Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary Verse 7. An everlasting covenant] µlw[ tyrb berith olam. See note on ""ver. 15"". Here the word olam is taken in its own proper meaning, as the words immediately following prove-to be a God unto thee, and thy seed after thee; for as the soul is to endure for ever, so it shall eternally stand in need of the supporting power and energy of God; and as the reign of the Gospel dispensation shall be as long as sun and moon endure, and its consequences eternal, so must the covenant be on which these are founded.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 7-14 - The covenant of grace is from everlasting in the counsels of it, and to everlasting in the consequences of it. The token of the covenant wa circumcision. It is here said to be the covenant which Abraham and his seed must keep. Those who will have the Lord to be to them a God, mus resolve to be to him a people. Not only Abraham and Isaac, and his posterity by Isaac, were to be circumcised, but also Ishmael and the bond-servants. It sealed not only the covenant of the land of Canaan to Isaac's posterity, but of heaven, through Christ, to the whole churc of God. The outward sign is for the visible church; the inward seal of the Spirit is peculiar to those whom God knows to be believers, and he alone can know them. The religious observance of this institution wa required, under a very severe penalty. It is dangerous to make light of Divine institutions, and to live in the neglect of them. The covenan in question was one that involved great blessings for the world in all future ages. Even the blessedness of Abraham himself, and all the rewards conferred upon him, were for Christ's sake. Abraham wa justified, as we have seen, not by his own righteousness, but by fait in the promised Messiah.
Original Hebrew והקמתי6965 את853 בריתי1285 ביני996 ובינך996 ובין996 זרעך2233 אחריך310 לדרתם1755 לברית1285 עולם5769 להיות1961 לך לאלהים430 ולזרעך2233 אחריך׃310
