Genesis 12:3

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

I will bless them that bless thee. His friends and his enemies would be regarded as the friends and enemies of God, who would reward their kindness and avenge their wrongs done to him as done to Himself. It is observable, however, that the former are mentioned in the plural, while the latter is in the singular; as if multitudes would be sure to bless, but few to curse him.

And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed - Hebrew, of the ground. Knobel renders it 'all families of the land'-i.e, the Canaanites, who were some of them, the Gibeonites, incorporated with the people, and all of them benefited by the settlement, of Israel in their land. But this is a frittering away of the meaning of this clause, which really forms the climax in the series of promises. "In thee" is afterward explained to mean "thy seed" - i:e., Christ (Acts 3:25-26; Romans 4:13-16; Galatians 3:8; Galatians 3:16). The curse upon 'the ground' was to be completely removed, and all families of the earth blessed with the knowledge and the means of salvation. "Families" are spoken of, as it was in the family the principles of the true religion were first planted. But in subsequent passages "all the nations of the earth" is the phrase used (Genesis 18:18; Genesis 22:18).