The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you: this refers to the promise made to Abraham in 17.8 and to Isaac in 26.3. A literal rendering of gave may be a problem in some languages, since it may have the sense that Abraham and Isaac actually became the owners of the land. If this is the case, a translation such as “I will give you the land that I promised Abraham and Isaac” may be required.

For those who are able to capture some of the poetic parallelism in verses 11-12, we may suggest a sample in English:

“I am God Almighty.
Have many children;
Your children will become many nations;
And some of your children will be their kings.
The land I gave to Abraham and to Isaac
that land I give now to you,
and to your children after you I give this land.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .