And Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore to him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Abraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
- KJV And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
- NKJV And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac.
- NASB Abraham named his son who was born to him, the son whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
- NLT And Abraham named their son Isaac.
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
Abraham names his promised son Isaac, meaning 'he laughs.' The name marks the joy of God's fulfilled promise.
Overview
Obedient to God's earlier command, Abraham gives his son the name Isaac, recalling the laughter that accompanied the promise. The name commemorates both the doubt and the joy surrounding his birth, now transformed into gladness. Isaac stands as a living testimony to God's power to do what seems impossible, a forerunner of the greater Son given according to promise.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Gen 17:19But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
- Rom 9:7Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”
- Gen 21:6Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”
- Josh 24:3But I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac,
- Matt 1:2Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
- Heb 11:18even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”
- Gen 21:12But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.
- Acts 7:8Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
- Gen 22:2“Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 21:3 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
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