Isaiah 51:2

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Look at Abraham, your father, and Sarah, who gave you birth. When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, but I blessed him and gave him numerous descendants.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

הַבִּ֙יטוּ֙ אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֣ם אֲבִיכֶ֔ם וְאֶל־שָׂרָ֖ה תְּחוֹלֶלְכֶ֑ם כִּי־אֶחָ֣ד קְרָאתִ֔יו וַאֲבָרְכֵ֖הוּ וְאַרְבֵּֽהוּ

Transliteration

habbiṭû to-'abrāhām 'ăbîkem and-to-śārâ təḥôleləkem kî-'eḥād qərā'tîw wa'ăbārəkēhû wə'arbēhû

Grammar Details

• *habbiṭû*: imperative, masculine plural, Hiphil - look at/consider
• *'abrāhām*: proper noun, masculine - Abraham
• *'ăbîkem*: common noun, masculine singular construct with 2nd person masculine plural suffix - your father
• *śārâ*: proper noun, feminine - Sarah
• *təḥôleləkem*: Polel imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular with 2nd person masculine plural suffix - she bore/gave birth to you
• *kî*: conjunction - for/because
• *'eḥād*: numeral/adjective - one/alone
• *qərā'tîw*: Qal perfect, 1st person singular with 3rd person masculine singular suffix - I called him
• *wa'ăbārəkēhû*: waw consecutive + Piel imperfect, 1st person singular with 3rd person masculine singular suffix - and I blessed him
• *wə'arbēhû*: waw consecutive + Hiphil imperfect, 1st person singular with 3rd person masculine singular suffix - and I multiplied him

Word Meanings

• *təḥôleləkem*: bore you/gave birth to you/brought you forth
• *'eḥād*: one/alone/single

Referenced Verses

• Ezek 33:24 : 24 “Son of man, the ones living in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying,‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land, but we are many; surely the land has been given to us for a possession.’
• Gal 3:9-9 : 9 So then those who believe are blessed along with Abraham the believer. 10 For all who rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written,“Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.” 11 Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith. 12 But the law is not based on faith, but the one who does the works of the law will live by them. 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us(because it is written,“Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.
• Heb 11:8-9 : 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate, because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 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.
• Rom 4:1-5 : 1 The Illustration of Justification What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has discovered regarding this matter? 2 For if Abraham was declared righteous by works, he has something to boast about– but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say?“Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness.
• Rom 4:16-24 : 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.” 19 Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead(because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do. 22 So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness. 23 But the statement it was credited to him was not written only for Abraham’s sake, 24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
• Isa 29:22 : 22 So this is what the LORD, the one who delivered Abraham, has said to the family of Jacob:“Jacob will no longer be ashamed; their faces will no longer show their embarrassment.
• Gen 12:1-3 : 1 The Obedience of Abram Now the LORD said to Abram,“Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you. 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 13:14-17 : 14 After Lot had departed, the LORD said to Abram,“Look from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west. 15 I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants forever. 16 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. 17 Get up and walk throughout the land, for I will give it to you.”
• Gen 15:1-2 : 1 The Cutting of the Covenant After these things the LORD’s message came to Abram in a vision:“Fear not, Abram! I am your shield and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” 2 But Abram said,“O Sovereign LORD, what will you give me since I continue to be childless, and my heir is Eliezer of Damascus?”
• Gen 15:4-5 : 4 But look, the LORD’s message came to him:“This man will not be your heir, but instead a son who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 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 18:11-13 : 11 Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; Sarah had long since passed menopause.) 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking,“After I am worn out will I have pleasure, especially when my husband is old too?” 13 The LORD said to Abraham,“Why did Sarah laugh and say,‘Will I really have a child when I am old?’
• 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.
• Gen 24:1 : 1 The Wife for Isaac Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed him in everything.
• Gen 24:35 : 35 “The LORD has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. The Lord has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.
• Josh 24:3 : 3 but I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and brought him into the entire land of Canaan. I made his descendants numerous; I gave him Isaac,
• Neh 9:7-8 : 7 “You are the LORD God who chose Abram and brought him forth from Ur of the Chaldeans. You changed his name to Abraham. 8 When you perceived that his heart was faithful toward you, you established a covenant with him to give his descendants the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites. You have fulfilled your promise, for you are righteous.