Genesis 17:19

Summary

God responds to Abraham with the interjection aval ("but", H0061), affirming that Sarah will bear him a son named Isaac. God then declares, using the sequential perfect, that he will establish his covenant with Isaac as a perpetual covenant for his descendants after him.

Key words

• aval ("but", H0061) — interjection opening the divine reply; it marks a contrast or correction to what precedes in the narrative context.
• yoledet ("is about to bear", H3205) — qal participle, feminine singular, describing Sarah's action as an ongoing/imminent state rather than a simple future tense.
• ve-qarata ("and you will call", H7121H) — qal sequential perfect; this verb form continues the chain of action begun by the participle, functioning here as a command/instruction directed at Abraham (you, masculine).
• va-haqimoti ("and I will establish", H6965I) — hiphil (causative) sequential perfect; the causative stem indicates God is the agent causing the covenant to stand/be established, not merely "having" a covenant.
• le-zar'o acharav ("for his offspring after him", H2233H + H0310A) — construct chain specifying that the covenant's scope extends to Isaac's descendants following him.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative vav on va-yomer ("and he said", H0559), continuing the story sequence, followed by the subject Elohim ("God", H0430G). The interjection aval (H0061) introduces God's utterance as a response — the grammatical data marks it simply as an interjection, without specifying agreement or contradiction in itself; its force depends on the surrounding narrative.

The core statement uses a qal participle, yoledet (H3205), for Sarah's childbearing. Participles in Biblical Hebrew often express an action in progress or about to occur, which differs from a simple future finite verb — the Hebrew grammar frames this as a state already underway rather than a distant prediction.

The verse then shifts into a chain of sequential perfects (ve-qarata, va-haqimoti), a common construction in Hebrew narrative where a string of perfect-tense verbs with vav conjunctions continues a single logical sequence of commands or future actions initiated by the preceding participle. The hiphil stem of haqimoti (H6965I) is causative, meaning God himself is the one causing the covenant to be set up or to stand — distinct from a stative "having" a covenant. The covenant terminology uses two construct phrases: beriti ("my covenant", H1285) and le-verit olam ("for a covenant of perpetuity", H1285 + H5769G), both built on the same root for "covenant," with olam (H5769G) specifying unlimited duration. The final phrase, le-zar'o acharav, uses construct forms to link the covenant's continuation to Isaac's zera ("offspring", H2233H) coming "after him" (acharav, H0310A).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders aval with Ναί ("yes"), an affirmative particle, differing from the Hebrew interjection which the provided grammar labels only as "but." The Vulgate omits translating aval altogether, moving directly to "Sara uxor tua pariet tibi filium." The SBLIBRE Spanish version translates it as "No," which contrasts with the LXX's "yes" and with the Hebrew's untranslated interjection — these three renderings of the same Hebrew word diverge in tone and implied response.