And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Parallel translations
- WEB All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, because you have obeyed my voice.”
- BSB And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
- NKJV In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
- NASB And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
- NLT And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”
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
All nations will be blessed through Abraham's offspring because he obeyed. This is the gospel promise that salvation reaches the whole world through his seed.
Overview
The climax of the oath universalizes the blessing: every nation will be blessed through Abraham's offspring. Paul identifies this singular 'offspring' as Christ (Galatians 3:16), through whom Gentiles are justified by faith. Abraham's obedience is the occasion, but Christ is the means by which the nations are blessed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Acts 3:25Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
- Gen 12:3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
- Gal 3:16Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
- Gen 26:4–5And 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;
- Gal 3:8–9And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
- Gen 18:18Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
- Jer 7:23But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
- Ps 72:17His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
- Eph 1:3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
- Gal 3:28–29There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Gal 3:18For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
- Rom 1:3Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
- Heb 11:1–40Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
- Gen 22:3And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
- Gen 22:10And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
- 1 Sam 2:30Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 22:18 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.