Genesis 17:8

And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God speaks to Abraham, immediately after declaring the covenant framework (v.7) and before laying out the obligation of circumcision (v.9). This is the land clause within that covenant.

The words — מְגֻרֶ֗י/ךָ (megurei-kha), "your sojournings," names the land by Abraham's own status in it: a resident alien. The promise of eternal possession is framed through the language of temporary dwelling.

The thread — The same two elements—land to offspring, God to the people—recur in Genesis 12:7, Psalms 105:11, and Leviticus 26:12. The formula "I will be their God" is the covenant's reciprocal half, echoed in the Mosaic covenant.

Why it lands — The verse pairs a man who owns nothing in Canaan with a promise of permanent possession, and the next verse (v.9) makes the condition covenant-keeping, not belief in the promise. The reader is asked to hold the tension between sojourning and belonging without resolving it.

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

וְנָתַתִּ֣יve./na.ta.Tiand/ I will giveלְ֠ךָLe./khato/ youוּלְזַרְעֲךָ֨u./le./zar.'a./Khaand/ to/ offspring/ your אַחֲרֶ֜יךָ'a.cha.Rei./khaafter/ you אֵ֣ת׀'et<obj.>אֶ֣רֶץ'E.retz[the] land of מְגֻרֶ֗יךָme.gu.Rei./khasojournings/ your אֵ֚ת'et<obj.>כָּל־kol-all אֶ֣רֶץ'E.retz[the] land of כְּנַ֔עַןke.Na.'anCanaan לַאֲחֻזַּ֖תla./'a.chu.Zatto/ a possession of עוֹלָ֑םo.Lamperpetuity וְהָיִ֥יתִיve./ha.Yi.tiand/ I will becomeלָהֶ֖םla./Hemfor <the>/ themלֵאלֹהִֽים׃le./lo.Him<into>/ God

King James Version

And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

Cross-references

Leviticus 26:12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.
Genesis 12:7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
Psalms 105:11 “I will give you the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance.”
Exodus 6:7 I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
Genesis 13:15 for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.
Deuteronomy 14:2 for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 26:18 And today the LORD has proclaimed that you are His people and treasured possession as He promised, that you are to keep all His commandments,
Deuteronomy 29:13 and so that He may establish you today as His people, and He may be your God as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Genesis 28:4 And may He give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land where you dwell as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”
Genesis 13:17 Get up and walk around the land, through its length and breadth, for I will give it to you.”