God Almighty translates the Hebrew ʾEl Shaddai. See “The names of God in Genesis” in “Translating Genesis,” page 13.

Bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you: bless is used as in the early chapters of Genesis, and as in chapter 27, in which Isaac asks God to “grant his favor,” “look with kindness,” “be good to” Jacob. The content of the blessing is that God should make you fruitful and multiply you, which is a ritual way of saying “have many children,” “become the father of many descendants.”

This blessing is made more concrete and extended in time in the words that you may become a company of peoples. You refers to Jacob and has the sense of “you and your descendants.” Good News Translation expresses this thought by saying “so that you will become the father of….” While English does not distinguish between singular and plural in its use of “you,” in many languages a switch from “you [singular]” in the first part of the verse to “you [plural]” here will naturally give the sense: “so that you [plural] will become a crowd of people.” Company renders a word meaning “assembly,” “gathering,” “grouping.” The reference is to a large body of people. Peoples translates the same Hebrew term used in 11.6, where it refers to a tribe or ethnic group. It is also used in 23.7, where the Hittites are referred to as “the people of the land.” We may also translate, as does Speiser, “an assembly of tribes.” Good News Translation prefers “many nations,” New International Version “community of peoples,” New English Bible “host of nations,” Revised English Bible “community of nations.”

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 .