Kejadian 1:17

1:17 God placed the lights ¹  in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth,

Kejadian 15:18

15:18 That day the Lord made a covenant ²  with Abram: “To your descendants I give ³  this land, from the river of Egypt ⁴  to the great river, the Euphrates River –

Kejadian 16:1

The Birth of Ishmael

16:1 Now Sarai, ⁵  Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, ⁶  but she had an Egyptian servant ⁷  named Hagar. ⁸ 

[1:17]  ¹ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the lights mentioned in the preceding verses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:18]  ² tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[15:18]  ³ tn The perfect verbal form is understood as instantaneous (“I here and now give”). Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, indicating certitude (“I have given” meaning it is as good as done, i.e., “I will surely give”).

[15:18]  sn To your descendants I give this land. The Lord here unconditionally promises that Abram’s descendants will possess the land, but he does not yet ratify his earlier promises to give Abram a multitude of descendants and eternal possession of the land. The fulfillment of those aspects of the promise remain conditional (see Gen 17:1-8) and are ratified after Abraham offers up his son Isaac (see Gen 22:1-19). For a fuller discussion see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 35-54.

[15:18]  ⁴ sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not to the River Nile.

[16:1]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.

[16:1]  ⁶ sn On the cultural background of the story of Sarai’s childlessness see J. Van Seters, “The Problem of Childlessness in Near Eastern Law and the Patriarchs of Israel,” JBL 87 (1968): 401-8.

[16:1]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term שִׁפְחָה (shifkhah, translated “servant” here and in vv. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8) refers to a menial female servant.

[16:1]  ⁸ sn The passage records the birth of Ishmael to Abram through an Egyptian woman. The story illustrates the limits of Abram’s faith as he tries to obtain a son through social custom. The barrenness of Sarai poses a challenge to Abram’s faith, just as the famine did in chap. 12. As in chap. 12, an Egyptian figures prominently. (Perhaps Hagar was obtained as a slave during Abram’s stay in Egypt.)