What Does 1 Chronicles 16:16 Mean in the King James?
Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
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.
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 establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,THE THREAD
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto 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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