Genesis 17:1

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine,.... Which was thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael last mentioned; so many years more it was before be is expressly told he should have a son by

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine the LORD appeared to Abram and said unto him I am And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the

GENESIS CHAPTER 17 God renews his covenant with Abram, . His name in token thereof changed, . Kings shall be born of him, . The covenant established with his seed, . The promise of Canaan to him and his seed repeated, . Circumcision instituted, ,10. The part to be circumcised, . The time and persons, ,13. The punishment on neglecters of it, . Sarai’ s named changed, . A son by her promised, . Abraham’ s surprise, . His prayer for Ishmael, . The promise of a son by Sarah confirmed; his name, . Abraham’ s prayer for Ishmael answered, , but the covenant established in Isaac, . Abraham is circumcised; as is also Ishmael, and all his house, . I am the Almighty God, who can do all that I have promised, or shall promise to time, and whatsoever pleaseth me; and therefore do thou firmly believe all my words. Walk before me as becomes one in the presence of thy Lord, and Judge, and Rewarder, being careful to please and obey me in all things, and depending upon me for thy well-doing and well-being. See the same phrase, . And be thou perfect, i.e. sincere, universal, and constant in my belief of my promises, and obedience to my commands. See .

Genesis 17:1 And 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.Ver. 1. The Lord appeared to Abram.] After thirteen years’ absence and silence, far aught we read; so that Abram began to conclude, that Ishmael surely was the promised seed, and all the sons he was likely to have to inherit the land. The Church then may err, when she cleaves not close to the word; though God at length will direct her into the right way, as here he did Abram. I am God Almighty.] Or all-sufficient, self-sufficient (so Aquila), independent, absolute, the original, universal good. Aben-Ezra interprets Shaddai, a conqueror: others, a destroyer, which a conqueror must needs be. Eundem victorem et vastatorem esse oportet , saith Cameron. And to this the Scripture alludes when it saith Shod shall come from Shaddai, "Destruction from the Almighty". Some there are that derive Shaddai of Shad a dug, because God feeds his children with sufficiency of all good things, as the loving mother doth the child with the milk of her breasts. Hence the heathen called Diana (and likewise Ceres) πολυμαθον and Mammosam, as if she were the nurse of all living creatures. God is the only satisfactory good, proportionable and fitting to our souls, as the dug to the child’ s stomach. Walk before me.] Heb., Indesinenter ambula , Walk constantly, step for step, and keep pace with me. Austin would not, for the gain of a million of worlds, be an athiest for half an hour, because he knew not but God might in that time make an end of him. For "can two walk together and they not agreed?" saith the prophet. "Ye cannot serve the Lord," saith Joshua to the people that promised fair, that is, unless ye will serve him entirely, walk uprightly, as Abram here; walk evenly, without halting or halving with him. Holiness must run through the whole life, as the warp doth through the woof: all the parts of our line of life must be straight before God. "As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity," with openly profane persons, when "peace shall be upon Israel," upon all that are "Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile". Surely, as an unequal pulse shows a distempered body, so doth uneven walking an unsound soul, - such as is not verily persuaded that God is all-sufficient, able, and ready to reward the upright, and punish the hypocrite. Aυταπκης Iκανος. - Aquila. Aνενδεης. - Plato

XVII. OF THE BY THE OF .(1) Abram was ninety years old and nine.—Thirteen years, therefore, had passed by since the birth of Ishmael, who doubtless during this time had grown very dear to the childless old man, as we gather from the wish expressed in Genesis 17:18. I am the Almighty God.—Heb., El shaddai. The word is Archaic, but there is no doubt that it means strong so as to overpower. Besides its use in Genesis we find it employed as the name of Deity by Balaam (Numbers 24:4; Numbers 24:16); by Naomi (Rth 1:20); and in the Book of Job, where it occurs thirty-one times. We may thus regard it as “one of the more general worldwide titles of the Most High” (Speaker’s Commentary). In Exodus 6:3 it is said, with evident reference to this place, that El shaddai was the name of God revealed to the patriarchs, but that He was not known to them by His name Jehovah. Here, nevertheless, in a passage said by commentators to be Elohistic, we read that “Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said to him I am El shaddai.” But the very gist of the passage is the identification of Jehovah and El shaddai, and the great object of the manifest care with which Moses distinguishes the Divine names seems to be to show, that though Jehovah became the special name of Elohim in His covenant relation to Israel after the Exodus, yet that the name was one old and primeval (Genesis 4:26), and that the God of revelation, under various titles, was ever one and the same. And so is it now, though we, by following a Jewish superstition, have well-nigh forfeited the use of the name Jehovah, so greatly prized of old (Genesis 4:1). Walk before me.—The same verb as that used of Enoch (Genesis 5:22), and of Noah (Genesis 6:9), but the preposition before implies less closeness than with. On the other hand, Noah was described as “perfect among his contemporaries” (ibid.), while Abram is required still to strive after this integrity (see Note on Genesis 6:9).

CHAPTER XVII In the ninety-ninth year of Abram's life God again appears to him, announces his name as GOD ALMIGHTY, and commands him to walk perfectly before him, 1; proposes to renew the covenant, 2. Abram's prostration, 3. The covenant specified, 4. Abram's name changed to ABRAHAM, and the reason given, 5. The privileges of the covenant enumerated, 6-8. The conditions of the covenant to be observed, not only by Abraham, but all his posterity, 9. Circumcision appointed as a sign or token of the covenant, 10, 11. The age at which and the persons on whom this was to be performed, 12, 13. The danger of neglecting this rite, 14. Sarai's name changed to SARAH, and a particular promise made to her, 15, 16. Abraham's joy at the prospect of the performance of a matter which, in the course of nature, was impossible, 17. His request for the preservation and prosperity of Ishmael, 18. The birth and blessedness of Isaac foretold, 19. Great prosperity promised to Ishmael, 20. But the covenant to be established not in his, but in Isaac's posterity, 21. Abraham, Ishmael and all the males in the family circumcised, 23-27 NOTES ON CHAP. XVII Verse 1. The Lord appeared to Abram] See Clarke on Genesis 15:1. I am the Almighty God] אני אל שדי ani El shaddai, I am God all-sufficient; from shadah, to shed, to pour out. I am that God who pours out blessings, who gives them richly, abundantly, continually. Walk before me] התהלך לפני hithhallech lephanai, set thyself to walk - be firmly purposed, thoroughly determined to obey, before me; for my eye is ever on thee, therefore ever consider that God seeth thee. Who can imagine a stronger incitement to conscientious, persevering obedience? Be thou perfect.] והיה תמים vehyeh thamim, and thou shalt be perfections, i.e., a together perfect. Be just such as the holy God would have thee to be, as the almighty God can make thee and live as the all-sufficient God shall support thee; for he alone who makes the soul holy can preserve it in holiness. Our blessed Lord appears to have had these words pointedly in view, Matthew 5:48: Εσεσθεὑμειςτελειοι, ὡσπερὁΠατηρὑμωνὁεντοιςουρανοιςτελειοςεστι· Ye SHALL BE perfect, as your Father who is in heaven is perfect. But what does this imply? Why, to be saved from all the power, the guilt, and the contamination of sin. This is only the negative part of salvation, but it has also a positive part; to be made perfect - to be perfect as our Father who is in heaven is perfect, to be filled with the fulness of God, to have Christ dwelling continually in the heart by faith, and to be rooted and grounded in love. This is the state in which man was created, for he was made in the image and likeness of God. This is the state from which man fell, for he broke the command of God.

1. ninety years old and nine] There has been an interval of 13 years since the birth of Ishmael in Genesis 16:16. the Lord] “Jehovah,” used here in P, probably, for the special purpose of connecting the covenant of Abram with Him whose full name was revealed to Moses, Exodus 6:3. Or, as not infrequently must have happened, one sacred name has been substituted for another by editor or copyist. Elsewhere in this chapter (Genesis 17:3; Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 17:18-19; Genesis 17:22-23) Elohim occurs, as usual in P’s narrative. I am God Almighty] Heb. Κl Shaddai. Notice the opening formula, “I am,” used in this manifestation. Cf. Genesis 35:11. The name Κl Shaddai is that by which, according to Exodus 6:3 (P), God “appeared” in the patriarchal age, and before the revelation to Moses of the name Jehovah (JHVH=Jahveh). This title Κl Shaddai occurs in Genesis 28:3, Genesis 35:11, Genesis 43:14, Genesis 48:3 (cf. Genesis 49:25; Numbers 24:4; Numbers 24:16). Shaddai alone occurs frequently (31 times) in the Book of Job; in prose it is usually found with Κl = “God Almighty.” The derivation of the word Shaddai has hitherto baffled enquiry. (1) The old Rabbinic explanation, that it consisted of two combined words (sh-, and dai) meaning “one who is All-sufficient,” is quite impossible; but it accounts for the rendering of Aquila and Symmachus ὁἱκανός. (2) It has been derived from a root (shdd) meaning “to destroy,” which may be illustrated from Isaiah 13:6, Joe 1:15. (3) Another suggestion connects it with shκdim = “demons”; see note on Genesis 14:3. (4) Others conjecture a derivation giving it the meaning of “the storm God.” (5) LXX renders, in Pent., by ὁθεόςμου, Vulg. “omnipotens.” The word is an ancient epithet of unknown origin, whose general meaning is that of irresistible power. For Κl with Shaddai, see note on Genesis 14:18. English readers will recollect the use of the name “Shaddai” in John Bunyan’s Holy War. The word appears in the compound proper names “Zurishaddai” (Numbers 1:6; Numbers 2:12), “Ammishaddai” (Numbers 2:25). walk before me] For this word “walk,” see Genesis 5:22; Genesis 5:24; Genesis 6:9. Here it is the “walk,” not “with,” but “in the presence of.” The idea is that of the progress in personal life and conduct in the continual realization of God’s presence. In P there is no supposition of any code of law before the time of Moses. The rite of circumcision, whose observance is commanded in this chapter, the prohibition against eating blood given in chap. Genesis 9:4, and the implied recognition of the Sabbath (Genesis 2:1), are the only external observances of the patriarchal age recognized in P. Here the command, “walk before me,” is simply that of living a good life in the sight of God. This is “to be well pleasing in his sight”: hence LXX renders εὐαρέστει.

- The Sealing of the Covenant 1. שׁדי shaday, Shaddai, “Irresistible, able to destroy, and by inference to make, Almighty.” שׁדד shādad “be strong, destroy.” This name is found six times in Genesis, and thirty-one times in Job.

THE OF , Genesis 17:1-27. 1. Ninety years old and nine — Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael. Comp. Genesis 16:16; Genesis 18:25. Slowly the years roll on, and God keeps promising, but not fulfilling.