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“As for me,[a] this[b] is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer will your name be[c] Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham[d] because I will make you[e] the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you[f] extremely[g] fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.[h] I will confirm[i] my covenant as a perpetual[j] 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.[k] I will give the whole land of Canaan—the land where you are now residing[l]—to you and your descendants after you as a permanent[m] possession. I will be their God.”

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 17:4 tn Heb “I.”
  2. Genesis 17:4 tn Heb “is” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).
  3. Genesis 17:5 tn Heb “will your name be called.”
  4. Genesis 17:5 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 (ʾav hamon, “the father of a multitude,” which sounds like אַבְרָהָם, ʾavraham, “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.
  5. Genesis 17:5 tn The perfect verbal form is used here in a rhetorical manner to emphasize God’s intention.
  6. Genesis 17:6 tn This verb starts a series of perfect verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive to express God’s intentions.
  7. Genesis 17:6 tn Heb “exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
  8. Genesis 17:6 tn Heb “and I will make you into nations, and kings will come out from you.”
  9. Genesis 17:7 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).
  10. Genesis 17:7 tn Or “as an eternal.”
  11. Genesis 17:7 tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”
  12. Genesis 17:8 tn The verbal root is גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to reside temporarily,” i.e., as a resident foreigner). It is the land in which Abram resides, but does not yet possess as his very own.
  13. Genesis 17:8 tn Or “as an eternal.”

“As for me, this is my covenant with you:(A) You will be the father of many nations.(B) No longer will you be called Abram[a]; your name will be Abraham,[b](C) for I have made you a father of many nations.(D) I will make you very fruitful;(E) I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.(F) I will establish my covenant(G) as an everlasting covenant(H) between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God(I) and the God of your descendants after you.(J) The whole land of Canaan,(K) where you now reside as a foreigner,(L) I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you;(M) and I will be their God.(N)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 17:5 Abram means exalted father.
  2. Genesis 17:5 Abraham probably means father of many.