimate "seed" of the promise. |
| Gal 4:26-27 | "But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother... For it is written, 'Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear...'" | Spiritual interpretation of Sarah, mother of all believers. |
| Rom 4:18-21 | "In hope he believed against hope... no distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith... to give full conviction that God was able to do what He had promised." | Abraham's faith in God's ability to provide a son despite impossibilities. |
| Rom 9:6-9 | "...For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring... It is through Isaac that your offspring will be named." | God's specific election through Isaac, not merely natural descent. |
| Heb 11:11-12 | "By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age... from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars..." | Acknowledges Sarah's faith and the miraculous nature of Isaac's birth. |
| 1 Pet 3:6 | "As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening." | Sarah as an example of godliness for women. |
| Rev 19:16 | "On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords." | Final revelation of the ultimate King descended from the promised line. |
Genesis 17 verses
Genesis 17 16 Meaning
Genesis 17:16 reveals God's powerful reaffirmation and expansion of His covenant promises to Abraham, specifically concerning Sarah. God declares He will bless Sarah and definitively give Abraham a son by her, despite their advanced age. Furthermore, He states that Sarah herself will become the progenitor of multiple nations, and kings will descend from her lineage. This promise establishes Sarah's crucial role as the matriarch through whom the covenant seed, including the royal line leading to the Messiah, would come.
Genesis 17 16 Context
Genesis 17 occurs twenty-four years after Abraham first entered Canaan, and thirteen years after Ishmael was born through Hagar. At ninety-nine, Abraham is confronted by God Almighty (El Shaddai) who renews the covenant with new terms, including circumcision as its sign. God also formally renames Abram to "Abraham" (father of a multitude) and Sarai to "Sarah" (princess), a critical prelude to verse 16. The promise of a legitimate heir through Sarah addresses the prior human attempt with Hagar and firmly establishes God's chosen path for the covenant. The historical and cultural context of ancient Near East society placed immense importance on offspring, especially male heirs, for continuity of lineage and inheritance. Barrenness was considered a great sorrow and often a disgrace. Thus, the promise to aged, barren Sarah was nothing short of a miracle and a profound divine intervention, highlighting God's sovereign power over natural limitations and human plans.
Genesis 17 16 Word analysis
- And I will bless her: (וַאֲבָרֵךְ אֹתָהּ, wa’avarēkh ’otah) "I will bless" is from בָּרַךְ (barak), signifying divine favor, enablement, and prosperity. The Hebrew syntax emphasizes the direct action of God. This divine blessing directly reverses Sarah's natural barrenness and old age.
- and will surely give you a son by her: (וְגַם נָתַתִּי מִמֶּנָּה לְךָ בֵּן, wĕgam nāttattî mimmennâ lĕḵā bēn) The phrase "will surely give" employs an emphatic structure in Hebrew, signifying absolute certainty. It literally means "I Myself have given" or "I am indeed giving," expressing the divine decree as good as done. "By her" (mimmennâ) clarifies the precise mother, explicitly linking the promise to Sarah, distinguishing it from Ishmael's birth through Hagar. This son, Isaac, will be the true heir of the covenant.
- I will bless her: The repetition emphasizes the divine intention and certainty of Sarah's blessing. It reiterates that her fruitfulness is a direct result of God's unilateral action.
- and she shall become nations: (וְהָיְתָה לְגוֹיִם, wĕhāyĕtâ lĕgōyim) "Nations" (gōyim) is plural, indicating more than one ethnic or national group will descend from her. This is not limited to Israel but refers to a broad scope of descendants, including other groups that trace their lineage through Abraham, such as Edom and other Arab tribes, though Israel remains the covenant nation. This promises vast, widespread posterity.
- kings of peoples shall come from her: (מַלְכֵי עַמִּים מִמֶּנָּה יִהְיוּ, malḵē ‘ammîm mimmennâ yihyû) "Kings of peoples" (malḵē ‘ammîm) emphasizes royal succession and power. This points specifically to the Davidic line, which ultimately leads to the King of kings, Jesus Christ. This promise extends beyond mere multitudes to an lineage of rulers, signifying significant earthly and spiritual authority.
Genesis 17 16 Bonus section
The divine name used consistently in Genesis 17 is El Shaddai ("God Almighty" or "God All-Sufficient"), introduced in verse 1. This name underscores God's absolute power and ability to fulfill the seemingly impossible promise of a son through Sarah, who was ninety years old and well past childbearing age (Gen 17:17, 18:11-12). This particular promise directly confronts human laughter and doubt that arose from the absurdity of the situation from a human perspective. While Abraham laughs in response to this promise (Gen 17:17), and Sarah later laughs in Genesis 18:12, God's divine word stands as absolute truth, capable of actualizing what is humanly inconceivable. The renaming of Sarai to Sarah just before this verse is significant; it reflects God's complete change in her destiny and underscores her new identity as a "princess" from whom nations and kings would emerge. This demonstrates God's initiative in reshaping destiny and identity to align with His grand covenant plan.
Genesis 17 16 Commentary
Genesis 17:16 is a pivotal moment in the unfolding Abrahamic covenant, moving beyond a general promise of countless descendants to a highly specific and supernatural assurance regarding Sarah. It asserts God's sovereign power over human biological limitations, highlighting that the fulfillment of His promises does not depend on human effort or capability, but on His divine will and action. The repeated "I will bless her" underlines God's intentionality and certainty in establishing Sarah, the previously barren matriarch, as the direct ancestress of not just one nation, but multiple peoples and a line of royalty. This prophecy of "kings of peoples" is remarkably fulfilled through the line of David and ultimately finds its ultimate consummation in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who reigns as King of kings, born of the same lineage. The verse therefore establishes the crucial importance of Isaac, not Ishmael, as the legitimate heir through whom the covenant blessings, including the promise of the royal seed, would flow. It serves as a profound testimony to God's faithfulness, omnipotence, and His meticulous plan of salvation woven through the generations.