Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word

Genesis 15:5

And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

KJV

Eduxitque eum foras, et ait illi : Suspice cælum, et numera stellas, si potes. Et dixit ei : Sic erit semen tuum.

Vulgate

ἐξήγαγεν δὲ αὐτὸν ἔξω καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτὸν Ἀνάβλεψον δὴ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἀρίθμησον τοὺς ἀστέρας, εἰ δύνῃ ἐξαριθμῆσαι αὐτούς. καὶ εἶπεν Οὕτως ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα σου.

LXX

And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

ASV

וַ/יּוֹצֵ֨א אֹת֜/וֹ הַ/ח֗וּצָ/ה וַ/יֹּ֨אמֶר֙ הַבֶּט נָ֣א הַ/שָּׁמַ֗יְמָ/ה וּ/סְפֹר֙ הַ/כּ֣וֹכָבִ֔ים אִם תּוּכַ֖ל לִ/סְפֹּ֣ר אֹתָ֑/ם וַ/יֹּ֣אמֶר ל֔/וֹ כֹּ֥ה יִהְיֶ֖ה זַרְעֶֽ/ךָ

Hebrew

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In the original Hebrew

14 distinct Hebrew words appear in this verse.

אִם
'm
conjunction · 1065×
אֶת
't
pronoun · 10895×
ה
h
noun · 164×
ה
h
verb · 70×
וֹ
v
noun · 226×
יְהִי֙
yhy
verb · 3549×
יֹּ֣אמֶר
y'mr
verb · 5290×
יוּכַ֣ל
yvkl
verb · 193×
כֹּֽה
kh
adverb · 574×
כוֹכְבֵ֥י
kvkby
noun · 36×
ם
m
verb · 1071×
נָ֣א
n'
particle · 403×
סֹּפֵ֔ר
spr
verb · 161×
שָּׁמַ֔יִם
shmym
noun · 419×

Intertextual echoes

Quoted or echoed by 1 later passage.

  • Rom 4:18 · echo
    "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be."
    Genesis: so shall your offspring be — Abraham believed in hope against hope

Themes

Doctrines that cite this verse

Theophany

Covenant

Historic Christian voices

10 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

§146Abraham thus fulfils the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen":7 "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."8 Because he was "strong in his faith", Abraham became the "father of all who believe".9
§288Thus the revelation of creation is inseparable from the revelation and forging of the covenant of the one God with his People. Creation is revealed as the first step towards this covenant, the first and universal witness to God's all-powerful love.126 and so, the truth of creation is also expressed with growing vigour in the message of the prophets, the prayer of the psalms and…
§762The remote preparation for this gathering together of the People of God begins when he calls Abraham and promises that he will become the father of a great people.157 Its immediate preparation begins with Israel's election as the People of God. By this election, Israel is to be the sign of the future gathering of All nations.158 But the prophets accuse Israel of breaking the co…
One and the same God, the Creator of heaven and earth, is He whom the prophets foretold, and who was declared by the Gospel. Proof of this, at the outset, from St. Matthew's Gospel. 1. This, therefore, having been clearly demonstrated here (and it shall yet be so still more clearly), that neither the prophets, nor the apostles, nor the Lord Christ in His own person, did acknowl…
Recapitulation of the foregoing argument, showing that Abraham, through the revelation of the Word, knew the Father, and the coming of the Son of God. For this cause, he rejoiced to see the day of Christ, when the promises made to him should be fulfilled. The fruit of this rejoicing has flowed to posterity, viz., to those who are partakers in the faith of Abraham, but not to th…
1. By faith (he says) Noah being warned of God. As the Son of God, speaking of His own coming, said, In the days of Noah they married and were given in marriage Luke 17:26-27, therefore the Apostle also recalled to their mind an appropriate image. For the example of Enoch, was an example only of Faith; that of Noah, on the other hand, of unbelief also. And this is a complete co…
Abraham, styled "the friend," was found faithful, inasmuch as he rendered obedience to the words of God. He, in the exercise of obedience, went out from his own country, and from his kindred, and from his father's house, in order that, by forsaking a small territory, and a weak family, and an insignificant house, he might inherit the promises of God.
After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram. This chapter contains one of the most important passages in all of Scripture: Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. This is the very foundation of justification by faith. The covenant ceremony with the divided animals is a solemn ratification, in which God alone passes between the pieces, sh…

Cross-references

  • 1Chr 27:23 — But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under: because the LORD had said he would increase Israel like to the stars of the heavens.
  • 1Chr 27:23 — But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under: because the LORD had said he would increase Israel like to the stars of the heavens.
  • 1Kgs 3:8 — And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
  • Deut 1:10 — The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.
  • Deut 1:10 — The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.
  • Deut 1:11 — (The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!)
  • Deut 6:3 — Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk
  • Deut 10:22 — Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.
  • Deut 10:22 — Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.
  • Exod 1:7 — And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
  • Exod 32:13 — Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken
  • Exod 32:13 — Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken
  • Gal 3:16 — Now 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 12:2 — And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
  • Gen 12:2 — And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
  • Gen 13:16 — And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
  • Gen 13:16 — And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
  • Gen 16:10 — And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
  • Gen 22:17 — That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enem
  • Gen 22:17 — That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enem
  • Gen 26:4 — And 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;
  • Gen 26:4 — And 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;
  • Gen 28:4 — And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
  • Gen 28:14 — And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the
  • Gen 35:11 — And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
  • Heb 11:8 — By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
  • Heb 11:12 — Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
  • Heb 11:12 — Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
  • Jer 33:22 — As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
  • Jer 33:22 — As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
  • Job 5:25 — Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
  • Job 38:37 — Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
  • Neh 9:23 — Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.
  • Ps 147:4 — He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
  • Ps 147:4 — He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
  • Rom 4:18 — Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
  • Rom 4:18 — Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
  • Rom 9:7 — Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.