Genesis 12:2

And I will make of thee a great nation,.... In a literal sense, as the people of the Jews were that descended from him, and in a spiritual sense believers in all ages and of all nations, that walk in

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: I will make of thee a great nation.

I will bless thee with all my blessings, spiritual, temporal, and eternal; and thou shalt be, both a pattern and instrument of blessedness to others; to thy posterity, who shall be blessed for thy sake; to thy servants and friends, who shall be blessed by thy instruction and help; and to all the world, as it follows.

Genesis 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:Ver. 2. And I will make of thee a great nation.] Why then should the scornful Jews call us nations or Gentiles in contempt? yea, heathen bastards, heathen dogs, as they do at this day? Surely, either themselves are of this great Goi or nation here mentioned, or else they have not Abraham to their father; choose them which. I will bless thee.] As a father his children, with all spiritual comforts, and earthly contentments; with the blessings of the right hand, and of the left; with "the upper and nether springs," as Caleb blessed his daughter Achsah. "He will give grace and glory," and (if that be not enough) "no good thing will he withhold," &c. Hence Moses cries out, "Happy art thou O Israel; who is like unto thee!" &c. And make thy name great.] A great name then is a great blessing. So David took it. And it was no small comfort to him, that whatever he did, pleased the people. Blessing and praise (or good name) is expressed by one and the same word in both Testaments. Only (as it is in the same text) it then proves a blessing, when it is to a man "as the fining pot for silver, and furnace for gold," when it melts us, and makes us better, when it works in us a care to walk worthy of the praise given us, to purge ourselves from all filth, that we may be as pure vessels, meet for the Master’ s use, fit to be set upon the celestial shelf, as that martyr phrased it, "Since thou hast been precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable". Virtue is instead of a thousand coat-of-arms on shields. And thou shalt be a blessing.] That is, in a high degree blessed; or a common blessing to all, wherever thou comest, who shall fare the better for thee. Or, a public pattern of blessing (so some Hebrews expound it). Those that wish well to themselves, or others, shall pray God that Abram’ s blessedness may befall them. The contrary hereunto is now befallen his unhappy posterity for their obstinacy. A curse they are become among the Gentiles, as was foretold them. Sanctius, upon that text, tells us, that all over Turkey they have taken it up for a curse, - I would I might die a Jew, then; and, Let me be a Jew if I deceive thee. Pareus in Romans 11:25. See my True Treasur., p. 297. αψλδευλογια Act. and Mon. Vir bonus est commune bonum . In execrationibus dicunt, Iudaeus sim si fallo . - Sanct.

(2, 3) Thou shalt be a blessing.—More correctly, Be thou a blessing. The promises made to Abram are partly personal and partly universal, embracing the whole world. In return for all that he abandons he is to become the founder of a powerful nation, who will honour his name, and teach the inheritors of their spiritual privileges to share in their veneration for him. But in the command to “be” or “become a blessing,” we reach a higher level, and it is the glory of Abram’s faith that it was not selfish, and in return for his consenting to lead the life of a stranger, he was to be the means of procuring religious privileges, not only for his own descendants, but also “for all families of the earth” (Heb., of the ground—the adâmâh). Not for the earth as the material universe, but solely in its connection with man. Wherever man makes his home upon it, there, through Abram, spiritual blessings will be offered him. I will bless . . . —These words indicate relations mysteriously close between Jehovah and Abram, whereby the friends and enemies of the one become so equally to the other. But in the second clause our version has not noticed an essential difference between the verbs used. They occur together again in Exodus 22:28, and are there more correctly rendered by “revile” and “curse.” The one word signifies to treat lightly and contemptuously, the other to pronounce a curse, usually in a judicial manner. We might, therefore, translate, “I will curse—pass a sentence of rejection upon—him that speaketh lightly of, or revileth thee.” In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.—Some authorities translate, “shall bless themselves;” but there is a different conjugation to express this meaning, and no reason exists for forcing it upon the text. Henceforward Abram and the nation sprung from him were to be the intermediaries between God and mankind, and accordingly revelation was virtually confined to them. But though the knowledge of God’s will was to be given through them, it was for the benefit of all the families of every race and kindred distributed throughout the habitable world, the adâmâh (Romans 3:29; Romans 10:12, &c).

Verse 2. I will make of thee a great nation] i.e., The Jewish people; and make thy name great, alluding to the change of his name from Abram, a high father, to Abraham, the father of a multitude.

2. The promise, (1) of national greatness, (2) of personal privilege, embraces a double relation, to the world and to the individual. a great nation] This thought stands in the forefront. The personal aspect of the promise made to Abram is from the first merged in the thought of its historic influence throughout the ages. I will bless thee] The experience of happiness in the personal relation to Jehovah is to be the pledge of the ultimate fulfilment of blessing to the world. make thy name great] Contrast Genesis 11:4. The blessing of Abram, in its spiritual influence upon the world, will be of more enduring renown than any of the material forces of the world. be thou a blessing] i.e. one who impersonates true felicity; cf. Zechariah 8:13. Not a source, but a type, of blessing, to be pronounced upon others. The imperative expresses a consequence which is intended (Gesenius, Heb. Gr. § 110. 1) = “so that thou shalt be a blessing.” By a slight alteration of the pointing, Giesebrecht reads “and it (the name) shall be a blessing.” For the “curse” of the primaeval age (Genesis 3:13, Genesis 4:11, Genesis 5:29, Genesis 9:25 (J)) is substituted the “blessing” of the Chosen Family.

2. I will make of thee a great nation — Great promises correspond with the great sacrifices commanded. 1) He left his nation, but should himself be the founder of a great nation.