'Offspring' in the Bible

“And I will put enmity (open hostility)Between you and the woman,And between your seed (offspring) and her Seed;He shall [fatally] bruise your head,And you shall [only] bruise His heel.”

Cain knew his wife [one of Adam’s descendants] and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city and named it Enoch, after the name of his son.

This is the book (the written record, the history) of the generations of [the descendants of] Adam. When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness].

Every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, [including] a servant whether born in the house or one who is purchased with [your] money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.

Come, let us make our father drunk with wine, and we will lie with him so that we may preserve our family through our father.”

Then the next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay with my father last night; let us make him drunk with wine tonight also, and then you go in and lie with him, so that we may preserve our family through our father.”

And I will also make a nation of [Ishmael] the son of the maid, because he is your descendant.”

The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, from the land of my family and my birth, who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give this land’—He will send His angel before you [to guide you], and you will take a wife from there for my son [and bring her here].

I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of the heavens, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,

Your descendants shall be as [countless as] the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east and the north and the south; and all the families (nations) of the earth shall be blessed through you and your descendants.

Then Judah told Onan, “Go in to your brother’s widow, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law [under the levirate marriage custom]; [be her husband and] raise children for [the name of] your brother.”

We said to my lord, ‘We have an old father and a young [brother, Benjamin, the] child of his old age. Now his brother [Joseph] is dead, and he alone is left of [the two sons born of] his mother, and his father loves him.’

And they took their livestock and the possessions which they had acquired in the land of Canaan and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him.

His sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.

All the persons who came with Jacob into Egypt—who were his direct descendants, not counting the wives of [Jacob or] Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six persons in all,

Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face, but see, God has shown me your children as well.”

But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; Manasseh also will become a people and he will be great; but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

All the descendants of Jacob were seventy people; Joseph was [already] in Egypt.

No man among the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a [physical] defect and is disfigured or deformed is to approach [the altar] to present the offerings of the Lord by fire. He has a defect; he shall not approach [the altar] to present the food of his God.

Say to them, ‘Any one of your descendants throughout your generations who approaches the holy things which the Israelites dedicate to the Lord, while he is [ceremonially] unclean, that person shall be cut off from My presence and excluded from the sanctuary; I am the Lord.

No man of the descendants of Aaron who is a leper or has a discharge may eat the holy things [the offerings and the showbread] until he is clean. And whoever touches any person or thing made unclean by contact with a corpse or a man who has had a seminal emission,

“Water [that is, great blessings] will flow from his buckets,And his offspring will live by many waters,And his king will be higher than Agag,And his kingdom shall be exalted.

So the lot was also made for the rest of the sons of Manasseh according to their families—for the sons of Abiezer and for the sons of Helek and for the sons of Asriel and for the sons of Shechem and for the sons of Hepher and for the sons of Shemida; these were the male descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families (clans).

Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the [Euphrates] River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants, and I gave him Isaac.

Further, may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, “Look, the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus the Lord has granted my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and on his descendants.”

When your days are fulfilled and you lie down [in death] with your fathers (ancestors), I will raise up your descendant after you, who shall be born to you, and I will establish his kingdom.

“He is a tower of salvation and great deliverance to His king,And shows lovingkindness to His anointed,To David and his offspring forever.”

The king has also said this: ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has granted one [of my descendants] to sit on my throne today and allowed my eyes to see it.’”

Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So Gehazi departed from his presence, a leper as white as snow.

Solomon’s son was Rehoboam. Abijah was his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,

All these were sons (descendants) of Asher, heads of their fathers’ houses, choice men, courageous men, chiefs of the leaders. Their number, enrolled by genealogies for service in war, was 26,000 men.

O seed of Israel His servant,Children of Jacob, His chosen ones!

And it shall come to pass that when your days are completed and you must go to be with your fathers [in death], I will raise up one of your descendants after you, one of your own sons; and I will establish his kingdom.

Then all the assembly made a covenant in the house of God with the king [that is, with the child Joash, to overthrow Athaliah by proclaiming his sovereignty]. And Jehoiada [the priest] said to them, “Behold, the king’s son [Joash] shall reign, as the Lord has said in regard to the sons of David.

And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every brave warrior, commander, and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So the king returned to his own land in shame. And when he entered the house (temple) of his god, some of his own children killed him there with the sword.

For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands. Indeed, the officials and chief men have been foremost in this unfaithful act and direct violation [of God’s will].”

Then Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise counselors and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall in status, is of Jewish heritage, you will not overcome him, but will certainly fall before him.”

“You will know also that your descendants will be many,And your offspring as the grass of the earth.

“Their children and descendants are established with them in their sight,And their offspring before their eyes.

“Though his children are many, they are destined for the sword;And his descendants will not have sufficient bread.

Then let me plant and [let] another eat [from the results of my labor],And let my crops be uprooted and ruined.

“Can you count the months that they carry offspring,Or do you know the time when they give birth?

He gives great triumphs to His king,And shows steadfast love and mercy to His anointed,To David and his descendants forever.

Their offspring You will destroy from the earth,And their descendants from the sons of men.

You who fear the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence], praise Him!All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him.Fear Him [with submissive wonder], all you descendants of Israel.

His soul will dwell in prosperity and goodness,And his descendants will inherit the land.

All day long he is gracious and lends,And his descendants are a blessing.

For the Lord delights in justiceAnd does not abandon His saints (faithful ones);They are preserved forever,But the descendants of the wicked will [in time] be cut off.

“His descendants I will establish forever,And his throne [will endure] as the days of heaven.

“His descendants shall endure foreverAnd his throne [will continue] as the sun before Me.

O you offspring of Abraham, His servant,O you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!

His descendants will be mighty on earth;The generation of the upright will be blessed.

Should your springs (children) be dispersed,As streams of water in the streets?

Ah, sinful nation,A people loaded down with wickedness [with sin, with injustice, with wrongdoing],Offspring of evildoers,Sons who behave corruptly!They have abandoned (rejected) the Lord,They have despised the Holy One of Israel [provoking Him to anger],They have turned away from Him.

“Do not rejoice, O Philistia, any of you,Because the rod [of Judah] that struck you is broken;For out of the serpent’s root will come a viper [King Hezekiah of Judah],And its offspring will be a flying serpent.

“So they will hang on him all the honor and glory [the complete responsibility] of his father’s house, offspring and issue [of the family, high and low], all the least of the articles, from the bowls to all the jars.

“But you, Israel, My servant,Jacob whom I have chosen,The offspring of Abraham My friend,

“Do not fear, for I am with you;I will bring your offspring from the east [where they are scattered],And gather you from the west.

‘For I will pour out water on him who is thirsty,And streams on the dry ground;I will pour out My Spirit on your offspringAnd My blessing on your descendants;

“In the Lord all the offspring of IsraelWill be justified (declared free of guilt) and will glory [in God].”

“Your offspring would have been like the sand,And your descendants [in number] like the grains of sand;Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.”

“Then [Zion], you will say in your heart,‘Who has borne me these children,Since I have been bereaved of my childrenAnd am barren, an exile and a wanderer?And who has reared these?Indeed, I was left alone;From where then did these children come?’”

Yet the Lord was willingTo crush Him, causing Him to suffer;If He would give Himself as a guilt offering [an atonement for sin],He shall see His [spiritual] offspring,He shall prolong His days,And the will (good pleasure) of the Lord shall succeed and prosper in His hand.

“For you will spread out to the right and to the left;And your descendants will take possession of nationsAnd will inhabit deserted cities.

“But come here, you sons of a sorceress [raised in deception and superstition],Offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute.

“Of whom do you make fun?Against whom do you open wide your mouthAnd stick out your tongue?Are you not children of rebellion (sin),Offspring of deceit,

Then their offspring will be known among the nations,And their descendants among the peoples.All who see them [in their prosperity] will recognize and acknowledge themThat they are the people whom the Lord has blessed.

“I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,And an heir of My mountains from Judah;Even My chosen ones shall inherit it,And My servants will live there.

“They will not labor in vain,Or bear children for disaster;For they are the descendants of those blessed by the Lord,And their offspring with them.

“For just as the new heavens and the new earthWhich I make will remain and endure before Me,” declares the Lord,“So your offspring and your name will remain and endure.

“Is this man [King] Coniah a despised, broken jar?Is he a vessel in which no one takes pleasure?Why are he and his [royal] descendants hurled outAnd cast into a land which they do not know or understand?

Thus says the Lord,‘Write this man [Coniah] down as childless,A man who will not prosper (succeed) in his lifetime;For not one of his descendants will succeedIn sitting on the throne of DavidOr ruling again in Judah.’”

but [they will say], ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries to which I had driven them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”

therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He will not have anyone [born] to live among this people, nor will he see the good that I am about to do to My people,” says the Lord, “because he has spoken and preached rebellion against the Lord.”’”

“Behold (listen carefully), the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast.

Thus says the Lord,“If the heavens above can be measuredAnd the foundations of the earth searched out below,Then I will also cast off and abandon all the descendants of IsraelFor all that they have done,” says the Lord.

As the host of [the stars of] heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’”

then I would [also] reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes, and will have mercy on them.’”

I will also punish him and his descendants and his servants for their wickedness, and I will bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the destruction that I have declared against them—but they would not listen.”’”

“But as for you, do not fear, O My servant Jacob,Nor be dismayed, O Israel!For behold, I will save you from [your captivity in] a distant land,And your descendants from the land of their exile;And Jacob will return and be quiet and secure,And no one will make him afraid.

“But I have stripped Esau (Edom) bare;I have uncovered his hiding placesAnd he cannot hide himself.His descendants have been destroyed along with his brothers (relatives) and his neighbors;And he is no more.

and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day when I chose Israel and lifted up My hand and swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God,

You shall give to the priests, the Levites who are from the descendants of Zadok, who are close to Me to minister to Me,’ says the Lord God, ‘a young bull for a sin offering [as a memorial to Christ’s sacrifice].

And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman; but they shall marry virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who was previously married to a priest.

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—

Then the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel shall be gathered together,And they will appoint for themselves one leader,And they will go up from the land,For great and glorious will be the day of Jezreel.

But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.