The Law · Chapter 17 of 50
Genesis 17
When Abram is ninety nine, God appears as the Almighty and formally establishes His everlasting covenant. He changes Abram's name to Abraham, father of many nations, and promises kings and countless descendants and the land of Canaan. God gives circumcision as the covenant sign. He renames Sarai as Sarah and promises she will bear a son, Isaac, despite her age. Abraham laughs in wonder, and that same day circumcises every male of his household.
What happens in Genesis 17
God appears to ninety nine year old Abram as the Almighty and calls him to walk blamelessly. He establishes His covenant, promising to multiply Abram and make him a father of many nations. He changes his name to Abraham and pledges kings among his descendants and an everlasting covenant, giving them the land of Canaan forever. As the sign of the covenant, every male is to be circumcised at eight days old, and the uncircumcised is cut off.
God renames Sarai as Sarah and promises to bless her with a son, making her a mother of nations. Abraham falls on his face and laughs, wondering how a hundred year old man and ninety year old woman can bear a child, and asks that Ishmael might live. God insists Sarah will bear Isaac, with whom He will establish the covenant, while also blessing Ishmael. That very day Abraham circumcises every male of his house.
Genesis 17 in context
Genesis 17 formalizes and expands the covenant God first made with Abram in chapters 12 and 15. Coming after the human scheme of chapter 16, it reasserts that the promised heir will come by God's power, not human effort.
Within the Law it institutes circumcision as the enduring covenant sign for Israel and gives the name changes that mark Abraham and Sarah as bearers of a worldwide promise.
Main themes of Genesis 17
Genesis 17 (KJV)
1And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 4As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 5Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. 6And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. 7And I 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. 8And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. 9And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. 10This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 11And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 12And he that is eight days old shall 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. 13He that is born 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. 14And 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. 15And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. 16And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. 17Then Abraham fell 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? 18And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! 19And God said, Sarah 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. 20And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. 22And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham. 23And 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 circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him. 24And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son. 27And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.
Verses to carry from Genesis 17
“Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.”Genesis 17:5
“And I 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.”Genesis 17:7
“And God said, Sarah 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.”Genesis 17:19
Christian typology
How Genesis 17 points to Jesus
As Christian typology, the covenant sign of this chapter opens toward Christ. The New Testament teaches that in Christ believers receive a circumcision made without hands, the putting off of the old nature, and that the outward sign always pointed to a circumcised heart (Colossians 2:11). Paul argues that Abraham was counted righteous by faith before he was ever circumcised, so the sign was a seal of a righteousness received by faith, the very faith fulfilled in Christ (Romans 4:11).
The promise that Abraham would father many nations reaches its goal as people of every nation become his children through faith in Jesus. And the miraculous son given to the aged and barren, Isaac born by promise rather than by human power, foreshadows the greater Son given by God's power for the world's salvation.
Questions about Genesis 17
Why did God change Abram's name to Abraham in Genesis 17?
God changed Abram, which relates to exalted father, to Abraham, tied to father of a multitude, to declare the covenant promise that he would father many nations. The new name announced Abraham's God given destiny before any of it was visible, when he still had only one son. The renaming, like Sarai becoming Sarah, marked their new identity as bearers of a worldwide promise resting on God's word.
What is the meaning of circumcision in Genesis 17?
Circumcision was given as the sign of God's everlasting covenant with Abraham, marked in the flesh of every male at eight days old, signifying belonging to God and to His covenant people. It claimed the whole person and each new generation. Later Scripture shows it always pointed beyond the outward act to a circumcised heart, fulfilled in Christ, in whom believers receive a spiritual circumcision by faith.
Reflection
God spoke over Abraham the name father of many nations while he still had no covenant son, calling him by the promise rather than the circumstance. God often names us by what His word will make us, not by what we currently are. Where are you tempted to laugh at a promise that seems impossibly late?
A prayer from Genesis 17
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