6:17

In this verse the author applied what he said in 6:16 to God. God made a promise and then he also swore an oath. He used the oath to show people that he will surely do what he has promised.

6:17a

So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear: The word So is more literally “in which.” It indicates that God also did what the author said that human beings do (6:16). Just as a human being swears an oath so that people will believe him, God also wanted his people to believe him. So he swore an oath to show his people that he will truly do what he promised them. Here is another way to translate this:

God…wanted to make this perfectly clear (God’s Word)

the unchanging nature of His purpose: The Greek word which the Berean Standard Bible translates as the unchanging nature means “unchangeableness.” It is used to refer to something that will never change. Here it refers to what God decided and promised to do. His decision is permanent and remains the same forever. It cannot be changed. Another way to translate this part of the verse is:

he will certainly not change what he planned/decided

of His purpose: The phrase of His purpose means “of his will,” or “of what he wants.” In some languages it is more natural to translate the noun purpose as a verb: For example:

his plans ⌊for them⌋
-or-
what he decided/intended to do for them

For more translation suggestions, see the General Comment on 6:17a–c at the end of 6:17c.

6:17b

to the heirs of the promise: The phrase the heirs of the promise means “those who would later receive what God had promised.” It does not imply here that anyone will die so that others will inherit what they owned. In some languages it is more natural to translate the phrase in a different way. For example:

those who would receive what he was promising

of the promise: The phrase of the promise includes what God promised Abraham and also what God promised to all who believe in his Son.

6:17c

He guaranteed it with an oath: The clause “he confirmed it with an oath” means “he made his promise stronger by adding an oath.” The word it refers to his promise.

Other ways to translate the clause are:

made ⌊the promise⌋ stronger by adding/swearing an oath
-or-
confirmed the promise with an oath

General Comment on 6:17a–c

The author talks about several actions in this verse, and he also mentions reasons for those actions. It is important to use a natural order in your language to translate the actions and the reasons for them. For example:

17c So God added an oath 17b for those who would receive what he had promised, 17a because he wanted to show them very clearly that his purpose/will could not be changed.
-or-

17a God wanted to show very clearly 17b to those who would inherit what he had promised, 17a that he would not change his plans for them. 17c So he added an oath to what he had promised in order to make it stronger.
-or-

17a God would not change his plan. He wanted to make this perfectly clear 17b to those who would receive his promise, 17c so he took an oath. (God’s Word)

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