What Does 1 Chronicles 16:16 Mean?
which covenant he cuts with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac;THE KEY
The covenant is literally “cut” with Abraham, and the oath carries that promise forward to Isaac.
THE MEANING
The verse holds a promise across two names: Abraham receives the covenant, and Isaac receives the oath. Its shape is continuity: a bond is cut, then sworn onward, so commitment crosses generations.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A promise belongs only to the person who first receives it.
THE ROOT
כָּרַת
karat
GROWS FROM
כרת
To cut or cut off.
“cuts” in this verse is karat. English says God “made” a covenant, but the Hebrew verb is karat, “cut.” The same root also forms words for severance, giving the promise the shape of a defined bond rather than a vague intention.
ALSO GROWS
karat berit: The Hebrew expression for making a covenant.
כָּרַת בְּרִית
It is the exact word pairing behind the covenant made with Abraham; the promise is described as something cut into a bond.
keritut: A cutting off or severance; used in the phrase for a certificate of divorce.
כְּרִיתוּת
This branch preserves the root’s other edge: the same word-family can name severing, while this verse uses it to name a binding pledge.
THE PATTERN
A pledged word reaches beyond its first recipient, binding generations into one promise.
And I will make my covenant stand between me and you, and your seed after you in their generations, for a covenant of the ages, to be God to you and to your seed after you.For when God promised to Abraham, since he had none greater to swear by, he swore by himself,THE THREAD
On that day the LORD cut a covenant with Abram, saying, To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.“Made a covenant” translates the same Hebrew phrase, karat berit, “cut a covenant.” Here the cut promise is spoken toward Abram’s seed, revealing how the bond reaches beyond its first recipient.
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