Genesis 17

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “ I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless. 2 I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.” 3 Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “ As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. 7 I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing— all the land of Canaan — as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.” The Covenant of Circumcision 9 God also said to Abraham, “ You must keep My covenant — you and your descendants in the generations after you. 10 This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised. 11 You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12 Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner — even those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether they are born in your household or purchased, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh will be an everlasting covenant. 14 But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.” 15 Then God said to Abraham, “ As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah. 16 And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.” 17 Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “ Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “ O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!” 19 But God replied, “ Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.” 22 When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. 23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money — every male among the members of Abraham ’s household — and he circumcised them, just as God had told him. 24 So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day. 27 And all the men of Abraham’s household — both servants born in his household and those purchased from foreigners — were circumcised with him.

✦ What the text says

## Summary God appears to Abram at age ninety-nine, identifies himself as *El Shaddai* ("God Almighty", H0410G/H7706), and establishes a *brit* ("covenant", H1285) promising numerous descendants and the land of Canaan. As part of this covenant, Abram's and Sarai's names are changed to Abraham and Sarah, and circumcision is instituted as the covenant's physical sign, which Abraham then performs on himself, Ishmael, and all males of his household. ## Key words - *brit* ("covenant", H1285) — feminine singular noun, appearing repeatedly in construct form (*beriti*, "my covenant"); it structures the entire chapter as the recurring legal/relational term binding God's promises to a physical obligation (circumcision). - *hitHalekh* ("walk about", H1980I) — hithpael (reflexive) imperative; the reflexive stem suggests continuous, self-involved action, not a single walk but an ongoing manner of conduct required of Abram. - *avraham* ("Abraham", H0085) — proper name replacing *avram* ("Abram", H0087); the text explicitly links the new name to *av-hamon goyim* ("father of a multitude of nations", H0001G/H1995A/H1471A), presenting the name change as etymologically motivated within the narrative itself. - *himmol yimmol* ("he will surely be circumcised", H4135A) — niphal infinitive absolute + niphal imperfect, a doubled construction expressing emphatic certainty or obligation, found in verse 13. - *le'olam* / *brit olam* ("covenant of perpetuity/everlasting covenant", H5769G) — used three times (vv. 7, 13, 19) marking the covenant, its sign, and its renewal with Isaac as enduring across generations (*doroteikhem*, H1755). ## What the text says The chapter is built on chains of sequential perfect verbs (vav + perfect continuing a future/command sequence), visible in verses 2, 4-8, and 20-21: *ve'et'nah* ("let me give"), *ve'arbeh* ("and I will multiply"), *venatati* ("and I will give"). This grammatical pattern presents the covenant not as a single declaration but as an unfolding series of divine actions tied together syntactically, each building on the last. The renaming formulas in verses 5 and 15 use the negated niphal imperfect *yikkare* ("it will be called", H7121H) followed by the sequential perfect *hayah* ("it will be", H1961), a structure that marks a permanent shift in identity tied grammatically to the covenant's terms. The infinitive absolute construction in verse 13 (*himmol yimmol*) intensifies the obligation of circumcision beyond a simple future statement, and the same doubled root appears in verse 23's narrative form *yamol* ("he circumcised") describing Abraham's actual compliance. ## Differences between versions The LXX renders *El Shaddai* (v.1) simply as *ho theos sou* ("your God"), omitting the title "Almighty" found in the Hebrew and reflected in the Vulgate's *Deus omnipotens*. In verse 5, the LXX gives the new name as *Abraam* without repeating the Hebrew's explicit link via *ki* ("for", H3588A) to "father of a multitude," though the etymological connection is preserved in sense. In verse 14, the LXX adds "on the eighth day" (*tē hēmera tē ogdoē*), a detail not present in the Hebrew clause itself, which only specifies this timing in verse 12.

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.