Genesis 13:15
All the land which thou seest, I will give to thee, and to thy seed for ever.
Open Genesis 13:15 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Omnem terram, quam conspicis, tibi dabo, et semini tuo usque in sempiternum.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- ὅτι πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἣν σὺ ὁρᾷς, σοὶ δώσω αὐτὴν καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- כִּ֧י אֶת כָּל הָאָ֛רֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתָּ֥ה רֹאֶ֖ה לְךָ֣ אֶתְּנֶ֑נָּה וּֽלְזַרְעֲךָ֖ עַד עוֹלָֽם
Haydock's commentary
And to: This is by way of explanation to the former words: (Haydock) for Abram never possessed a foot of this land by inheritance, Acts viii.[vii.?] 5. Even his posterity never enjoyed it, at least, for any long time. St. Augustine gives the reason; because the promise was conditional, and the Jews did not fulfil their part by obedience and fidelity. (q. 31. in Gen.) It is better, however, to understand these promises of another land, which the people, who imitate the faith of Abram, shall enjoy in the world to come. (Calmet) (Romans iv. 16.)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Clement of Rome First Epistle to the Corinthians, Chapter X. Continuation of the
Abraham, styled “the friend,” was found faithful, inasmuch as he rendered obedience to the words of God. He, in the exercise of obedience, went out from his own country, and from his kindred, and from his father’s house, in order that, by forsaking a small territory, and a weak family, and an insignificant house, he might inherit the promises of God. For God said to him, “Get thee out from thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, into the land which I shall show thee. And I will make thee a great nation, and will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shall be blessed. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” And again, on his departing from Lot, God said to him. …
St Clement of Rome The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, Chapter X
Abraham, styled “the friend,” was found faithful, inasmuch as he rendered obedience to the words of God. He, in the exercise of obedience, went out from his own country, and from his kindred, and from his father’s house, in order that, by forsaking a small territory, and a weak family, and an insignificant house, he might inherit the promises of God. For God said to him, “Get thee out from thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, into the land which I shall show thee. And I will make thee a great nation, and will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be blessed. …
St Augustine City of God, Of the Third Promise of God, by Which He Assured the Land of Canaan to Abraham and His Seed in Perpetuity
Now, when Abraham and Lot had separated, and dwelt apart, owing to the necessity of supporting their families, and not to vile discord, and Abraham was in the land of Canaan, but Lot in Sodom, the Lord said to Abraham in a third oracle, “Lift up thine eyes, and look from the place where thou now art, to the north, and to Africa, and to the east, and to the sea; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: if any one can number the dust of the earth, thy seed shall also be numbered. Arise, and walk through the land, in the length of it, and in the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it.” It does not clearly appear whether in this promise that also is contained by which he is made the father of all nations. …
St John Chrysostom The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Hebrews 2.16-17
[3.] Since they wished for something great, and to have an advantage over the [converts] from the Gentiles, he shows that they have an advantage in this while he did not hurt those from the Gentiles at all. In what respect now is this? Because of them is the salvation, because He took hold of them first, because from that race He assumed flesh. “For,” he says, “He taketh not hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham He taketh hold.” Hereby he both gives honor to the Patriarch, and shows also what “the seed of Abraham” is. He reminds them of the promise made to him, saying, “To thee and to thy seed will I give this land” ( Gen. xiii. …
St John Chrysostom The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Hebrews 11.7
And what marvel, if he himself [were so], when his seed also dwelt in this same way? For seeing the promise disproved (since He had said, “To thee will I give this land, and to thy seed”, Gen. xii. 7; xiii. 15 ), he saw his son dwelling there; and again his grandson saw himself dwelling in a land not his own; yet was he nowise troubled. For the affairs of Abraham happened as we might have expected, since the promise was to be accomplished afterwards in his family (although it is said even to himself, “To thee, and to thy seed,” not, “to thee through thy seed,” but “to thee and to thy seed”): still neither he, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, enjoyed the promise. For one of them served for hire, and the other was driven out: and he himself even was failing through fear: and while he took some things indeed in war, others, unless he had had the aid of God, would have been destroyed. …
Theodoret Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus, To Jobius, Presbyter and Archimandrite
The patriarch Abraham won a victory in his old age. The great Moses was now an old man when, so long as he stretched out his hands in prayer, he vanquished Amalek. The divine Samuel was an old man when he put the aliens to flight. These are emulated by your venerable old age. In our wars for true religion’s sake you are playing the man, and championing the cause of the gospel doctrines, and putting young men in the shade by the vigour of your spirit.