Genesis 17:18

And he said to God, “If only Ishmael would live in your sight.”

Catholic Public Domain Version

In The King James Version

And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

In Context

17Abraham fell on his face, and he laughed, saying in his heart: “Do you think a son can be born to a one hundred year old man? And will Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”

19And God said to Abraham: “Your wife Sarah shall give birth to a son, and you shall call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him as a perpetual covenant, and with his offspring after him.

Read all of Genesis 17

Cross References

Genesis 4:14Behold, you have cast me out this day before the face of the earth, and from your face I will be hidden; and I will be a vagrant and a fugitive on the earth. Therefore, anyone who finds me will kill me.”

Psalms 4:6Offer the sacrifice of justice, and hope in the Lord. Many say, “Who reveals to us what is good?”

Isaiah 59:2But your iniquities have made a division between you and your God, and your sins have concealed his face from you, so that he would not hear.

Acts 2:39For the Promise is for you and for your sons, and for all who are far away: for whomever the Lord our God will have called.”

Matthew Henry on Genesis 17:16-23

15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. 16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. 17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? 18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Genesis 17:18