Genesis 21:23

Summary

Abraham (speaking to Isaac's counterpart—actually this is Abimelech requesting an oath from Abraham) asks for an oath before God that Abraham will not deal falsely with him, his offspring, or his descendants. The request also asks that Abraham show the same chesed he received to Abimelech and to the land where he has sojourned.

Key words

• hi.Sha.ve.'a ("swear", H7650) — Niphal imperative with paragogic he, giving the command reflexive force ("swear yourself") and additional emphasis through the final he.
• 'im-tish.Kor ("if you will deal falsely", H0518A + H8266) — the conditional particle 'im combined with a Qal imperfect. This is the standard Hebrew oath idiom: stating a hypothetical wrongdoing under oath, with the negative consequence left unstated (a suppressed apodosis).
• ni.N ("posterity", H5209) and nekh.D ("progeny", H5220) — both masculine singular construct nouns, each taking the 1st-person suffix i ("my"). They mark two distinct generational categories (children and grandchildren/descendants).
• Che.sed ("loyalty", H2617A) — a masculine singular noun preceded by the comparative preposition ka ("according to"), setting up a parallel between past and future conduct.
• Gar.tah ("you have sojourned", H1481A) — Qal perfect, completed action, referring to Abraham's status as a resident alien in the land.

What the text says

The verse opens with ve'a.Tah ("and now/therefore", H9002+H6258), marking a logical transition to the demand for an oath. The imperative hi.Sha.ve.'a is directed at Abraham, followed by li ("to me") and be'lo.Him ("by God") — the oath is sworn using the divine name as guarantor, not merely as witness in the ordinary sense of a human contract. The word He.nah ("here", H2008) situates the oath as being made at that specific location.

The core of the oath's content is introduced by 'im-tish.Kor — a conditional construction with imperfect verb, functioning in Biblical Hebrew oath-formulas to express a negative pledge ("that you will not deal falsely"). This applies to three parties: Abraham himself (li), his nin ("posterity"), and his nekhed ("progeny"), each marked with the 1st-person suffix i, indicating these are Abimelech's concerns about Abraham's future dealings, not his own line.

The second half shifts to a positive request built on comparison: ka.Che.sed 'a.Sher-'a.Si.ti 'i.me.Kha ("according to the chesed which I have done with you") — a Qal perfect describing completed past action — is paired with ta.'a.Seh 'i.ma.D.i ("you will do with me"), a Qal imperfect indicating expected future action. The clause closes by extending this same expected chesed to ha.'A.retz ("the land") where Abraham Gar.tah ("has sojourned", Qal perfect), a term denoting temporary residence without permanent land rights.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the oath's negative content with an infinitive construction (μὴ ἀδικήσειν, "not to wrong"), differing syntactically from the Hebrew 'im + imperfect oath idiom, though the sense is similar. Where the Hebrew uses chesed (H2617A, "loyalty/kindness"), the LXX chooses dikaiosyne ("righteousness"), a term with a different semantic range than the Hebrew's relational, covenantal chesed. The Vulgate's misericordiam ("mercy") also diverges from chesed, emphasizing compassion rather than the reciprocal, covenant-based loyalty the Hebrew term suggests. Both LXX and Vulgate simplify the two Hebrew generational terms nin and nekhed into single categories ("σπέρμα"/"posteris" and additional terms), rather than preserving the two distinct construct nouns present in the Hebrew.