And I will make your descendants to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto your descendants all these countries; and in your descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
All Commentaries on Genesis 26:4 Go To Genesis 26
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Then he teaches Isaac what it was he promised and the things about which God had given him confirmation. “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven.” This, you remember, he had said to the patriarch as well, that his descendants would be so numerous as to be compared with the stars and the sand: “I will give all this land to your descendants,” he said, “and in your descendants will all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Hence the promises made to him I will fulfill in you, “for the reason that your father Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my commands, my judgments and my laws.” See God’s wisdom in stirring up the good man’s thinking, making him more enthusiastic and having the effect of rendering him an imitator of his father. After all, God is saying, if Abraham was judged worthy of such a wonderful promise for obeying my voice, on account of his virtue I am about to fulfill it in you, the child born to him. And if you yourself become an imitator of him and tread in his path, consider the degree of favor you will enjoy from me and the care you will be accorded. I mean, the man destined to prosper for someone else’s virtue will be accorded much greater favor if he himself proves virtuous.
