Discovery BoxGenesis 7:23 
Context7:23 So the Lord 1 destroyed 2 every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky. 3 They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived. 4
Genesis 22:17
Context22:17 I will indeed bless you, 5 and I will greatly multiply 6 your descendants 7 so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession 8 of the strongholds 9 of their enemies.
Genesis 26:4
Context26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them 10 all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. 11
1 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
2 tn Heb “wiped away” (cf. NRSV “blotted out”).
3 tn Heb “from man to animal to creeping thing and to the bird of the sky.”
4 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁאָר (sha’ar) means “to be left over; to survive” in the Niphal verb stem. It is the word used in later biblical texts for the remnant that escapes judgment. See G. F. Hasel, “Semantic Values of Derivatives of the Hebrew Root só’r,” AUSS 11 (1973): 152-69.
5 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form (either an imperfect or cohortative) emphasizes the certainty of the blessing.
6 tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).
sn I will greatly multiply. The
7 tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
8 tn Or “inherit.”
9 tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. To break through the gate complex would be to conquer the city, for the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”).
10 tn Heb “your descendants.”
11 tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 22:18). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)
