Hebrew Bible Study
Hebrew Bible Study

Chasidut for Genesis 17:19

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים אֲבָל֙ שָׂרָ֣ה אִשְׁתְּךָ֗ יֹלֶ֤דֶת לְךָ֙ בֵּ֔ן וְקָרָ֥אתָ אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ יִצְחָ֑ק וַהֲקִמֹתִ֨י אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֥י אִתּ֛וֹ לִבְרִ֥ית עוֹלָ֖ם לְזַרְע֥וֹ אַחֲרָֽיו׃

And God said: ‘‘Nay, but Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.

Kedushat Levi

Once we appreciate this we can also understand why in ‎‎parshat Lech lecha prior to Avram being commanded to ‎circumcise himself, G’d promised him that he would father a son ‎from Sarah. (Genesis 17,15-16) This meant that the reward for all ‎the commandments Avraham would perform subsequently would ‎not be offset against accumulated merits in respect of miracles ‎G’d would perform for him. These “miracles” would be viewed as ‎fulfillment of what G’d “owed” him, i.e. promises made but not ‎yet fulfilled.‎
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