He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
Parallel translations
- WEB He confirmed the same to Jacob for a statute, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
- KJV And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
- NKJV And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel for an everlasting covenant,
- NASB He also confirmed it to Jacob as a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
- NLT He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, and to the people of Israel as a never-ending covenant:
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God confirmed the promise to Jacob and to Israel as an everlasting covenant. The covenant is permanent and divinely guaranteed.
Overview
The promise passed from Abraham and Isaac to Jacob, established as a lasting statute for the nation. Calling it everlasting underscores that God's commitment does not waver. This perpetual covenant anticipates its fulfillment in the eternal salvation God grants His people through Jesus Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Gen 35:11–12And God told him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation—even a company of nations—shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you.
- Gen 17:7–8I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
- Heb 13:20Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
- Exod 3:17And I have promised to bring you up out of your affliction in Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
- Jer 11:2“Listen to the words of this covenant and tell them to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem.
- 2 Sam 23:5Is not my house right with God? For He has established with me an everlasting covenant, ordered and secured in every part. Will He not bring about my full salvation and my every desire?
- Josh 24:11–13After this, you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The people of Jericho fought against you, as did the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I delivered them into your hand.
- Isa 55:3Incline your ear and come to Me; listen, so that your soul may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant—My loving devotion promised to David.
- Ps 78:10They failed to keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The genealogies and the everlasting covenant with David trace the single thread of promise running through the generations straight to the Christ in whom the line reaches its goal.
How 1 Chronicles 16:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.