Genesis 13:16

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְשַׂמְתִּ֥י אֶֽת־זַרְעֲךָ֖ כַּעֲפַ֣ר הָאָ֑רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר ׀ אִם־יוּכַ֣ל אִ֗ישׁ לִמְנוֹת֙ אֶת־עֲפַ֣ר הָאָ֔רֶץ גַּֽם־זַרְעֲךָ֖ יִמָּנֶֽה׃

Transliteration

And wĕśamtî your zarʿăḵā as kaʿăp̄ar hāʾāreṣ, that if yûḵal ʾîš to limnôṯ ʿăp̄ar hāʾāreṣ, also your zarʿăḵā yimmānê.

Grammar Details

• *wĕśamtî*: waw consecutive + qal perfect, 1st common singular - and I will make
• *zarʿăḵā*: noun, masculine singular + 2nd masculine singular suffix - your seed/descendants
• *kaʿăp̄ar*: preposition + noun, masculine singular construct - as the dust of
• *hāʾāreṣ*: definite article + noun, feminine singular - the earth
• *yûḵal*: qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - he is able
• *ʾîš*: noun, masculine singular - a man
• *limnôṯ*: preposition + qal infinitive construct - to count
• *ʿăp̄ar*: noun, masculine singular construct - dust of
• *yimmānê*: niphal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - will be counted

Word Meanings

• *wĕśamtî*: I will make/I will set/I will place
• *zarʿăḵā*: your seed/your offspring/your descendants
• *kaʿăp̄ar*: as the dust/like the dust
• *yûḵal*: he is able/he can/he could
• *limnôṯ*: to count/to number/to reckon
• *ʿăp̄ar*: dust/soil/powder
• *yimmānê*: will be counted/will be numbered

Referenced Verses

• Gen 28:14 : 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. And so all the families of the earth may receive blessings through you and through your descendants.
• Num 23:10 : 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let the end of my life be like theirs.”
• Gen 32:12 : 12 But you said,‘I will certainly make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.’”
• Gen 15:5 : 5 The LORD took him outside and said,“Gaze into the sky and count the stars– if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him,“So will your descendants be.”
• Gen 22:17 : 17 I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants 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 of the strongholds of their enemies.
• 1 Kgs 3:8 : 8 Your servant stands among your chosen people; they are a great nation that is too numerous to count or number.
• 1 Kgs 4:20 : 20 Solomon’s Wealth and Fame The people of Judah and Israel were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore; they had plenty to eat and drink and were happy.
• 1 Chr 21:5 : 5 Joab reported to David the number of warriors. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 sword-wielding soldiers; Judah alone had 470,000 sword-wielding soldiers.
• 1 Chr 27:23 : 23 David did not count the males twenty years old and under, for the LORD had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky.
• 2 Chr 17:14-18 : 14 These were their divisions by families: There were a thousand officers from Judah. Adnah the commander led 300,000 skilled warriors, 15 Jehochanan the commander led 280,000. 16 and Amasiah son of Zikri, who volunteered to serve the LORD, led 200,000 skilled warriors. 17 From Benjamin, Eliada, a skilled warrior, led 200,000 men who were equipped with bows and shields, 18 and Jehozabad led 180,000 trained warriors.
• Isa 48:18-19 : 18 If only you had obeyed my commandments, prosperity would have flowed to you like a river, deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea. 19 Your descendants would have been as numerous as sand, and your children like its granules. Their name would not have been cut off and eliminated from my presence.
• Jer 33:22 : 22 I will make the children who follow one another in the line of my servant David very numerous. I will also make the Levites who minister before me very numerous. I will make them all as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sands which are on the seashore.’”
• Rom 4:16-18 : 16 For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants– not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written,“I have made you the father of many nations”). He is our father in the presence of God whom he believed– the God who makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do. 18 Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the pronouncement,“so will your descendants be.”
• Heb 11:12 : 12 So in fact children were fathered by one man– and this one as good as dead– like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand on the seashore.
• Rev 7:9 : 9 After these things I looked, and here was an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands.
• Gen 12:2-3 : 2 Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, so that all the families of the earth may receive blessing through you.”
• Gen 25:1-9 : 1 The Death of Abraham Abraham had taken another wife, named Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah. 5 Everything he owned Abraham left to his son Isaac. 6 But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to the east, away from his son Isaac. 7 Abraham lived a total of 175 years. 8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man who had lived a full life. He joined his ancestors. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar, the Hittite. 10 This was the field Abraham had purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac. Isaac lived near Beer Lahai Roi. 12 The Sons of Ishmael This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham. 13 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons, by their names according to their records: Nebaioth(Ishmael’s firstborn), Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their settlements and their camps– twelve princes according to their clans. 17 Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. He breathed his last and died; then he joined his ancestors. 18 His descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next to Egypt all the way to Asshur. They settled away from all their relatives. 19 Jacob and Esau This is the account of Isaac, the son of Abraham.Abraham became the father of Isaac. 20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 But the children struggled inside her, and she said,“Why is this happening to me?” So she asked the LORD, 23 and the LORD said to her,“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from within you. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” 24 When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out reddish all over, like a hairy garment, so they named him Esau. 26 When his brother came out with his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born. 27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 Now Jacob cooked some stew, and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished. 30 So Esau said to Jacob,“Feed me some of the red stuff– yes, this red stuff– because I’m starving!”(That is why he was also called Edom.) 31 But Jacob replied,“First sell me your birthright.” 32 “Look,” said Esau,“I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?” 33 But Jacob said,“Swear an oath to me now.” So Esau swore an oath to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew; Esau ate and drank, then got up and went out. So Esau despised his birthright.
• Gen 26:4 : 4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.
• Gen 28:3 : 3 May the Sovereign God bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! Then you will become a large nation.
• Gen 17:6 : 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.
• Gen 17:16 : 16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. Kings of countries will come from her!”
• Gen 17:20 : 20 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.
• Gen 18:18 : 18 After all, Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth may receive blessing through him.
• Gen 21:13 : 13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”
• Gen 35:11 : 11 Then God said to him,“I am the Sovereign God. Be fruitful and multiply! A nation– even a company of nations– will descend from you; kings will be among your descendants!
• Gen 36:1-9 : 1 The Descendants of Esau What follows is the account of Esau(also known as Edom). 2 Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite, 3 in addition to Basemath the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth. 4 Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel, 5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. 6 Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, all the people in his household, his livestock, his animals, and all his possessions which he had acquired in the land of Canaan and went to a land some distance away from Jacob his brother 7 because they had too many possessions to be able to stay together and the land where they had settled was not able to support them because of their livestock. 8 So Esau(also known as Edom) lived in the hill country of Seir. 9 This is the account of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the hill country of Seir. 10 These were the names of Esau’s sons:Eliphaz, the son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath. 11 The sons of Eliphaz were:Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. 12 Timna, a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons of Esau’s wife Adah. 13 These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. 14 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon: She bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah to Esau. 15 These were the chiefs among the descendants of Esau, the sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, 16 chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Adah. 17 These were the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. 18 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These were the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. 19 These were the sons of Esau(also known as Edom), and these were their chiefs. 20 These were the sons of Seir the Horite, who were living in the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the descendants of Seir in the land of Edom. 22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam; Lotan’s sister was Timna. 23 These were the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. 24 These were the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah(who discovered the hot springs in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon). 25 These were the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. 26 These were the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran. 27 These were the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. 28 These were the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. 29 These were the chiefs of the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, 30 chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, according to their chief lists in the land of Seir. 31 These were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites: 32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah. 33 When Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place. 34 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 35 When Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the land of Moab, reigned in his place; the name of his city was Avith. 36 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place. 37 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the River reigned in his place. 38 When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. 39 When Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadad reigned in his place; the name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab. 40 These were the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families, according to their places, by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth, 41 chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, 42 chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, 43 chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land they possessed. This was Esau, the father of the Edomites.
• Gen 46:3 : 3 He said,“I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.
• Exod 1:7 : 7 The Israelites, however, were fruitful, increased greatly, multiplied, and became extremely strong, so that the land was filled with them.
• Exod 32:13 : 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them,‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.’”
• Deut 1:10 : 10 The LORD your God has increased your population to the point that you are now as numerous as the very stars of the sky.
• Judg 6:3 : 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east would attack them.
• Judg 6:5 : 5 When they invaded with their cattle and tents, they were as thick as locusts. Neither they nor their camels could be counted. They came to devour the land.