38 | Genesis 17:5
the fa ther of many na tions. 5 No lon ger will you be called Abram a; your name will be Abra ham, b for I have made you a fa ther of many na tions. 6 I will make you very fruit ful; I will make na tions of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will estab lish my cov enant as an ever last ing cov enant be tween me and you and your de scen dants af ter you for the gen er a tions to come, to be your God and the God of your de scen dants af ter you. 8 The whole land of Ca naan, where you now re side as a for eign er, I will give as an ever last ing pos ses sion to you and your de scen dants af ter you; and I will be their God.”
9
Then God said to Abra ham,“ As for you, you must keep my cov enant, you and your de scendants af ter you for the gen er a tions to come. 10 This is my cov enant with you and your de scen dants af ter you, the cov enant you are to keep: Ev ery male among you shall be cir cum cised. 11 You are to un der go cir cum ci sion, and it will be the sign of the cov enant be tween me and you. 12 For the gen er a tions to come ev ery male among you who is eight days old must be cir cum cised, in cluding those born in your house hold or bought with mon ey from a for eign er— those who are not your off spring. 13 Wheth er born in your house hold or bought with your mon ey, they must be cir cumcised. My cov enant in your flesh is to be an everlast ing cov enant. 14 Any un cir cum cised male, who has not been cir cum cised in the flesh, will be cut off from his peo ple; he has bro ken my cov enant.”
15
God also said to Abra ham,“ As for Sa rai your wife, you are no lon ger to call her Sa rai; her name will be Sar ah. 16 I will bless her and will sure ly give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the moth er of na tions; kings of peo ples will come from her.”
17
Abra ham fell face down; he laughed and said to him self,“ Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sar ah bear a child at the age of nine ty?” 18 And Abra ham said to God,“ If only Ish ma el might live un der your bless ing!”
19
Then God said,“ Yes, but your wife Sar ah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. c I will es tab lish my cov enant with him as an ever last ing cov enant for his de scen dants af ter him. 20 And as
a
5 Abram means exalted father. b
5 Abraham probably means father of many. c
19 Isaac means he laughs. can be understood as God establishing or confirming his covenant( see Ge 17:6). The covenant was earlier made in ch. 15( see 17:4). See the table“ Covenants in the Old Testament” on p. 469. 17:5 Abram The name Abram( avram in Hebrew) may be related to the names Abiram or Abarama, known from Akkadian texts contemporary with Abraham. The first syllable( av) is the Hebrew word for“ father.” The second syllable( ram) likely derives from the Hebrew verb ram( meaning“ to be raised,” or“ to be exalted”); this means the name means“ exalted father” or“ the father is exalted.” See the table“ Symbolic Names of People in Hebrew” on p. 1388. Abraham The new name Abraham( avraham in Hebrew) is related to Abraham’ s role as“ father of many nations” or“ father of a multitude of nations”— the first part of this phrase, av hamon, seems to be a wordplay in Hebrew on Abraham’ s new name, avraham. It is difficult to discern the actual derivation of the Hebrew name avraham.
17:6 – 8 God’ s promises here reinforce what God had earlier promised to Abram in Ge 12 and Ge 15. Years of Abraham’ s life separate these repetitions of the promise, but each repetition has the same basic elements: God promises Abraham many descendants and land. See the people diagram“ Family Tree of the Patriarchs” on p. 52.
17:10 shall be circumcised Circumcision— the surgical removal of the foreskin of the penis— was required as part of the covenant( see v. 14). Female circumcision is not intended by this statement. Circumcision was not unique to Israel, nor was it invented by the Israelites. The custom is known in Egypt as early as the twenty-third century BC, except that Egyptians slit the foreskin rather than removing it. Ancient Near Eastern art from Syria dating several centuries earlier depicts Syrian warriors as circumcised. 17:12 eight days old While the OT contains examples of adult male circumcision( vv. 23 – 27; 34:15 – 24; Jos 5:3 – 7), the normal practice for Abraham’ s descendants was infant circumcision.
17:15 Sarai The Hebrew word for“ prince” or“ ruler” is sar; both the name Sarai, and it seems Sarah, are related to this term and mean“ princess.” Sarah Sarah is the only woman renamed by God in the Bible. The context shows Abraham producing“ kings”( Ge 17:6,16), and thus her new name, Sarah, may draw attention to Sarah as the matriarch of kings. While the name Sarah could mean“ princess”— like Sarai— it could be affiliated with the Hebrew verb sarah( commonly translated as“ to strive” or“ to struggle”); this verb is used when Jacob’ s name is changed to Israel because he has both striven with God and people( 32:28). 17:17 laughed The name Isaac( yitschaq in Hebrew) derives from the Hebrew verb used here, tsachaq. Abraham’ s laughter— expressing both joy and surprise— suggests that his original faith expression in 15:6 was not based on a realization that Sarah would be the mother. 17:19 Isaac This name means“ he laughs”( see v. 17 and note). See the table“ Symbolic Names of People in Hebrew” on p. 1388.
Genesis 17:19
ISAAC Despite his importance as the child of promise, Isaac plays a relatively minor role in the Genesis narratives. Soon after Abraham dies( ch. 25), Jacob— the next major figure in Genesis— is introduced( ch. 25). After his birth and early years in 21:1 – 12, Isaac appears as a young man in the story of his binding in ch. 22, where he is a mostly passive character. He is largely absent from the narrative of ch. 24 when Abraham’ s servant finds Rebekah from among their relatives as Isaac’ s wife. The remaining narratives involving Isaac alone are nearly identical to incidents from Abraham’ s life( compare chs. 26; 20 – 21).
17:20 twelve rulers Equal in number to the 12 tribes