Genesis 17
People in this chapter
When Abram is ninety-nine, the LORD appears with promises and commands. The chapter names God as the Almighty, changes Abram's name to Abraham, gives circumcision as a covenant sign, promises a son through Sarah, blesses Ishmael, and says the covenant will be established with Isaac.
Tap any highlighted phrase to jump to the commentary that unpacks it.
Genesis 17:1-8The Covenant and Abraham's New Name
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.
When Abram is ninety-nine, the LORD appears and calls himself the Almighty God. He commands Abram to walk before him and be blameless or whole. The exact derivation of the Hebrew title is debated.
God promises Abraham many descendants, nations, kings, land, and a covenant through generations. Abram falls on his face, receives the name Abraham, and hears God say, “I will be their God.” The covenant includes both promise and later command.
Genesis 17:9-14The Covenant Sign
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.
Circumcision is commanded as the covenant sign for Abraham's male descendants and household, including infants on the eighth day and males born or bought in the house. Verse 14 gives a severe warning about breaking the covenant. The exact consequence is not explained.
Genesis 17:15-19Sarah and Isaac
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.
God renames Sarai as Sarah and promises a son through her. Abraham falls, laughs, and asks for Ishmael. God says Sarah will bear Isaac and establishes the covenant with him. Isaac's name plays on laughter.
Genesis 17:20-27Ishmael, Isaac, and the Same Day
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.
God blesses Ishmael with fruitfulness, twelve princes, and a great nation. The next verse distinguishes the covenant established with Isaac, whose birth is set for the next year. Both claims belong together.
After God finishes speaking, Abraham circumcises himself, Ishmael, and the male members of his household that same day. It is an ancient household action involving unequal agency, not a simple model for directing another person's religious choices.
Where this echoes in Scripture
The Covenant and Abraham's New Name
- Genesis 12:2-3I will make of thee a great nation... and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.Genesis 17 expands earlier promises of descendants, nations, and blessing.
- Genesis 15:5-6So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.The covenant promises follow the earlier account of Abram's trust being reckoned as righteousness.
The Covenant Sign
- Romans 4:9-12He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised.Paul reflects on the order of Abraham's faith in Genesis 15 and the sign commanded in Genesis 17.
- Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4The LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart... Circumcise yourselves to the LORD.Later biblical texts use circumcision language to speak of the heart while Genesis 17 commands a physical sign.
- Luke 2:21When eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS.The eighth-day practice remains visible in the New Testament narrative.
Sarah and Isaac
- Genesis 21:1-3, 6The LORD visited Sarah as he had said... Sarah conceived... God hath made me to laugh.Genesis later narrates Isaac's birth and returns to the chapter's laughter wordplay.
- Hebrews 11:11-12Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed... so many as the stars of the sky in multitude.Hebrews later reflects on the promised birth through Sarah and Abraham.
Ishmael, Isaac, and the Same Day
- Genesis 17:20-21I have blessed him... But my covenant will I establish with Isaac.The chapter itself gives the paired statements about Ishmael's blessing and Isaac's covenant role.
- Galatians 3:8, 14, 16In thee shall all nations be blessed... unto thy seed, which is Christ.Paul later reads the Abrahamic promise through Christ and the blessing of the nations.
- Galatians 4:21-31Which things are an allegory.Paul later uses Sarah and Hagar figuratively in an argument about freedom; that reading does not erase their own Genesis stories.