Genesis 17:20
New International Version
And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

New Living Translation
As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as you have asked. I will make him extremely fruitful and multiply his descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

English Standard Version
As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.

Berean Standard Bible
As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

King James Bible
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

New King James Version
And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

New American Standard Bible
As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.

NASB 1995
“As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

NASB 1977
“And as for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

Legacy Standard Bible
As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

Amplified Bible
As for Ishmael, I have heard and listened to you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will greatly multiply him [through his descendants]. He will be the father of twelve princes (chieftains, sheiks), and I will make him a great nation.

Christian Standard Bible
As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father twelve tribal leaders, and I will make him into a great nation.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father 12 tribal leaders, and I will make him into a great nation.

American Standard Version
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And I shall establish my covenant with Isaaq, for Sara will give birth for you at this time next year.”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And concerning Ismael, behold, I have heard thee, and, behold, I have blessed him, and will increase him and multiply him exceedingly; twelve nations shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

Contemporary English Version
However, I have heard what you asked me to do for Ishmael, and so I will also bless him with many descendants. He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make his family a great nation.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And as for Ismael I have also heard thee. Behold, I will bless him, and increase, and multiply him exceedingly: he shall beget twelve chiefs, and I will make him a great nation.

English Revised Version
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I have heard your request about Ishmael. Yes, I will bless him, make him fertile, and increase the number of his descendants. He will be the father of 12 princes, and I will make him a great nation.

Good News Translation
I have heard your request about Ishmael, so I will bless him and give him many children and many descendants. He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make a great nation of his descendants.

International Standard Version
And as for Ishmael, I've heard you. I'll bless him, and he'll have many descendants. I will multiply him greatly, he'll father twelve tribal leaders, and I'll cause his descendants to become a great nation.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee; behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

Literal Standard Version
As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him, and made him fruitful, and multiplied him, very exceedingly; twelve princes does he beget, and I have made him become a great nation;

Majority Standard Bible
As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

New American Bible
Now as for Ishmael, I will heed you: I hereby bless him. I will make him fertile and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve chieftains, and I will make of him a great nation.

NET Bible
As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes; I will make him into a great nation.

New Revised Standard Version
As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

New Heart English Bible
As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Look, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

Webster's Bible Translation
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

World English Bible
As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

Young's Literal Translation
As to Ishmael, I have heard thee; lo, I have blessed him, and made him fruitful, and multiplied him, very exceedingly; twelve princes doth he beget, and I have made him become a great nation;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Covenant of Circumcision
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. 20As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”…

Cross References
Genesis 16:10
Then the angel added, "I will greatly multiply your offspring so that they will be too numerous to count."

Genesis 21:18
Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation."

Genesis 25:12
This is the account of Abraham's son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maidservant, bore to Abraham.

Genesis 25:16
These were the sons of Ishmael, and these were their names by their villages and encampments--twelve princes of their tribes.

Genesis 28:3
May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.

Psalm 107:38
He blesses them, and they multiply greatly; He does not let their herds diminish.


Treasury of Scripture

And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

I have blessed.

Genesis 16:10-12
And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude…

twelve.

Genesis 25:12-18
Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham: …

and I.

Genesis 21:13,18
And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed…

Jump to Previous
Beget Bless Blessed Blessing Ear Exceedingly Fertile Fruitful Great Greatly Heard Increase Ishmael Ish'mael Multiply Nation Numbers Prayer Princes Rulers Surely Twelve
Jump to Next
Beget Bless Blessed Blessing Ear Exceedingly Fertile Fruitful Great Greatly Heard Increase Ishmael Ish'mael Multiply Nation Numbers Prayer Princes Rulers Surely Twelve
Genesis 17
1. God renews the covenant with Abram,
5. and changes his name to Abraham, in token of a greater blessing.
9. Circumcision is instituted.
15. Sarai's name is changed to Sarah, and she is blessed.
17. Isaac is promised, and the time of his birth fixed.
23. Abraham and Ishmael are circumcised.














Verse 20 - And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee (meaning, also, "and will grant thy prayer; an allusion to the significance of the name Ishmael, "God hears"): Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he begot (vide Genesis 25:12-16), and I will make him a great nation.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
As for Ishmael,
וּֽלְיִשְׁמָעֵ֘אל‪‬ (ū·lə·yiš·mā·‘êl)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3458: Ishmael -- 'God hears', the name of several Israelites

I have heard you,
שְׁמַעְתִּיךָ֒ (šə·ma‘·tî·ḵā)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

[and] I will surely
הִנֵּ֣ה ׀ (hin·nêh)
Interjection
Strong's 2009: Lo! behold!

bless
בֵּרַ֣כְתִּי (bê·raḵ·tî)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 1288: To kneel, to bless God, man, to curse

him;
אֹת֗וֹ (’ō·ṯōw)
Direct object marker | third person masculine singular
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

I will make him fruitful
וְהִפְרֵיתִ֥י (wə·hip̄·rê·ṯî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 6509: To bear fruit, be fruitful

and multiply him greatly.
וְהִרְבֵּיתִ֥י (wə·hir·bê·ṯî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7235: To be or become much, many or great

He will become the father
יוֹלִ֔יד (yō·w·lîḏ)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3205: To bear young, to beget, medically, to act as midwife, to show lineage

of twelve
שְׁנֵים־ (šə·nêm-)
Number - md
Strong's 8147: Two (a cardinal number)

rulers,
נְשִׂיאִם֙ (nə·śî·’im)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5387: An exalted one, a king, sheik, a rising mist

and I will make
וּנְתַתִּ֖יו (ū·nə·ṯat·tîw)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

him into a great
גָּדֽוֹל׃ (gā·ḏō·wl)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 1419: Great, older, insolent

nation.
לְג֥וֹי (lə·ḡō·w)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1471: A foreign nation, a Gentile, a troop of animals, a flight of locusts


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OT Law: Genesis 17:20 As for Ishmael I have heard you (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 17:19
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