Gen 17

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God reveals His covenant to Abraham

1 And after he began to be ninety and nine years old, the Lord appeared to him: and said to him: I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be perfect. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and you: and I will multiply you exceedingly. 3 Abram fell flat on his face. 4 And God said to him: I AM, and my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 Neither shall your name be called any more Abram: but you shall be called Abraham: because I have made you a father of many nations. 6 And I will make you increase, exceedingly, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and between your seed after you in their generations, by a perpetual covenant: to be a God to you, and to your seed after you. 8 And I will give to you, and to your seed, the land of your sojournment, all the land of Chanaan for a perpetual possession, and I will be their God.

Covenant of circumcision

9 Again God said to Abraham: And you therefore shall keep my covenant, and your seed after you in their generations. 10 This is my covenant which you shall observe, between me and you, and your seed after you: All the male kind of you shall be circumcised: 11 And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, that it may be for a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 An infant of eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations: he that is born in the house, as well as the bought servant shall be circumcised, and whosoever is not of your stock: 13 And my covenant shall be in your flesh for a perpetual covenant. 14 The male, whose dash of his foreskin shall not be circumcised, that soul shall be destroyed out of his people: because he has broken my covenant.

Isaac's birth promised

15 God said also to Abraham: Sarai your wife you shall not call Sarai, but Sara. 16 And I will bless her, and of her I will give you a son, whom I will bless, and he shall become nations, and kings of people shall spring from him. 17 Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, saying in his heart: Shall a son, you think, be born to him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sara that is ninety years old bring forth? 18 And he said to God: O that Ismael may live before you. 19 And God said to Abraham: Sara your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him for a perpetual covenant, and with his seed after him.

Covenant with Isaac foretold

20 And as for Ismael I have also heard you. Behold, I will bless him, and increase, and multiply him exceedingly: he shall beget twelve chiefs, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sara shall bring forth to you at this time in the next year. 22 And when he had left off speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.

Abraham and his household circumcised

23 And Abraham took Ismael his son, and all that were born in his house: and all whom he had bought, every male among the men of his house: and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin forthwith the very same day, as God had commanded him. 24 Abraham was ninety and nine years old, when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ismael his son was full thirteen years old at the time of his circumcision. 28 The selfsame day was Abraham circumcised and Ismael his son. 27 And all the men of his house, as well they that were born in his house, as the bought servants and strangers were circumcised with him.

Commentary on Genesis 17

17:1 ninety-nine years old: Abraham was eighty-six years old when Ismael was born. God, however, exercised the virtue of the just man for still a further period of thirteen years. Why did God delay so long? Not simply that we should get to know Abraham’s endurance and great virtue, but for us to see the degree of God’s great power. (St. John Chrysostom Hom Gen)

17:4 I AM: The only reason for the Lord to say I am, is to proclaim openly the fact of his eternal Being, in that He is always the same. Moreover, this passage harmonizes with that of the Gospel, where the Lord Christ said to the Jews, ‘Before Abraham was made, I am'. Jn 8:58 For, appearing in the flesh, He taught that it was He himself who had once appeared to Abraham. (St. Bede Com Gen)

17:5 Abram means ‘an elevated father', while Abraham means ‘father of a great nation.’ (Augustin Calmet Dic Bible)

17:9-14 The chief literal reason for circumcision was in order that man might profess his belief in one God. (St. Thomas Aquinas Sum Theo 102.5.1) Also, when God foretold of the exile, He devised a protection for their religion so that, when mingling with pagans, they would not contaminate their noble descent, but rather, looking to the sign of circumcision, keep an undying memory of the one who had conferred it. They spent 40 years in the wilderness and thought circumcision pointless, since they were cut off from the nations. But when they later entered the promised land, God ordered Joshua to circumcise. They were destined to come into close proximity with the gentiles and were in need of a seal that would distinguish them from peoples of foreign lineage. (Theodoret of Cyrus Ques Gen 69)

17:15 Sara: formerly she was called 'my ruler', the mother of a household of one house only; thereafter she was called 'ruler' absolutely. (St. Jerome Heb Ques Gen)

17:17 laughed: Abraham’s laughter is the exultation of one giving thanks, not the derision of a scoffer. This was done not out of doubt but of wonder. (St. Augustine Cit God 16:26)

17:19 his name Isaac: There is a difference of opinion why he was called Isaac, but only one etymology of the name; for Isaac means 'laughter'. Some people say that because Sara had laughed, he was therefore called 'laughter'; but this is incorrect. Others, however, say that it was because Abraham laughed; and this is what we approve. For it was in consequence of Abraham's laughter that his son was called Isaac; only then do we read that Sara also laughed. (St. Jerome Heb Ques Gen)

17:20 he shall beget twelve chiefs: From the 12 sons of Ismael are derived the 12 tribes of the Arabians, still subsisting; and Jerome says that in his time they called the districts of Arabia by names of the several tribes. The descendants of Ismael inhabited from Havilah to Shur, from the Persian gulf to the border of Egypt. (Augustin Calmet Dic Bible)

17:23-28 Now if the Jews make so much of that circumcision, they should learn that it was not only Abraham who was circumcised but also Ismael, as well as home born slaves, the purchased slaves, the Idumeans, and the offspring of Keturah. Even the Egyptians learned circumcision from the Israelites. And circumcision did not have the effect of making them righteous, since Scripture condemns all these people as godless. Therefore, it was not circumcision that justified Abraham; faith made him righteous, and virtue rendered him still more illustrious. Circumcision was given as a sign of faith. (Theodoret of Cyrus Ques Gen 69)

Subpages (1): Gen 18

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