Genesis 17:1-27

The Sign of the Covenant

17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, ¹  the Lord appeared to him and said, ²  “I am the sovereign God. ³  Walk ⁴  before me ⁵  and be blameless. ⁶  17:2 Then I will confirm my covenant ⁷  between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.” ⁸ 

17:3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, ⁹  and God said to him, ¹⁰  17:4 “As for me, ¹¹  this ¹²  is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 No longer will your name be ¹³  Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham ¹⁴  because I will make you ¹⁵  the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you ¹⁶  extremely ¹⁷  fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. ¹⁸  17:7 I will confirm ¹⁹  my covenant as a perpetual ²⁰  covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ²¹  17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing ²²  – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent ²³  possession. I will be their God.”

17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep ²⁴  the covenantal requirement ²⁵  I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 17:10 This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: ²⁶  Every male among you must be circumcised. ²⁷  17:11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder ²⁸  of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old ²⁹  must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 17:13 They must indeed be circumcised, ³⁰  whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant ³¹  will be visible in your flesh as a permanent ³²  reminder. 17:14 Any uncircumcised male ³³  who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off ³⁴  from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.” ³⁵ 

17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; ³⁶  Sarah ³⁷  will be her name. 17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. ³⁸  Kings of countries ³⁹  will come from her!”

17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed ⁴⁰  as he said to himself, ⁴¹  “Can ⁴²  a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? ⁴³  Can Sarah ⁴⁴  bear a child at the age of ninety?” ⁴⁵  17:18 Abraham said to God, “O that ⁴⁶  Ishmael might live before you!” ⁴⁷ 

17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. ⁴⁸  I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual ⁴⁹  covenant for his descendants after him. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. ⁵⁰  I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. ⁵¹  He will become the father of twelve princes; ⁵²  I will make him into a great nation. 17:21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 17:22 When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. ⁵³ 

17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) ⁵⁴  and circumcised them ⁵⁵  on that very same day, just as God had told him to do. 17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old ⁵⁶  when he was circumcised; ⁵⁷  17:25 his son Ishmael was thirteen years old ⁵⁸  when he was circumcised. 17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day. 17:27 All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Genesis 31:7-18

31:7 but your father has humiliated ⁵⁹  me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not permitted him to do me any harm. 31:8 If he said, ⁶⁰  ‘The speckled animals ⁶¹  will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to speckled offspring. But if he said, ‘The streaked animals will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to streaked offspring. 31:9 In this way God has snatched away your father’s livestock and given them to me.

31:10 “Once ⁶²  during breeding season I saw ⁶³  in a dream that the male goats mating with ⁶⁴  the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted. 31:11 In the dream the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ ‘Here I am!’ I replied. 31:12 Then he said, ‘Observe ⁶⁵  that all the male goats mating with ⁶⁶  the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you. 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, ⁶⁷  where you anointed ⁶⁸  the sacred stone and made a vow to me. ⁶⁹  Now leave this land immediately ⁷⁰  and return to your native land.’”

31:14 Then Rachel and Leah replied to him, “Do we still have any portion or inheritance ⁷¹  in our father’s house? 31:15 Hasn’t he treated us like foreigners? He not only sold us, but completely wasted ⁷²  the money paid for us! ⁷³  31:16 Surely all the wealth that God snatched away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So now do everything God has told you.”

31:17 So Jacob immediately put his children and his wives on the camels. ⁷⁴  31:18 He took ⁷⁵  away all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan Aram and all his moveable property that he had accumulated. Then he set out toward the land of Canaan to return to his father Isaac. ⁷⁶ 

Micah 6:5

6:5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, ⁷⁷ 

how Balaam son of Beor responded to him.

Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal,

so you might acknowledge that the Lord has treated you fairly.” ⁷⁸ 

Revelation 2:10

2:10 Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. The devil is about to have some of you thrown ⁷⁹  into prison so you may be tested, ⁸⁰  and you will experience suffering ⁸¹  for ten days. Remain faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown that is life itself. ⁸² 

Revelation 2:14

2:14 But I have a few things against you: You have some people there who follow the teaching of Balaam, ⁸³  who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block ⁸⁴  before the people ⁸⁵  of Israel so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. ⁸⁶ 

[17:1]  ¹ tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”

[17:1]  ² tn Heb “appeared to Abram and said to him.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) and the final phrase “to him” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

[17:1]  ³ tn The name אֵל שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72. Shaddai/El Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world who grants, blesses, and judges. In the Book of Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name are uncertain (see discussion below) its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. In Gen 17:1-8 he appeared to Abram, introduced himself as El Shaddai, and announced his intention to make the patriarch fruitful. In the role of El Shaddai God repeated these words (now elevated to the status of a decree) to Jacob (35:11). Earlier Isaac had pronounced a blessing on Jacob in which he asked El Shaddai to make Jacob fruitful (28:3). Jacob later prayed that his sons would be treated with mercy when they returned to Egypt with Benjamin (43:14). The fertility theme is not as apparent here, though one must remember that Jacob viewed Benjamin as the sole remaining son of the favored and once-barren Rachel (see 29:31; 30:22-24; 35:16-18). It is quite natural that he would appeal to El Shaddai to preserve Benjamin’s life, for it was El Shaddai’s miraculous power which made it possible for Rachel to give him sons in the first place. In 48:3 Jacob, prior to blessing Joseph’s sons, told him how El Shaddai appeared to him at Bethel (see Gen 28) and promised to make him fruitful. When blessing Joseph on his deathbed Jacob referred to Shaddai (we should probably read “El Shaddai,” along with a few Hebrew mss, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the LXX, and Syriac) as the one who provides abundant blessings, including “blessings of the breast and womb” (49:25). (The direct association of the name with “breasts” suggests the name might mean “the one of the breast” [i.e., the one who gives fertility], but the juxtaposition is probably better explained as wordplay. Note the wordplay involving the name and the root שָׁדַד, shadad, “destroy”] in Isa 13:6 and in Joel 1:15.) Outside Genesis the name Shaddai (minus the element “El” [“God”]) is normally used when God is viewed as the sovereign king who blesses/protects or curses/brings judgment. The name appears in the introduction to two of Balaam’s oracles (Num 24:4, 16) of blessing upon Israel. Naomi employs the name when accusing the Lord of treating her bitterly by taking the lives of her husband and sons (Ruth 1:20-21). In Ps 68:14; Isa 13:6; and Joel 1:15 Shaddai judges his enemies through warfare, while Ps 91:1 depicts him as the protector of his people. (In Ezek 1:24 and 10:5 the sound of the cherubs’ wings is compared to Shaddai’s powerful voice. The reference may be to the mighty divine warrior’s battle cry which accompanies his angry judgment.) Finally, the name occurs 31 times in the Book of Job. Job and his “friends” assume that Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world (11:7; 37:23a) who is the source of life (33:4b) and is responsible for maintaining justice (8:3; 34:10-12; 37:23b). He provides abundant blessings, including children (22:17-18; 29:4-6), but he can also discipline, punish, and destroy (5:17; 6:4; 21:20; 23:16). It is not surprising to see the name so often in this book, where the theme of God’s justice is primary and even called into question (24:1; 27:2). The most likely proposal is that the name means “God, the one of the mountain” (an Akkadian cognate means “mountain,” to which the Hebrew שַׁד, shad, “breast”] is probably related). For a discussion of proposed derivations see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 70-71. The name may originally have depicted God as the sovereign judge who, in Canaanite style, ruled from a sacred mountain. Isa 14:13 and Ezek 28:14, 16 associate such a mountain with God, while Ps 48:2 refers to Zion as “Zaphon,” the Canaanite Olympus from which the high god El ruled. (In Isa 14 the Canaanite god El may be in view. Note that Isaiah pictures pagan kings as taunting the king of Babylon, suggesting that pagan mythology may provide the background for the language and imagery.)

[17:1]  ⁴ tn Or “Live out your life.” The Hebrew verb translated “walk” is the Hitpael; it means “to walk back and forth; to walk about; to live out one’s life.”

[17:1]  ⁵ tn Or “in my presence.”

[17:1]  ⁶ tn There are two imperatives here: “walk…and be blameless [or “perfect”].” The second imperative may be purely sequential (see the translation) or consequential: “walk before me and then you will be blameless.” How one interprets the sequence depends on the meaning of “walk before”: (1) If it simply refers in a neutral way to serving the Lord, then the second imperative is likely sequential. (2) But if it has a positive moral connotation (“serve me faithfully”), then the second imperative probably indicates purpose (or result). For other uses of the idiom see 1 Sam 2:30, 35 and 12:2 (where it occurs twice).

[17:2]  ⁷ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative indicates consequence. If Abram is blameless, then the Lord will ratify the covenant. Earlier the Lord ratified part of his promise to Abram (see Gen 15:18-21), guaranteeing him that his descendants would live in the land. But the expanded form of the promise, which includes numerous descendants and eternal possession of the land, remains to be ratified. This expanded form of the promise is in view here (see vv. 2b, 4-8). See the note at Gen 15:18 and R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 35-54.

[17:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will multiply you exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “And Abram fell on his face.” This expression probably means that Abram sank to his knees and put his forehead to the ground, although it is possible that he completely prostrated himself. In either case the posture indicates humility and reverence.

[17:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “God spoke to him, saying.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I.”

[17:4]  ¹² tn Heb “is” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).

[17:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “will your name be called.”

[17:5]  ¹⁴ sn Your name will be Abraham. The renaming of Abram was a sign of confirmation to the patriarch. Every time the name was used it would be a reminder of God’s promise. “Abram” means “exalted father,” probably referring to Abram’s father Terah. The name looks to the past; Abram came from noble lineage. The name “Abraham” is a dialectical variant of the name Abram. But its significance is in the wordplay with אַב־הֲמוֹן (’av-hamon, “the father of a multitude,” which sounds like אַבְרָהָם, ’avraham, “Abraham”). The new name would be a reminder of God’s intention to make Abraham the father of a multitude. For a general discussion of renaming, see O. Eissfeldt, “Renaming in the Old Testament,” Words and Meanings, 70-83.

[17:5]  ¹⁵ tn The perfect verbal form is used here in a rhetorical manner to emphasize God’s intention.

[17:6]  ¹⁶ tn This verb starts a series of perfect verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive to express God’s intentions.

[17:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and I will make you into nations, and kings will come out from you.”

[17:7]  ¹⁹ tn The verb קוּם (qum, “to arise, to stand up”) in the Hiphil verbal stem means “to confirm, to give effect to, to carry out” (i.e., a covenant or oath; see BDB 878-79 s.v. קוּם).

[17:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”

[17:8]  ²² tn The verbal root is גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to reside temporarily,” i.e., as a resident alien). It is the land in which Abram resides, but does not yet possess as his very own.

[17:8]  ²³ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:9]  ²⁴ tn The imperfect tense could be translated “you shall keep” as a binding command; but the obligatory nuance (“must”) captures the binding sense better.

[17:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “my covenant.” The Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) can refer to (1) the agreement itself between two parties (see v. 7), (2) the promise made by one party to another (see vv. 2-3, 7), (3) an obligation placed by one party on another, or (4) a reminder of the agreement. In vv. 9-10 the word refers to a covenantal obligation which God gives to Abraham and his descendants.

[17:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “This is my covenant that you must keep between me and you and your descendants after you.”

[17:10]  ²⁷ sn For a discussion of male circumcision as the sign of the covenant in this passage see M. V. Fox, “The Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision in the Light of the Priestly ‘ot Etiologies,” RB 81 (1974): 557-96.

[17:11]  ²⁸ tn Or “sign.”

[17:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the son of eight days.”

[17:13]  ³⁰ tn The emphatic construction employs the Niphal imperfect tense (collective singular) and the Niphal infinitive.

[17:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “my covenant.” Here in v. 13 the Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) refers to the outward, visible sign, or reminder, of the covenant. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.

[17:13]  ³² tn Or “an eternal.”

[17:14]  ³³ tn The disjunctive clause calls attention to the “uncircumcised male” and what will happen to him.

[17:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “that person will be cut off.” The words “that person” have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:14]  ³⁵ tn Heb “he has broken my covenant.” The noun בְּרִית (bÿrit) here refers to the obligation required by God in conjunction with the covenantal agreement. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.

[17:15]  ³⁶ tn Heb “[As for] Sarai your wife, you must not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [will be] her name.”

[17:15]  ³⁷ sn Sarah. The name change seems to be a dialectical variation, both spellings meaning “princess” or “queen.” Like the name Abram, the name Sarai symbolized the past. The new name Sarah, like the name Abraham, would be a reminder of what God intended to do for Sarah in the future.

[17:16]  ³⁸ tn Heb “she will become nations.”

[17:16]  ³⁹ tn Heb “peoples.”

[17:17]  ⁴⁰ sn Laughed. The Hebrew verb used here provides the basis for the naming of Isaac: “And he laughed” is וַיִּצְחָק (vayyitskhaq); the name “Isaac” is יִצְחָק (yitskhaq), “he laughs.” Abraham’s (and Sarah’s, see 18:12) laughter signals disbelief, but when the boy is born, the laughter signals surprise and joy.

[17:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”

[17:17]  ⁴² tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.

[17:17]  ⁴³ tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”

[17:17]  ⁴⁴ sn It is important to note that even though Abraham staggers at the announcement of the birth of a son, finding it almost too incredible, he nonetheless calls his wife Sarah, the new name given to remind him of the promise of God (v. 15).

[17:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”

[17:18]  ⁴⁶ tn The wish is introduced with the Hebrew particle לוּ (lu), “O that.”

[17:18]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “live with your blessing.”

[17:19]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “will call his name Isaac.” The name means “he laughs,” or perhaps “may he laugh” (see the note on the word “laughed” in v. 17).

[17:19]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:20]  ⁵⁰ sn The Hebrew verb translated “I have heard you” forms a wordplay with the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.

[17:20]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “And I will multiply him exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:20]  ⁵² tn For a discussion of the Hebrew word translated “princes,” see E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical Nasi’,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.

[17:22]  ⁵³ tn Heb “And when he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.” The sequence of pronouns and proper names has been modified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:23]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “Ishmael his son and all born in his house and all bought with money, every male among the men of the house of Abraham.”

[17:23]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “circumcised the flesh of their foreskin.” The Hebrew expression is somewhat pleonastic and has been simplified in the translation.

[17:24]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”

[17:24]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin” (also in v. 25).

[17:25]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “the son of thirteen years.”

[31:7]  ⁵⁹ tn This rare verb means “to make a fool of” someone. It involves deceiving someone so that their public reputation suffers (see Exod 8:25).

[31:8]  ⁶⁰ tn In the protasis (“if” section) of this conditional clause, the imperfect verbal form has a customary nuance – whatever he would say worked to Jacob’s benefit.

[31:8]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “speckled” (twice this verse). The word “animals” (after the first occurrence of “speckled”) and “offspring” (after the second) have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. The same two terms (“animals” and “offspring”) have been supplied after the two occurrences of “streaked” later in this verse.

[31:10]  ⁶² tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator, “and it happened at the time of.”

[31:10]  ⁶³ tn Heb “in the time of the breeding of the flock I lifted up my eyes and I saw.”

[31:10]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “going up on,” that is, mounting for intercourse.

[31:12]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “lift up (now) your eyes and see.”

[31:12]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “going up on,” that is, mounting for intercourse.

[31:13]  ⁶⁷ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[31:13]  ⁶⁸ sn You anointed the sacred stone. In Gen 28:18 the text simply reported that Jacob poured oil on top of the stone. Now that pouring is interpreted by the Lord as an anointing. Jacob had consecrated the place.

[31:13]  ⁶⁹ sn And made a vow to me. The second clause reminds Jacob of the vow he made to the Lord when he anointed the stone (Gen 28:20-22). God is now going to take him back to the land, and so he will have to fulfill his vow.

[31:13]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “arise, leave!” The first imperative draws attention to the need for immediate action.

[31:14]  ⁷¹ tn The two nouns may form a hendiadys, meaning “a share in the inheritance” or “a portion to inherit.”

[31:15]  ⁷² tn Heb “and he devoured, even devouring.” The infinitive absolute (following the finite verb here) is used for emphasis.

[31:15]  ⁷³ tn Heb “our money.” The word “money” is used figuratively here; it means the price paid for Leah and Rachel. A literal translation (“our money”) makes it sound as if Laban wasted money that belonged to Rachel and Leah, rather than the money paid for them.

[31:17]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “and Jacob arose and he lifted up his sons and his wives on to the camels.”

[31:18]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “drove,” but this is subject to misunderstanding in contemporary English.

[31:18]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “and he led away all his cattle and all his moveable property which he acquired, the cattle he obtained, which he acquired in Paddan Aram to go to Isaac his father to the land of Canaan.”

[6:5]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “remember what Balak…planned.”

[6:5]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “From Shittim to Gilgal, in order to know the just acts of the Lord.” Something appears to be missing at the beginning of the line. The present translation supplies the words, “Recall how you went.” This apparently refers to how Israel crossed the Jordan River (see Josh 3:1; 4:19-24).

[2:10]  ⁷⁹ tn Grk “is about to throw some of you,” but the force is causative in context.

[2:10]  ⁸⁰ tn Or “tempted.”

[2:10]  ⁸¹ tn Or “experience persecution,” “will be in distress” (see L&N 22.2).

[2:10]  ⁸² tn Grk “crown of life,” with the genitive “of life” (τῆς ζωῆς, th" zwh") functioning in apposition to “crown” (στέφανον, stefanon): “the crown that consists of life.”

[2:14]  ⁸³ sn See Num 22-24; 31:16.

[2:14]  ⁸⁴ tn That is, a cause for sinning. An alternate translation is “who instructed Balak to cause the people of Israel to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols…”

[2:14]  ⁸⁵ tn Grk “sons,” but the expression υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραήλ (Juioi Israhl) is an idiom for the people of Israel as an ethnic entity (see L&N 11.58).

[2:14]  ⁸⁶ tn Due to the actual events in the OT (Num 22-24; 31:16), πορνεῦσαι (porneusai) is taken to mean “sexual immorality.” BDAG 854 s.v. πορνεύω 1 states, “engage in illicit sex, to fornicate, to whore…W. φαγεῖν εἰδωλόθυτα ‘eat meat offered to idols’ Rv 2:14, 20.”