With any translation, only a few words need changing for the context of the translation of the source language text scriptures to be radically changed from the original intent/context of the source texts being used.
The belief that God gave prescribed land to possess forever is a fallacy that is not supported by scripture and/or history. The Hebrew word Root Word, "owlam," has the meaning of "a period of time where the vanishing point of that time period ends, is beyond our ability to comprehend." In other words, "owlam" has a 'finite' duration and is not 'infinite' as the English translations of this word as 'forever' suggests.
In my paraphrasing of Genesis 13:14-17, I have expressed these verses in this manner: -
Genesis 13:14-17: - 14 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are — northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land/the entity of the earth which you see I give to you and/this entity to your descendants forever/for a period of time where the end point of this time period will be beyond their ability to comprehend. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. 17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for Me to give it to you/this entity."
In my paraphrasing above, any part of the NKJV translation that I do not agree with, I have changed the colour of that text so that it is difficult to see and have made bold the text that I would use to replace the words found in the NKJV translation.
The Bible and the recorded history tell us that Israel began to gain possession of this land after they began entering the land and crossing the Jordan River. After the death of King Solomon, the possession of the described land was lost except for the Land of Canaan which was promised to Abraham in Genesis 17 before Isaac was born.
The NKJV as written suggests that Abraham, along with his descendant, was also given the described land entity in Genesis 13:14-17 and 15:17-21.
The four paraphrasing changes that I have made in Genesis 13:14-17 presents a different context to this passage which better fits story of Israel's possession of this described land entity.
Is my paraphrasing of these four verses infallible? I would hope so, however, just like the translators, I too am also able to make mistakes in my understanding of God's intended context in the scriptures.
I have found that, over the years, I have been prompted to dig a little deeper to determine whether or not the translators have got their respective translations right or compromised the translation to have agreement within the committee charged to produce the translation.
Shalom
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