Genesis 15:5

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

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.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיּוֹצֵ֨א אֹת֜וֹ הַח֗וּצָה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הַבֶּט־נָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה וּסְפֹר֙ הַכּ֣וֹכָבִ֔ים אִם־תּוּכַ֖ל לִסְפֹּ֣ר אֹתָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֔וֹ כֹּ֥ה יִהְיֶ֖ה זַרְעֶֽךָ׃

Transliteration

And-yôṣēʾ him the-ḥûṣāh and-yōʾmer habbeṭ-nāʾ the-šāmaymāh and-səp̄ōr the-kôḵāḇîm if-tûḵal to-lispōr them and-yōʾmer to-him thus yihyeh zarʿeḵā.

Grammar Details

• *yôṣēʾ*: Hiphil imperfect 3rd masculine singular with waw consecutive - and he brought out
• *ḥûṣāh*: noun with directional suffix - outside/outward
• *yōʾmer*: Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular with waw consecutive - and he said
• *habbeṭ*: Hiphil imperative masculine singular - look/gaze
• *nāʾ*: particle of entreaty - please/now
• *šāmaymāh*: masculine dual noun with directional suffix - toward the heavens
• *səp̄ōr*: Qal imperative masculine singular - count
• *kôḵāḇîm*: masculine plural noun - stars
• *tûḵal*: Qal imperfect 2nd masculine singular - you are able
• *lispōr*: Qal infinitive construct with prefix - to count
• *yihyeh*: Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - will be
• *zarʿeḵā*: masculine singular noun with 2nd masculine singular suffix - your seed/offspring

Word Meanings

• *yôṣēʾ*: brought out/led out/caused to go out
• *ḥûṣāh*: outside/outdoors/abroad
• *habbeṭ*: look/gaze/observe/pay attention
• *šāmaymāh*: heavens/sky/celestial realm
• *səp̄ōr*: count/number/recount
• *kôḵāḇîm*: stars/celestial bodies
• *zarʿeḵā*: seed/offspring/descendants/posterity

Referenced Verses

• Deut 1:10 : 10 The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.
• Rom 4:18 : 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.
• Heb 11:12 : 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.
• Exod 32:13 : 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 of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
• Gen 22:17 : 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 enemies;
• Ps 147:4 : 4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
• Jer 33:22 : 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.
• Deut 10:22 : 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.
• 1 Chr 27:23 : 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.
• Gen 12:2 : 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 : 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 : 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 26:4 : 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 28:14 : 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 earth be blessed.
• Rom 9:7-8 : 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.