The First Book of Moses, called Genesis
Genesis 17
Chapter XVII · Vol. I, pp. 239–241
1 God reneweth the covenant. 5 Abram's name is changed, in token of greater blessings. 9 Circumcision is instituted. 15 Sarai's name is changed, and she blessed. 17 Isaac is promised. 23 Abraham and Ishmael are circumcised.
1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the aAlmighty God; bwalk before me, and be thou perfect.2
A.M. 2107. B.C. 1897.
a ch. 35.11; 18.14. Je. 32. 17, 27. Mat. 19. 26. He. 7.25. Da. 4. 35. Job 11.7.
b ch. 5.24; 6.9; 48. 15. Job 1.18. 1 Ki. 3.6. Lu. 1. 6. Is. 38.3. Ac. 23. 1; 24. 16. 2 Co. 1.12. Mi. 6.8. Ps. 116.9. He. 12.28.
2 Or upright, or sincere.
2 And cI will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
c ch. 9.9; 12.2; ver. 4, 5,6. 1 Co. 4.7.
3 And Abram dfell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
d ver. 17. Le. 9. 24. Nu. 14.5; 16. 22, 45. Ju. 13.20. 1 Ki. 18.39.
5 Neitherf shall thy name any more be called Abram;4 but thy name shall be Abraham:5 for a father of many nations have I made thee.
f Ro. 4. 17. Ne. 9. 7. ver. 13. Is. 62.2,4. Re. 2. 17. ch. 32.28. 2 Sa. 12.25. Nu. 13.16. Jn. 1.42.
4 An high father.—C.
5 Father of a great multitude.—C.
6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee; and kings shall come out of thee.
7 And gI will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
A.M. 2107. B.C. 1897.
g Ro. 9. 8. Lu. 1. 72-75. Ps. 105. 8-10. Mi. 7. 20. Ps. 81.10. He. 8. 10. Eze. 28. 26. Ac. 2. 39. Mar. 10.14.
8 Andh I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger,6 all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
h See ch. 12. 7; 13. 15,17; 15.7-21.
6 Heb. of thy sojournings.
9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee, in their generations.
10 This is my covenant,7 which ye shall keep, between me and you, and thy seed after thee; Everyi man-child among you shall be circumcised.
11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
12 And he that is eight days8 old kshall be circumcised among you, every man-child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
13 He that is lborn in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised; and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14 And the uncircumcised man-child, whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
15 And God said unto Abraham, mAs for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.9
m See ver. 5. 2 Sa. 12.25. ch. 32.28.
9 The meaning of Sarai is doubtful. It probably signifies 'struggling' or 'contending,' and would thus indicate a woman who struggled amid difficulties. Sarah means 'queen' or 'princess;' the feminine of Sar, a 'prince.' The name is most expressive. Sarah was to be the mother and head of nations.—P.
16 And nI will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations;1 kings of people shall be of her.
n ver. 6; ch. 1. 28; 12. 2. 1 Pe. 3. 6. Ga. 4. 26. Ro. 9.9.
A.M. 2107. B.C. 1897.
1 Heb. she shall become nations.
17 Then Abraham ofell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
o See ver. 3. Le. 9.24. Nu. 14.5; 16. 22,45. De. 9.18, 25. Jos. 5.14; 7. 6. Ju. 13. 20. 1 Ch. 21. 16. Job 1.20. Eze. 1.28. Da. 8.17. Mat. 2.10. Re. 5.8; 11.16; 14.19.
18 And Abraham said unto God, Oh that Ishmael might live before thee!
19 And God said, pSarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
p ch. 18.10; 21.2; ver. 21. Ro. 9.9.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, qand will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly: twelve princes shall he beget; and I will make him a great nation.2
q ch. 16.10; 21.13; 25. 12-18.
2 The idea of the Arabs as a nation is too generally formed from what is related by travellers of the wild Bedouins. They form, however, but one specimen of this most extraordinary people. They were really a great nation, in the sense in which national greatness is understood, at an early period: that is, they were numerous; they were educated in arts and sciences; and, if they did not carry their arms abroad, they were valiant and unconquered in defence of their homes. The Egyptian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman armies were each in their turn compelled to retire before them. From them also sprung Mahomet, who, to scourge an heretical and apostate church, was permitted to rise to unprecedented greatness, and to fulfil the threatened judgments of Christ, and with a mighty and irresistible hand to 'remove their candlestick out of its place.'—C.
21 But rmy covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
r Ro. 9.5, 6, 9. Ga. 3. 29. ch. 18.10; 21.2,3.
22 And he sleft off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.3
s ch. 35.13; ver. 3. Nu. 12.6,8. Ju. 6.21; 13.20.
3 God went up from Abraham. The best comment on this passage is found in Ac. 1. 9, 10; in which it is recorded that the Son of God, after his resurrection and forty days' converse with his disciples, 'was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight;' and in which it is prophesied that 'he shall come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.'—C.
23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and tcircumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the self-same day, as God had said unto him.4
t ver. 10-14; ch. 34.14; ver. 26,27. Pr. 27.1. Ec. 9.10. Ps. 119.60.
4 1897.
24 Andu Abraham was ninety years old and nine when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
u Ro. 4. 11. Ps. 119. 60, with ch. 12.4.
25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
26 In the self-same day was Abraham circumcised and Ishmael his son;
Notes
Ver. 1. The name Shaddai, rendered Almighty, denotes all-sufficiency, as well as infinite power. And what strong encouragement to the study of perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord is it, that God is all-sufficient and almighty to prepare us for, assist us in, and reward us for it; 2 Co. 12. 8, 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness;' Phi. 2. 12, 13, 'Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do, of his good pleasure;' 1 Co. 15. 58, 'Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.'—[Almighty God. This is the first time Jehovah calls himself Almighty; or, as some render it, and the word will bear, All-sufficient. It is important to remark, that God, whose perfections are infinite, can never, in the language of a finite being, fully bring out the catalogue of his attributes. But, on all occasions, he puts forth that special view of his perfections which is best calculated, in his special circumstances, to be the pillar of the believer's faith. Abram was a stranger, and surrounded by enemies, God therefore declares himself the Almighty, able to protect him in all dangers, as well as to fulfil all his promises. C.—El-Shaddai, 'God-Almighty,' was the name by which the Lord announced himself or made himself formally known to Abram and to the early patriarchs. It indicated the special relationship in which he stood to them:—he was their omnipotent Protector and Provider in a strange land. P.]
Ver. 2. God's making a covenant here, and in many other places, denotes the enlargement, renewal, establishment, or confirmation of it. It cannot be imagined that, in the various instances in which this phrase is used, he had not respect to his former declarations of the same kind as still in force, Ps. 105. 8-10; Ge. 15. 18; Ex. 34. 10-27; 1 Ki. 8. 9; Je. 31. 33; Ho. 2. 18; Ge. 6. 18; ver. 7, 19, 21; Ex. 6. 4; Le. 27. 9; De. 8. 18; Eze. 16. 60, 62.
Ver. 3. He fell on his face, in token of his fear and reverence, as being afraid and ashamed to look upon God; ver. 17; Ex. 3. 6; Le. 9. 24; Nu. 22. 31; Jos. 5. 14; Ju. 13. 20; Eze. 1. 28; 3. 23; 9. 8; 42. 3; Da. 8. 17; Mat. 17. 6; Re. 1. 17; Ps. 89. 7, 'God is greatly to be feared—to be had in reverence of all that are round about him;' 95. 6, 'Let us worship and bow down before the Lord;' Ps. 96. 4, 9; 91. 9; Re. 15. 4.
Ver. 4. Abram was not only the natural parent of multitudes, and the example and teacher of faith to all believers, but was the covenant-head with respect to the Israelitish nation, and was typical of Jesus Christ as the covenant-head and father of all who believe, ch. 12. 2; Ro. 4. 16, 17; Ga. 3. 28, 29.—[This was fulfilled to the letter. Abram was the progenitor of the Ishmaelites, the Jews, the several nations of the Keturites, the Edomites, &c. P.]
Ver. 5. God's giving names to persons, imports his making them to correspond with them in their condition or usefulness, ch. 32. 28; 2 Sa. 12. 25; Is. 62. 2, 4, 5; Re. 2. 17; Je. 20. 3; 23. 6; 33. 16; Mat. 1. 21. Abram signifies high father; Abraham, the high father of a multitude; Sarai, my princess; Sarah, princess of a multitude.
Ver. 6. The Ishmaelites, Midianites, Edomites, Hebrews, and their kings, ver. 20; Nu. xxxi.; Ge. xxxvi., Mat. i., but chiefly Jesus and his spiritual subjects, Re. 17. 14; 15. 3; 11. 15; 1. 6; 1 Pe. 2. 9; Ps. 45. 16.
Ver. 7, 8. Isaac and his Hebrew descendants were properly the natural seed with whom this covenant was established, ver. 21. By it God in Christ became, to the Hebrews in general, the head of their nation and church, and assumed them for his peculiar people: he bestowed upon them the land of Canaan as his land, in the enjoyment of which they tasted his goodness, and had access to contemplate the glories of the new-covenant state, and of the heavenly blessedness, Ex. 19. 5, 6; 20. 12. But, as it respects Christ, and believers in him, it implies God's interesting them, in all his persons and perfections, by every amiable relation, and his giving them all that he hath, and doing all his works, for their happiness and comfort, Ps. 89. 27; Ep. 1. 3; He. 8. 10; Ps. 144. 15; 16. 5, 6. This covenant, as it respected the Hebrew nation, together with the possession of Canaan, and the various ceremonial ordinances by which they were marked the peculiar people of God, and in the observance of which they were to enjoy their rest and prosperity in Canaan, is represented as everlasting or for ever: but in these passages no more than a long time is meant, ch. 48. 4; Ex. 12. 14; 21. 6; 31. 17; 32. 13; 40. 15; Le. 16. 34; 25. 23, 30, 46; Nu. 10. 8; 15. 15; 18. 19; 25. 13; De. 4. 40; 15. 17; 18. 5; Jos. 4. 7; 14. 9, &c. But as this covenant respected Christ, and believers in him, it, and all the spiritual blessings contained in it, are everlasting in the strictest sense, He. 13. 20; 9. 12, 15; 1 Pe. 1. 4; 2 Pe. 1. 11. And it is perhaps chiefly because the covenant of peculiarity with Israel, and the ordinances and blessings thereof, prefigured these eternal relations and privileges that they are represented as everlasting.
Ver. 9-13. Circumcision is called God's covenant, because it was a token and confirming seal of it. On God's part, it imported that he would give them the promised Messiah out of the loins of Abraham; who, being a true man, should be cut off for the salvation of his people; that, being reconciled in Christ, he gave himself to be their God, accepted them for his people, and promised them pardon of sin and sanctification of their nature and life, Ro. 4. 11; Ex. 19. 5, 6; De. 10. 15; 30. 6; Col. 2. 11. On the part of the persons circumcised, it imported their acceptance of God in Christ as their God, and of redemption through the blood of his Son; and their engagement to have no longer intimate friendship with the world which lieth in wickedness, but to mortify their lusts, and to apply themselves to the most internal and spiritual piety, Phi. 3. 3; Je. 4. 4; Ro. 2. 29. Females were considered as represented in the males, with respect to this ordinance. But children were not to be circumcised till the eighth day; to teach us that neither circumcision nor baptism is absolutely necessary to salvation, and because till that time children and other animals were reckoned too weak or impure for dedication to God, Ex. 22. 30.
Ver. 14. Not infants, who could not circumcise themselves, but such as wilfully neglected this ordinance when they were grown up, would nationally be cut off from their people. Such as renounced the distinguishing badge of Abraham's seed, renounced their covenant-alliance with God, and fellowship with his people. Nothing could therefore be more reasonable than that they should be excluded from the privileges of the Hebrew church and nation, and accounted as heathens. And this is perhaps the whole import of cutting off from his people, in most of the passages where we find it, Ex. 12. 15, 19; 30. 33, 38; Le. 7. 20, 21, 25, 27; 17. 4, 9, 10, 14; 22. 3; Nu. 9. 3; 19. 13, 20. But, in some cases, death, by the immediate hand of God, or of the magistrate, is certainly included, or therewith connected, Ex. 31. 14; Le. 18. 29; 19. 8; 20. 3, 5, 6, 17; Nu. 15. 30, 31. And surely there is no injustice that a presumptuous and obstinate rebel against a fundamental law of the church and nation of God should be punished with death.
Ver. 17. Abraham laughed, in virtue of his firm belief of the promise, and his satisfaction therein, Ro. 4. 19, 20; Jn. 8. 56; but Sarah laughed in unbelieving derision, ch. 18. 12.
Ver. 18. Let Ishmael live, and prosper in thy favour, and under thy special care, ch. 48. 15; Ps. 31. 22.
Reflections.—How infinite the extent, how rich the mercy, of God's granting himself, as God Almighty, God All-sufficient, to be my God, and the God of my seed! Let me by faith heartily and hastily catch the word at his mouth, and cry—'My Lord and my God, and the God of my seed! Thrice blessed heritage of the hosts of nations, secured to us as our portion for ever!' Though neither my house nor my heart be so with God as they ought, yet he hath made with me the everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure: and this is all my salvation and all my desire. Upon this foundation let me and mine be sealed to the day of redemption, by receiving the circumcision which is of Christ. Through his blood shed for us, and his Spirit applied to us, must our natural corruptions be mortified, our hearts purified, and our souls saved. Without this we can in no wise enter the kingdom of God. Nor let me ever forget to entreat that the Ishmaels of my carnal relations may be made alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord; be partakers of his covenant-blessings now, and live before him for ever hereafter.