Genesis 13:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.

NIV: I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.

NASB: I will make your descendants as plentiful as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can count the dust of the earth, then your descendants could also be counted.

CSB: I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.

NLT: And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted!

KJV: 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.

NKJV: And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.

God continues to reaffirm His promises to Abram and to expand on them. Not only will the Lord give Abram children and make of his offspring a great nation, God will make them so numerous as to be uncountable. Such a promise must have been both comforting and confusing to a childless man in his 70s.

Using a potent analogy, God describes the number of Abram's descendants as like the dust of the earth. This echoes the concept of man being formed from the dust of the earth, when God originally created Adam (Genesis 2:7). Here, however, the point is about how numerous these descendants will be. Interestingly, the comparison does not involve something like sand, which typically is "counted" by grains (Isaiah 48:19). Here, even the idea of how to "count" dust is mind-boggling. From both a physical and spiritual perspective, Abraham's children will number beyond the ability of the human mind to comprehend (Romans 9:7–9; Galatians 3:7).

Genesis 13:14–18 shows Abram settling in Hebron, after offering his nephew Lot the first choice of which area to establish his family. Lot chose to live in the lush—but depraved—region of Sodom. Abram chooses to live on the general region of Canaan. Abram once again hears a promise from God: that he and his uncountable descendants will one day possess all the land he can see.

Both Abram and his nephew Lot have grown so wealthy in animals that they cannot occupy the same area together. They split up. At Abram's gracious offer to choose which land to take for himself, Lot elects to live on the well-watered plains of Jordan near Sodom. After the Lord speaks to Abram, reaffirming and expanding on His promises, Abram settles near Hebron, near the great trees of an Amorite man called Mamre. Abram builds an altar to the Lord there and continues to worship Yahweh.

Genesis 12 ended with Abram and his large company being kicked out of Egypt by an angry Pharaoh. Back in Canaan, Abram and his nephew Lot are forced to split up due to the large size of their herds. Lot's choice to live near the wicked city of Sodom will have grave implications in coming chapters. God reaffirms and expands on His promises to Abram, who settles near Hebron, building another altar to the Lord and worshiping God there.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.

Accessed 11/21/2024 4:51:36 PM