Abraham replied, “Make sure that you do not take my son back there.
Parallel translations
- WEB Abraham said to him, “Beware that you don’t bring my son there again.
- KJV And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.
- NKJV But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there.
- NASB Then Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there!
- NLT “No!” Abraham responded. “Be careful never to take my son there.
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 firmly forbids ever taking Isaac back to the old country. The son of promise must remain in the land God gave.
Overview
Abraham insists Isaac stay in Canaan, the land of promise, never returning to Mesopotamia. To bring him back would be to forsake the inheritance God had sworn to give. His resolve reflects unwavering faith that God will keep His covenant in the appointed land.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 2 Pet 2:20–22If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first.
- Gal 5:1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.
- Heb 10:39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
- Heb 11:9By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
- Heb 11:13–16All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
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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 24:6 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.