Bible Strands
Genesis 17:22
When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God concludes a direct address with Abraham regarding the covenant promise through Isaac. This moment occurs immediately after the covenant terms are defined and before Abraham executes the command.
The words — וַ/יַּ֣עַל (va/i.Ya.'al) translates literally as "and he went up," denoting God's physical departure from Abraham's presence. אֱלֹהִ֔ים ('E.lo.Him) identifies the speaker as God, marking the definitive end of the divine visitation.
The thread — The pattern of divine departure after speaking recurs in Genesis 18:33, where the LORD finishes addressing Abraham and leaves. A parallel sequence of divine appearance and blessing follows Jacob in Genesis 35:9.
Why it lands — The text records God's departure to signal the completion of His instruction, requiring immediate human obedience. It demands that the reader recognize the boundary between divine communication and human action, moving from listening to doing.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
Cross-references
- Genesis 18:33 When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned home.
- Genesis 35:9 After Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.
- Genesis 17:3 Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,
- Exodus 20:22 Then the LORD said to Moses, “This is what you are to tell the Israelites: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven.
- Numbers 12:6 He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.
- Deuteronomy 5:4 The LORD spoke with you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.
- Judges 6:21 Then the angel of the LORD extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. And fire flared from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.
- Judges 13:20 When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown to the ground.
- John 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
- John 10:30 I and the Father are one.”