This should be the most extensive examination of Gen. 17 available, where you will be able to see every word of the original text.

Outline of Chapter 17:

Introduction

         vv.     1–2           God Speaks to Abram: Introduction to the Covenant

         vv.     3–8           God Renames Abram, as a Part of the Covenant Promise

         vv.     9–14         God Requires Abraham to Circumcise All the Males to Confirm the Covenant

         vv.    15–16         God Renames Sarai, as the Covenant will be Fulfilled Through Her

         vv.    17–18         Abraham Laughs, Questions God, and Proposes Ishmael to Fulfill the Covenant

         vv.    19–22         God Reconfirms His Covenant Through Abraham and Sarah

         vv.    23–27         Abraham Demonstrates His Faith Through Circumcision

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         Introduction         The Prequel of Genesis 17

         Introduction         The Principals of Genesis 17

         Introduction         The Abrahamic Timeline for Genesis 17

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Genesis 17

         Introduction         Genesis 17 Graphic

         v.       1              Genesis 15–17 in the Abrahamic Timeline

         v.       1              El Shaddai graphic

         v.       1              El Shaddai; God All-Sufficient (graphic)

         v.       1              Ancient Law Codes

         v.       1              The Spiritual Life Implied and Stated so far in the Book of Genesis

         v.       6              “I will make you exceedingly fruitful” (graphic)

         v.       6              Abraham Bowing before God (a graphic)

         v.       7              The Suzerain Vassal Treaty

         v.       7              God’s Everlasting Covenant

         v.       8              A Map of What God Has Given the Jews

         v.       8              A Map of the Davidic Kingdom

         v.       8              Comparing and Contrasting Israel and the Church

         v.      12              Circumcision Represents Regeneration

         v.      12              What is this New Heart?

         v.      12              The Familial Relationship between God and Abraham’s Seed

         v.      12              Slavery and the United States

         v.      12              Slavery in the United States—An Addendum

         v.      13              Genesis 17:13 (graphic)

         v.      16              God Waited to Specifically Include Sarah in the Son of Promise

         v.      16              Ancient Translations of the Bible

         v.      17              Genesis 17:17 (graphic)

         v.      19              God’s 4 Responses to Prayer

         v.      19              The Importance of Isaac

         v.      20              God’s 4 Answers to Prayer

         v.      21              Isaac is the Son of Promise (graphic)

         v.      21              Acts 7:1–8 Interlude

         v.      21              Acts 7:51–60 Interlude

         v.      27              Romans 4 Interlude

         v.      27              The Abbreviated Doctrine of Sanctification

         Addendum          Genesis 17 as a chiasmos

         Addendum          What We Learn from Genesis 17

         Addendum          Josephus’ History of this Time Period

         Addendum          Edersheim Summarizes Genesis 17

         Addendum          Genesis 17 and the Suzerain Vassal Treaty

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Genesis 17

         Addendum          Word Cloud from a Reasonably Literal Paraphrase of Genesis 17

         Addendum          Word Cloud from Exegesis of Genesis 17

——————————

An Introduction to Genesis 17

I ntroduction: Chapter 17 takes place 13 years after Gen. 16. Abram raises Ishmael, his son by Hagar, his wife’s personal slave girl. Abram becomes quite naturally fond of him. Sarai will continue to bear some animosity for him and his mother until he is removed from the household. Abram has experienced great spiritual growth during this period of time and will now be used by God in most marvelous ways throughout the next few chapters. God first asks for a demonstration of Abram's faith, an outward sign of his being regenerated. He is to cut off the foreskin of his penis, which represents the beginning of his new line, his spiritual seed, his line of the promise and the grace of God. As any man would tell you, at age 99,this represents a tremendous step of faith. The majority of this chapter is God making promises to Abraham and Abraham fulfilling God's mandates.

Gen. 17 is a pivotal chapter in the book of Genesis, if not the entire Old Testament. God has already come to Abram on 3 previous occasions and has made promises to him. However, Abram chose to sire a child by Hagar, his wife’s Egyptian slave girl (this was his wife’s idea), and God set Abram aside for 13 years. God did speak to Hagar during that time, but not to Abram. It is important to note that God was not going to nullify His promises to Abram nor did Abram fail so much that God was just going to cast him aside. God simply put Abram on the shelf, and He would get back to him in this chapter.

The Abrahamic Timeline for Genesis 17

Genesis 17 Graphic from The Last Days Calendar; accessed December 6, 2013

In this chapter, God will come to Abram, after 13 years of silence, and renew His covenant with Abram. God will also rename Abram and Sarai, his wife, and give them a date certain when their son will be born. However, what God will require is an act of faith on Abram’s part. God will require Abram to circumcise himself and all of the males who are with him. That will be the sign that Abram has faith that what God has promised, God can and will bring to pass.

There is certainly more to circumcision than just that. Circumcision is not merely an act of obedience. Circumcision is a ritual which will represent rebirth, the new birth, the spiritual birth. Abram’s sexual abilities will be revitalized—reborn, if you will—and through this rebirth, the Jewish race will be born. Such a revitalization represents a person being born again through faith in the Revealed God.

——————————

God Speaks to Abram: Introduction to the Covenant

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

The Targum of Onkelos is actually the Pentateuchal Targumim, which are The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel. On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. Taken from http://targum.info/targumic-texts/pentateuchal-targumim/ and first published in 1862.

Targum of Onkelos                And Abram was the son of ninety and nine years, and the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am El Shadai; serve before Me and be perfect (shelim) in your flesh.

Latin Vulgate                          And after he began to be ninety and nine years old, the Lord appeared to him: and said unto him: I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be perfect.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so is Abram a son of ninety year and nine years. And so is seen Y^ehowah unto Abram and so He says unto him, “I [am] ʾEt Shaddai! Walk to My faces and be complete;...

Peshitta (Syriac)                    WHEN Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, I am the Almighty God; walk well before me, and be faultless.

Septuagint (Greek)                When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am your God, be well-pleasing before Me, and be blameless.

Significant differences:           When there are several wâw consecutive, it is reasonable to translate the first one when. The Hebrew way of saying that Abram is 99 is rather convoluted, and therefore, reasonably shortened in the translation of that. The Greek lacks Shaddai and has the 2^nd person pronoun instead. Both the Greek and Targum have different words than walk. The words used to translate complete are legitimate renderings of the Hebrew. The Targum adds in your flesh.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           God's covenant with Abraham

When Abram was 99 years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am El Shaddai [Or God Almighty or God of the Mountain] Walk with me and be trustworthy.

Contemporary English V.       Abram was ninety-nine years old when the LORD appeared to him again and said, "I am God All-Powerful. If you obey me and always do right,...

Easy English (Pocock)           God changes Abram's name, 17:1-8

When Abram was 99 years old, the *Lord appeared in front of him. The *Lord said, `I am God who can do anything. Walk with me and do not *sin.

Easy-to-Read Version            When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. The Lord said, “I am God All-Powerful [Literally, "El Shaddai."]. Do these things for me: Obey me and live the right way.

Good News Bible (TEV)         When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the Almighty God. Obey me and always do what is right.

The Message                         When Abram was ninety-nine years old, GOD showed up and said to him, "I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt!

New Berkeley Version           When Abram was 99, the Lord appeared to Abram and told him: I am God Almighty; live in my presence and be upright.

New Century Version             Proof of the Agreement

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty. Obey me and do what is right.

New Life Bible                                                    The Special Act Of The Agreement

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord came to him and said, "I am God All-powerful. Obey Me, and be without blame.

New Living Translation           Abram Is Named Abraham

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am El-Shaddai-`God Almighty.' Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Then, when Abram was ninety-nine years old, Jehovah appeared to him [again] and said: 'I am your God. So be pleasing to Me and don't do anything that you can be blamed for,...

Ancient Roots Translinear      Abram was a son of ninety nine years. Yahweh saw into Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty! Go in my face and be faultless.

Christian Community Bible     When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to him and said, “I am God Al mighty. Walk in my presence and be without blame!.

God’s Word™                         When Abram was 99 years old, the LORD appeared to him. He said to Abram, "I am God Almighty. Live in my presence with integrity.

NIRV                                      The Covenant of Circumcision

When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said, "I am the Mighty God. Walk with me and live without any blame.

Today’s NIV                          The Covenant of Circumcision

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty [Hebrew El-Shaddai]; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord came to him, and said, I am God, Ruler of all; go in my ways and be upright in all things,...

Conservapedia                       When Abram was 99 years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and told him, "I am Almighty God. Walk with me, and be spotless.

The Expanded Bible              Proof of the Covenant

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am ·God Almighty [^LEl Shaddai]. ·Obey [^LWalk before] me and ·do what is right [^Lbe innocent/blameless; Job 1:1].

Ferrar-Fenton Bible                When Abram was ninety-six years old, the Ever-Living revealed again to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty, walk before me and be perfect;...

HCSB                                     When Abram was 99 years old, the LORD appeared to him, saying, "I am God Almighty. Live in My presence and be devout.

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai [i.e., God heeds]. Walk in My ways and be blameless.

NET Bible®                             The Sign of the Covenant

When Abram was 99 years old [Heb "the son of ninety-nine years."], the LORD appeared to him and said [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.], "I am the sovereign God [tn The name ʾÊl (אֵל) [pronounced ALE]Shadday (שַדַּי) [pronounced shahd-DAH-ee] ('el shadday, "El Shaddai") has often been translated "God Almighty," primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens ("all powerful") in the Latin Vulgate. This very lengthy footnote will be continued after the Hebrew exegesis]. When it comes to making an actual material change to the text, the NET Bible® is pretty good about indicating this. Since most of these corrections will be clear in the more literal translations below and within the Hebrew exegesis itself, I will not continue to list every NET Bible® footnote.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           When Avram was 99 years old ADONAI appeared to Avram and said to him, "I am El Shaddai [God Almighty]. Walk in my presence and be pure-hearted.

exeGeses companion Bible   And so be it,

Abram is a son of ninety years and nine years

and Yah Veh is seen by Abram

and says to him, I am El Shadday;

walk at my face and be integrious:

Kaplan Translation                 Circumcision

Abram was 99 years old [Thirteen years after Ishmael was born, in the year 2047. See Genesis 17:25. The vision did not come until Ishmael was legally an adult.]. God appeared to him and said, 'I am God Almighty [El Shaddai in Hebrew. Shaddai is interpreted as being the same as she-dai, 'He who has sufficient [power]' (Rashi).]. Walk before Me and be perfect [Tamim in Hebrew. The word can be translated as whole, unblemished, perfect, innocent, pious, or honest.]. The Kaplan Translation, particularly in Exodus through Deuteronomy, takes note of historic rabbinic opinions.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And when Avram was ninety and nine shanah, Hashem appeared to Avram, and said unto him, I am El Shaddai; walk before Me, and be thou tamim (blameless).

The Scriptures 1998              And it came to be when Abram was ninety-nine years old, that יהוה appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Ěl Shaddai – walk before Me and be perfect [Messiah gives the same command in Mt. 5:48.].

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                WHEN ABRAM was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am the Almighty God; walk and live habitually before Me and be perfect (blameless, wholehearted, complete).

Concordant Literal Version    And coming is Abram to be ninety nine years of age. And appearing is Yahweh to Abram and is saying to him, "I am the El-Who-Suffices. Walk before Me and become flawless.

Context Group Version          And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, YHWH appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be whole {or fully-developed}.

Hebrew Names Version         When Avram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Avram, and said to him, "I am El Shaddai. Walk before me, and be blameless.

Heritage Bible                        And when Abram was a son of ninety-nine years, Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am God, The Almighty; walk before my face, and be perfect..

NASB                                     Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him,

"I am God Almighty [Heb El Shaddai];

Walk before Me, and be blameless [Lit complete, perfect; or having integrity].

Syndein/Thieme                     And when Abram was ninety years old and nine {99 years old}, Jehovah/God appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I . . . {am} the Almighty {Shadday} 'El/God. Walk yourself {halak - reflexive Hithpa'el imperative - idiom for 'your way of life'} before My Presence/Face {paniym} {being in fellowship with God in time}, {and} 'be mature'/'grow up spiritually'/'demonstrate integrity' {tamiym - understanding and applying divine viewpoint to experiences in life}. {Note: At 99 years old, this is the peak of Abram helplessness.}

World English Bible                When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless.

Young’s Updated LT             And Abram is a son of ninety and nine years, and Jehovah appears unto Abram, and says unto him, “I am God Almighty, walk habitually before Me, and be you perfect;...

The gist of this verse:          God appears to Abram again, when Abram is 99, and God tells Abram to walk before God and to be complete.

What we get from this first verse is, there was a spiritual life for the believer in the time of Abraham. We will examine that in depth in this chapter.

Translation: When Abram was 99 years old,... The Bible, in the original language, was not broken down into chapters and verses. So the previous verse tells us that Abram is 86 years old. This verse tells us that he is 99; so, quite obviously, 13 years have elapsed since Gen. 16:16.

One of the reasons that Abram’s age is mentioned here is, Abram is at the point where he can not longer sire children. Abram no longer has sex with Sarai. God has promised on 3 previous occasions that a great many people would come from him, like the stars of the sky (Gen. 15:5) and that they would occupy this huge piece of land (Gen. 15:18–21); and yet, it is clear to Abram that he is not going to have any more children. He is out of bullets and his gun no longer shoots. God wants this to be crystal clear that, He will make this happen. The descendants that come from Abram will be a matter of God’s grace and God’s power.

May I again suggest the Abrahamic Timeline (HTML) (PDF). In this timeline, the times during which Abraham speaks to God are denoted by a lavender background. Deaths and births are denoted with a pale yellow background. This timeline allows you to step back and take in a fuller view of Abraham’s recorded life; so that you can see the forest rather than the individual trees. What follows is a small portion of that timeline:

Genesis 15–17 in the Abrahamic Timeline

At the time of Gen. 17:1, Abram is 99 years old. 13 years have passed since the previous chapter, during which time, Hagar, Sarai’s personal maid, has given birth to Abram’s son Ishmael. Although nothing is said about who raised Ishmael, I think that we may reasonably conclude that he was raised by Hagar and Abram. As Sarai’s personal maid, Hagar would take care of all the unpleasantries of raising a little male child, which would have increased their bond, and kept the child away from Sarai, both actually and emotionally. Furthermore, there was all of this drama between Sarai and Hagar; so when Hagar returned and gave birth to Ishmael, it is hard to imagine that Sarai would have gone out of her way to develop a bond with Ishmael. Her ill treatment of Hagar would have precluded such a bond. Therefore, what Sarai planned out in her mind—to use Hagar as a surrogate mother for her own child—things did not work out that way.

Application: God has designed a family structure to be based upon biology—one father + one mother + “x” number of children. Communal groups rarely continue as a mass of adults who do not pair up. They may believe in natural food, but they try to reject natural biology. Natural biology demands that, when a man and a woman have a child (and there is no other way), that there is a natural bond and natural connection there. A woman may find the children in her commune to be absolutely precious; but when it comes to the child from her own womb, that child, she will protect with her life.

Apparently, God has not appeared to Abram at all during these 13 years. Abram has been temporarily set aside, just as God would later set aside the people of Israel. Abram got off track. He tried to pursue a life which was in keeping with his culture, which pursuit went against God’s plan. So God stepped out of Abram’s life for 13 years. However, it is now time for God to begin to fulfill His promises that He made to Abram on 3 earlier occasions.

Abram is learning to wait on God. God has given specific promises to Abram, and God expects Abram to wait on Him for these promises to be fulfilled. God has made it clear what these promises were and that there are no shortcuts, like using a surrogate mother in order to fulfil these promises. You cannot fulfill God’s plan through the efforts of the flesh (that is, human good).

Ishmael, Abram’s son by Hagar, is now 13 years old. God has made several promises to Abram—13 years ago and earlier—and has been speaking to Abram over these past 24 years, from time to time, but not lately. At this point in time, none of God’s promises seem to make sense, as they are all dependent upon Abram having a son, and that appears to be less and less likely. 13 years ago, Abram was capable of fathering a son. In fact, the situation was becoming so dire that, his wife suggested that he impregnate her personal slave girl, because it appeared as though she was unable to have a child. As we have studied, Sarai probably wanted children herself, and this seemed the only way for it to happen. In any case, this tells us that, for awhile, Abram and his wife chose not to believe the promises of God, but to trust in their own human ingenuity. God had promised them that they would have a son and that Abram would be the father of many nations. If what God is saying is true, then there is no reason for Abram and Sarai to do anything other than to wait on God to fulfill His promises to Abram.

Now, 13 years have passed, Abram himself is no longer able to sire a child. Abram is 99 and sexually dead (Gen. 17:17 18:12 Rom. 4:17, 19). His wife has been infertile for at least the entirety of their marriage. This is the most apropos place to introduce God as the All-Sufficient God. God has several components to His character; He is Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Love, Perfection, Truth, etc. Here, He is presented as Omnipotent, or all-powerful; God with the ability to do anything, to accomplish anything. He is a God Whose strength and abilities transcend the laws of the universe, which universe He Himself created, which universe He holds together with the power of His Word, and which laws He predetermined. See the Doctrine of God Almighty (HTML) (PDF).

Translation: ...Y^ehowah appeared to him [lit., Abram]... The last time that God appeared to someone was 13 years ago, and it was to Hagar. Hagar had believed in the God of Abram; and, when she was running away from Abram and Sarai, she encountered God, Who told her to return home to her mistress.

It is most logical that much of what is recorded about Abram’s life will be the instances where he spoke with God. That is, I don’t believe that Abram had face to face dealings with God on a daily or weekly or even yearly basis. God appears to Abram perhaps a half-dozen times throughout his life. In recording the details of his life, it would seem odd for Abram to leave out a meeting with God, and yet record some other event which would surely be seen as more trivial (any event ought to be seen as more trivial than God having direct contact with Abram). Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that every time that God spoke to Abram (or to someone that Abram knew), that incident is recorded in the Word of God.

Translation: ...and He said to him, “I [am] God Omnipotent! There are several theories on the meaning of Shaddai. For most of Biblical history, it has been understood to mean Almighty and that suggests Omnipotent. There are some who claim that this means the many-breasted one, which is a reference to His all-sufficiency.

God All-sufficient here is two words, the first being ʾÊl (אֵל) [pronounced ALE], a word which has four or five entirely different meanings and several sub-usages within those categories of meanings. One usage has to do with strength and might, and in this regard, can refer to any deity; i.e., the God of the Universe or pagan gods (Isa. 43:10 44:10, 15, 17). It is rarely used alone and can refer to mighty ones (a reference to men or to angels—Ex. 31:11 Isa. 9:6 29:1 89:7) as well as to God (Gen. 31:13 35:1, 3). The second word in this title is Shadday (שַדַּי) [pronounced shahd-DAH-ee] and it means (self-) sufficient, almighty, many-breasted and here it would be best translated All-Sufficient. This is the first instance in the Bible where this title is used. We do not know if God uses it first of Himself here or whether it was a title for our Lord just not put into Scripture until now. This designation for our Lord is found 31 times in Job, which is roughly coterminous with this narrative (Job probably took place a few generations earlier). God will renew His covenant with Abram, both for possession of the land of Canaan and for the multitude of his descendants.

El Shaddai graphic from Blue Letter Bible blog; accessed December 6, 2013.

From Syndein’s webpage: {Note: RBT says 'El is used for God in His Power - His omnipotence. Shadday is the Hebrew word meaning 'many breasts' - as in a mother feeding many babies. It is used for 'many sources of help' - and becomes 'Almighty'. It means there is no problem in the life a believer for which God has not made provision. But, you must be saved (Abram believed . . . ), rebound (Abram returned to Canaan - 1 John 1:9), be in fellowship (walk in My Presence/Way, and demonstrate integrity (Bible doctrine/divine viewpoint transferred from the Written Page into the norms and standards of your soul - and then applied to experience)}.

From the NET Bible: 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 (Ex. 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 (Gen. 35:11). Earlier Isaac had pronounced a blessing on Jacob in which he asked El Shaddai to make Jacob fruitful (Gen. 28:3). Jacob later prayed that his sons would be treated with mercy when they returned to Egypt with Benjamin (Gen. 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 Gen. 29:31; Gen. 30:22–24; Gen. 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 Gen. 48:3 Jacob, prior to blessing Joseph's sons, told him how El Shaddai appeared to him at Bethel (see Genesis 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 Septuagint (LXX), and Syriac) as the one who provides abundant blessings, including "blessings of the breast and womb" (Gen. 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 שָדַד, shadad, "destroy"] in Isa. 13:6 and in Joe. 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; Num. 24:16) 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 (Rth. 1:20–21). In Psalm 68:14; Isa. 13:6; and Joe. 1:15 Shaddai judges his enemies through warfare, while Psalm 91:1 depicts him as the protector of his people. (In Eze. 1:24 and Num. 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 (Gen. 11:7; Gen. 37:23; a) who is the source of life (Gen. 33:4 (i.e., Genesis 33:4b)) and is responsible for maintaining justice (Gen. 8:3; Gen. 34:10–12; Gen. 37:23 (i.e., Genesis 37:23b)). He provides abundant blessings, including children (Gen. 22:17–18; Gen. 29:4–6), but he can also discipline, punish, and destroy (Gen. 5:17; Gen. 6:4; Gen. 21:20; Gen. 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 (Gen. 24:1; Gen. 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 שַד, 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 Eze. 28:14; Eze. 28:16 associate such a mountain with God, while Psalm 48:2 refers to Zion as "Zaphon," the Canaanite Olympus from which the high god El ruled. (In Isaiah 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.)].

Translation: Walk before Me... God has always had a plan for Abram's life but it has not been until now that this plan kicks into high gear. Abram had to develop a lot of patience and trust to arrive at this point. He has screwed up a couple of times, but he just got up and moved on. His failures did not stop his growth. God gives Abram two imperatives; the first is the Hithpael imperative of walk, one of the most used verbs in the OT. The Hithpael is intensive reflexive and it means that Abram is to walk himself. The intensive means that his conduct of life has become even more important than his previous 99 years. Before me also means in my presence. This is an imperative for all believers; we should all conduct our lives as though God is right there in front of us because He is. We are watched by a multitude of angels and God is omniscient. Since God only spoke directly with Abram on a few occasions (of which we are aware) and since the full revelation of Scripture was not available to Abram, this is the first time when Abram is exposed to God's omniscience. What is occurring is what is known theologically as the progressive revelation of God; God did not reveal to Adam, Noah, or to Abram everything about Himself. In fact, we in the church age know more about God's character and actions than any Old Testament saint ever knew. Abram has known God as God, the Highest; as God the All-Sufficient and Omniscient< and here as God Who is omniscient.

There are two characteristics of God which have been emphasized to Abram: that God is omniscient (He is all-seeing; He sees everything); and in this verse, His omnipotence is spoken of. However, Abram is to walk before God (in His sight, in His presence); so God’s omniscience is brought back into view. Abram is to function as if God is watching him (which He is). R. B. Thieme, Jr. took this concept and said that we are to live our lives in the light of eternity. This is very much the same idea. Where we live and what we are at this point in time is transitory. We will awaken at some point and be with God; and that will begin our eternal life with Him.

In this verse, Abram is told to walk before God, walk in God’s sight; to live his life in the light of eternity.

Translation: ...and be complete [spiritually mature];... Although this word can be translated without blemish, this is an impossibility for the believer. We may, as we grow spiritually, sin less and less. We may, as we grow older, sin less and less; but we always possess the sin nature. Therefore, we are always capable of sinning; and, in fact, we do sin. We never reach a state of sinless perfection in this life. Therefore, we reach a different state, which might be termed spiritual maturity; and which R. B. Thieme, Jr. has given the names having an edification complex (HTML) (PDF); and living the supergrace life (Prof. Mario Velez) (Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries). These are synonyms for being complete, as God is commanding Abram. However, Abram lived in a different dispensation; therefore, spiritual maturity for him is slightly different for him than it is for us. In fact, one of the doctrines we will cover here is, we will reconstruct what the spiritual life was for Abram, 4000 years ago.

From the NET Bible: Walk [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."] before me [Or "in my presence."] and be blameless [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).

Gen 17:1 When Abram was 99 years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be spiritually mature,...

We often take verses like this for granted. We read a verse like this in 3 seconds, and give it very little thought. What is God telling Abram to do? When it comes to a specified moral behavior, very little is revealed in Genesis as a clear command. There is a clear commandment not to murder in Gen. 9:6 (which commandment is not so much a prohibition of murder, but what society should do with a murderer). Mankind is told to split up in Gen. 10 (which God forces to happen by confusing the languages). Gen. 12 implies that lying and adultery are wrong. Gen. 14 implies that, in a war, the victor legitimately may take all that belonged to his vanquished enemy. Finally, God legitimizes the authority in slavery in the previous chapter. In other words, in the book of Genesis, as far as we have gone, there is no clearly-defined code of moral behavior which stands written, beyond the implications named. Yes, God tells Abram: “Walk before Me, and be blameless [complete; i.e., spiritually mature].”

El Shaddai; God All-Sufficient (graphic); from Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem; accessed December 6, 2013.

God first identifies Himself to Abram as Êl Shaddai, which means God Almighty or God Most-Powerful. This is a title which indicates power and ability, which is important here, because God is going to repeat His promise about Abram bearing a son. Abram no longer has the ability to sire a son; Sarai no longer can bear children, so the fulfillment of God’s promises are dependent upon God. No one can bring any of God’s promises into reality except for God. In order for God’s promises to Abram to be fulfilled, Abram will have to depend wholly upon God Most-Powerful, as only a God Who is omnipotent will be able to fulfill the promised which He made to Abram.

Rom. 4:19–21 And not being weak in faith, Abram did not consider his own body already dead (being about a hundred years old) or the deadening of Sarah's womb. He did not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what God had promised, He was also able to perform. God is able to do what He has promised because He is Êl Shaddai, God Almighty.

This title for God is found 6 times in the book of Genesis and 31 times in the book of Job. It is for this, and several other reasons, that the book of Job is thought to be from this era (personally, I think that Job predated Abraham by several generations). This same name for God occurs only 11 times throughout all the rest of the Old Testament books, occurring no more than 2 or 3 times in any single book.

God tells Abram: "I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be spiritually mature,... In there King James Version, the final word is translated perfect, which has caused no little confusion in the Christian doctrine. This word does not mean perfect in the sense of attaining some level of sinless perfection in this life. We continue in this life with an old sin nature. We may come to a point where we sin less today than we did 10 years ago; but we do not reach a state of sinlessness, perfection or flawlessness.

What we have here is the imperative of to be followed by the adjective tâmîym (תָּמִים) [pronounced taw-MEEM], which means complete, whole, entire, sufficient, without blemish. When spoken of a man, it means a man who operates on the basis of spiritual integrity; i.e., he is spiritually mature and in fellowship. Strong’s #8549 BDB #1071. You may recall that this adjective was applied to Noah in Gen. 6:9. In the immediate context, God would be calling for Abram to be in fellowship and focused on the words of God while they discussed this covenant. God expects Abram to hear these words, concentrate on them and to believe them. In the context of the rest of Abram’s life (he still has 76 years to live), God wants him to reach a state of completion, which is spiritual maturity, and to maintain that spiritual state. No more fooling around with Egyptian slave girls; no more trying to help God keep His promises.

God has told Abram to be spiritually mature, to behave with integrity. Abram is an important witness in God's program and he is, before the face of God, to show personal and spiritual integrity. God has already blessed him and God has already made several unconditional promises to Abram. Still, God expects Abram to show integrity.

God tells Abram to walk before Him and to be blameless, and this implies that there is some concept of moral or spiritual behavior. However, there is no indication that this standard of morality is enumerated by God at any point; nor has man recorded God’s explanation of exactly what this standard of morality is. 500 years or so from this point in time, God is going to give the Law to His people; but right now at this point in time in Gen. 17, God has not laid down a specific set of laws. Almost everything we know about right and wrong, at this point in our walk through Genesis, is found in the implications of the previous chapters, which then logically suggests that what is right and wrong is imprinted on the souls of mankind. Let’s go back to Gen. 9:6, which reads: Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood shall be shed by man. For He made man in the image of God. You will recall that, previous to this, God allowed those who murdered to live. Cain was banished, but not executed. Lamech sang a folk song about murdering and he continued to live and sing about it. But in Gen. 9:6, God sets up consequences, which implies there ought to be specific consequences for certain acts that are wrong. This takes us back to, how do we know what is wrong? We have two possibilities: (1) God specifically gave a pre-Mosaic Law, where right and wrong was defined—and there is no indication of that. Or (2) the concept of right and wrong was imprinted on the souls of most men. This does not mean that it is inherent in their souls, but that it is imprinted there. How? By their parents. And they learned it from their parents, who learned it from their parents, who, going back far enough, learned from Noah. Recall that we are not that far removed in time from the flood, and, by one estimation of dates, the sons of Noah are still alive at this time.

God created Adam and the woman, and there was only one defined act of wrongdoing—taking and eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Apart from this, Adam and the woman were created perfect. So, even after they sinned and acquired a sin nature, they understood right from wrong (recall, they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil). In their souls—which souls were created directly by God—they understood notions of right and wrong. As the population of the earth grew (recall that Adam was nearly 1000 years old), he was able to take what he knew in his soul and apply it to his life. This soulish understanding of right and wrong was carried by many simply through the training that they would have received from their parents. This was certain true of the soul of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect [spiritually mature] in his generations. Noah walked with God (Gen. 6:9b). Noah would have taught the concepts of right and wrong to his own children, even in a most corrupt world, which world they would all escape. The 3 sons of Noah would continue to perpetuate the morality in their own souls by teaching their sons and daughters, who would perpetuate this teaching.

Furthermore, if Noah’s sons are still alive, along with all of their sons and grandsons, it is quite difficult to argue right and wrong with men who learned right and wrong from Noah. One of the reasons a new era must begin with Abram is, God must begin with a man who has righteousness in his soul (a clear understanding of right and wrong); and all of the patriarchs are dying off almost all at the same time.

Let me further suggest that, for many people, during this era, even so separated from God, they had an innate desire to define right and wrong, and to set up just consequences for doing wrong. From this general time period, a number of well-defined codes of ethics were developed.

My conclusion would be that, by the teaching of Abram’s parents, Abram had a good understanding of right and wrong in his soul. Historically, this was of profound importance to mankind. They were beginning to have groups of families living in close proximity, and codes of behavior had to be established along with laws to regulate groups of people. In a family, particularly with their long lives, they could go to the oldest, who is probably father of all of them, and resolve disputes. However, as these families began to gather side-by-side, codes had to be developed, not just to define morality, but to deal with acts of immorality. Hence, these many codes that we know of. In fact, let me suggest that these codes existed in nearly every city and town; and certainly in any city-state. Just because we have records on these codes does not mean they are the only codes from that era.

Gen 17:1 When Abram was 99 years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be spiritually mature,...

When God tells Abram to walk before Him, this would be analogous to the Christian walk; that is, there would be a modus operandi of some sort that Abram would follow. This is stated specifically with Enoch (Gen. 5:24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.) and implied with Noah (Gen. 6:9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.). This spiritual code would include faith in Jehovah Elohim (Gen. 15:6), a limited system of animal sacrifices (Gen. 12:8 13:18 15:9–11), and probably rebound (confession of personal sin to God) (HTML) (PDF) and faith-rest (which is what Abram ought to be doing with the promises of God) (HTML) (PDF).

There would have been a specific moral behavior, but that is much like the function of moral behavior in the Church Age; it is a part of the laws of divine establishment (HTML) (PDF), it is something which Christians ought to adhere to, but it is designed for man universal and not only for believers. These laws are designed to preserve freedom, families, and nations. That is what these codes were all about; and they established a code of justice, necessary for any society.

The actual Hebrew word for walk is the Hithpael imperative of the very common word hâlak^e (הָלַךְ) [pronounced haw-LAHK^e], which means, to go, to come, to depart, to walk [up and down, about]; to wander, to prowl; to go for oneself, to go about, to live [walk] [in truth] (these are all Hithpael meanings). Strong’s #1980 (and #3212) BDB #229. Although the Hithpael is most simply described as the reflexive intensive, it actually has several uses which are not specifically reflexive. Here, its iterative use is probably what is meant, which means that there will be several (even thousands) of periods of time when Abram is walking. What follows qualifies the verb “Walk before Me [or, walk in My Presence].” This is why there is a spiritual connotation to the interpretation this phrase.

You will recall the Hagar understood God to be the God of Seeing; and she would have learned this from Abram. God is omniscient. Therefore, God is telling Abram to walk before Him, with this understanding. God may not have contacted Abram for the past 13 years, but that does not mean that God is not there. Abram is to conduct his life knowing God is there; knowing that He is an omniscient God. And because God is going to reiterate and expand on His promises, Abram needs to know that God is able to bring these promises to pass. God does not need Abram to traipse off with some Egyptian gal in order for His promises to be fulfilled. God is omnipotent. He does not need us to help Him with our human works or with our human schemes.

Gen 17:1 When Abram was 99 years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before Me [or, walk in My Presence], and be complete [whole, sufficient, spiritually mature],...

So, essentially, God is commanding Abram to live the spiritual life and to be spiritually mature. We have guessed what this means, but it is not laid out as a simple, step-by-step process in the book of Genesis (these mechanics are clearly laid out for believers in Church Age, however). In order to determine what this means, we need to dig a little deeper into the chapters of Genesis which we have already studied.

Gen 17:1 When Abram was 99 years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before Me [or, walk in My Presence], and be complete [whole, sufficient, spiritually mature],...

In this first verse of Gen. 17, God identifies Himself and gives Abram two mandates: “Walk in My Presence and be spiritually mature.” These commands are both in the imperative mood; which suggests (1) these are things that God wants Abram to do; and (2) Abram understands what he is being commanded to do.

As we have already studied, complete is the adjective tâmîym (תָּמִים) [pronounced taw-MEEM], which means complete, whole, entire, sufficient, without blemish. When spoken of a man, it means a man who operates on the basis of spiritual integrity; i.e., he is spiritually mature and in fellowship. Strong’s #8549 BDB #1071. So far, we have one clear example of what it means to be tâmîym, Noah was declared to be complete (whole, sufficient, spiritually mature) in Gen. 6:9.

For an historical context, I believe it is important to stop, like we did here, and review, and see if there was a spiritual life defined for believers in Abram’s era, as there is for us in the Church Age. Because Gen. 3–16 covers an era of 1000–2000 years, the limited amount of writing that exists in the canon of Scripture has to be carefully searched to recognize the continuities between our time and theirs. Furthermore, this helps to explain what God means when He tells Abraham to walk before Him and to be spiritually mature:

Gen 17:1 When Abram was 99 years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be spiritually mature,...

So far, God has delivered a series of commands and promises to Abram, which is why he is living in Canaan in the first place. However, there is no indication that God has ever laid out a system of specific laws and that the pre-Mosaic spiritual life is only implied. However, as we have studied in previously that there appears to be enough information presented so that we can reasonably determine the basic spiritual life for believers and the concept of right and wrong for believers and unbelievers alike (the common morality for believers and unbelievers is known as divine establishment or the laws of divine establishment). So, the function of the spiritual life combined with the morality of the laws of divine establishment was how a believer was to function.

In fact, one of the things which has been lost to our society is the concept of right and wrong, good and bad, which is for nations of believers and unbelievers both. In the United States, this is being foisted upon our young in the form of relativism, humanism and multi-culturalism (all of which are taught in the public schools); and in Muslim countries, sharia law is replacing divine establishment laws. It would be wrong for believers to think that morality applies to them alone; and for unbelievers to think, whatever they think they ought to do, that is what they ought to do (or, as it phrased in the book of Judges, every man did what was right in his own eyes—Judges 17:6 21:25; see also Deut. 12:18 Prov. 12:15).

As we will soon discover, nations are preserved by the believers in that nation. Some of that preservation is direct. That is, if there is a large percentage of believers in a nation and a reasonable percentage of them understand Bible doctrine, then the nation is preserved simply because so many in that nation understand the laws of divine establishment. The direct influence of such believers on a society helps to preserve that society. As divine norms and standards are a part of the lives of believers in a society; and these believers are large enough in size to affect that society, in this way the society is preserved. That is the principle; we will study it in the not-too-distant future.

As an aside, one way that concepts of right and wrong are distorted in a society is by taking the vocabulary of right and wrong and distorting that. We have seen that in the past few years with the word justice, redefining it in such a way so as to reflect Marxist thinking (state directed redistribution of wealth), as in economic justice; or to reflect fanatical environmentalism, as in environmental justice (which is a cover for economic justice). These very same people would shrink back in horror, if you were to suggest any restrictions be placed on their sexual behavior, even though there are simple straight lines that can be drawn from sexual immorality to crime, increased immorality, increased lawlessness (which 3 things are a result of single motherhood), and a decreased lifespan (which results from homosexual activity). On the other hand, when it comes to so-called economic justice, any attempt to equalize income distribution results in a less productive, a less free and a more restrictive society. So, these same people who want complete freedom when it comes to sexual behavior—regardless of the negative consequences on society—are more than willing to place devastating restrictions on the productive elements of their society.

Back to Abram. It is 13 years after Ishmael was born to him by Hagar, his wife’s Egyptian slave-girl; and God appears to Abram once again.

Gen 17:1 When Abram was 99 years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be spiritually mature,...

God reminds Abram that He is omnipotent and indicates that there is a specific walk for believers, as well as a concept of spiritual maturity even in Abram’s day, over 4000 years ago.

——————————

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Targum of Onkelos                And I will set My covenant between My Word and thee, and will multiply thee very greatly.

Latin Vulgate                          And I will make my covenant between me and thee: and I will multiply thee exceedingly.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so I give my covenant between Me and between you and I will multiply you exceedingly, exceedingly.”

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And I will make my covenant between me and you and will multiply you exceedingly.

Septuagint (Greek)                And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.

Significant differences: 

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Contemporary English V.       I will keep my solemn promise to you and give you more descendants than can be counted."

Easy English (Pocock)           Then I can make my *covenant between me and you. I will give you very many *descendants.'

Easy-to-Read Version            If you do this, I will prepare an agreement between us. I will promise to make your people a great nation.”

Good News Bible (TEV)         I will make my covenant with you and give you many descendants."

The Message                         I'll make a covenant between us and I'll give you a huge family."

New Berkeley Version           I will make My covenant between Me and you and I will in a most unusual way multiply you.

New Century Version             I will make an agreement between us, and I will make you the ancestor of many people."

New Life Bible                        And I will keep My agreement between Me and you. I will give you many children."

New Living Translation           I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants."

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          ...and I will establish a Sacred Agreement between you and Me; and I will also give you great prosperity!'

Ancient Roots Translinear      I gave my covenant between me and you, to multiply you a ||hundredfold||."

Beck’s American Translation And I will make My covenant with you, and I will make you the father of very many people.

Christian Community Bible     I will make a covenant between myself and you, and I will multiply your race.”

God’s Word™                         I will give you my promise, and I will give you very many descendants."

New American Bible              Between you and me I will establish my covenant, and I will multiply you exceedingly. Gn 12:2; 13:16; Ex 32:13.

NIRV                                      I will now put into practice my covenant between me and you. I will greatly increase your numbers."

New Simplified Bible              »I will establish my covenant between us. I will greatly increase your numbers.«

Revised English Bible            ...so that I may make my covenant with you and give you many descendants.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             And I will make an agreement between you and me, and your offspring will be greatly increased.

Conservapedia                       I will make My covenant between Me and you, and I will make you more numerous than you can imagine."

The Expanded Bible              I will make an ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] between ·us [^Lme and you], and I will make you ·the ancestor of many people [^Lexceedingly numerous]."

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 ...and I will make a Covenant between Myself and you; and I will increase you very, very greatly.”

HCSB                                     I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you greatly."

NET Bible®                             Then I will confirm my covenant [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 Gen. 17:2 (i.e., Genesis 17:2b); Gen. 17:4–8). See the note at Gen. 15:18 and R. B. Chisholm, "Evidence from Genesis," A Case for Premillennialism, 35–54.] between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants [Heb "I will multiply you exceedingly, exceedingly." The repetition is emphatic.]."

NIV – UK                                I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           I will make my covenant between me and you, and I will increase your numbers greatly."

exeGeses companion Bible   ...and I give my covenant

between me and between you

and abound you mightily mighty.

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will make you exceedingly numerous.”

Kaplan Translation                 I will make a covenant between Me and you, and I will increase your numbers very much.'

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And I will confirm My brit (covenant) between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                And I will make My covenant (solemn pledge) between Me and you and will multiply you exceedingly.

Concordant Literal Version    And giving am I My covenant between Me and you, and increasing am I you exceedingly exceedingly.

English Standard Version      ...that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly."

Heritage Bible                        And I will give my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.

LTHB                                     ...and I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you very much.

NASB                                     "I will establish [Lit give] My covenant between Me and you,

And I will multiply you exceedingly."

New RSV                               And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.'

Syndein                                  And I will give { nathan-grace operation-God does the work} My covenant {b@riyth - and this is 'unconditional' here - no dependence on Abram or what 'work' he does} between me and you, and multiplying . . . I will multiply { m@`od m@`od - doubling of the word - very strong} you {Abram} exceedingly {many, many nations will be descended from Abram}.

A Voice in the Wilderness      ...and I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly abundantly.

Young’s Updated LT             ...and I give My covenant between Me and you, and multiply you very exceedingly.”

The gist of this verse:          God reminds Abram of his covenant with him.

Translation: ...and I will grant My contract between Me and you. ... God has a particular contract or covenant which He will give to one person—that person is Abram. God did not go around and willy nilly offer up covenants to a variety of people (like Buddha or to Mohammed). This is specifically God’s contract and it will be made specifically between Abram and God.

This is the second time that God has spoken of making a covenant with Abram, the first being back in Gen. 15. Although God has talked with Abram on 3 previous occasions, only once did God speak about a covenant. A covenant is simply an anachronistic word for contract. Sometimes Christians hold on too tightly to some of these anachronistic words, and young people are confused and put off by their foreign-sounding words (churches which continue to use the excellent but anachronistic KJV should be warned about this). God is simply making an agreement with Abram; He is establishing a contract with Abram.

The word here generally translated to make, to establish is actually the very common Hebrew word to give. Anytime you see God as the subject, give as the verb, and some person or group as the recipient of that gift, we are talking about grace. Grace may be defined as, all that God is free to do for us based upon the cross; and which things God does for us, are undeserved by us. We have touched on grace in the previous lesson, but we have not yet fully studied this word.

This verb is nâthan (נָתַן) [pronounced naw-THAHN], which means: 1) to give, put, set; 1a) to give, bestow, grant, permit, ascribe, employ, devote, consecrate, dedicate, pay wages, sell, exchange, lend, commit, entrust, give over, deliver up, yield produce, occasion, produce, requite to, report, mention, utter, stretch out, extend; 1b) to put, set, put on, put upon, set, appoint, assign, designate; 1c) to make, constitute. All of these BDB meanings for the Qal stem of nâthan. Strong's #5414 BDB #678

At the end of the verb to give, we have the cohortative hê, which simply means that the Hebrew letter hê (ה) is added to the end of the verb. When applied to the first person, the idea is an expression of will or compulsion, and in the singular, may be expressed with I must, I could, I would, I will, I should, I may.

God has promised Abram that He would make Abram a great nation, a father of many people, and is about to begin to fulfill those promises to Abram. The promise of most concern to Abram is the one of children; Abram has desired children for most of his 99 years on this earth and God has promised him that he would have children and that his progeny would be like the sand of the sea. Abram has trusted God perhaps 15 years ago on this point (in Gen. 15), but now he is sexually dead and the possibility of having children, other than Ishmael, seems quite unlikely.

God has always been here with Abram, tapping His foot, as it were, waiting to bless Abram by giving him an agreement, a gracious contract. In Gen. 15, it appeared as though God was going to start to make good on His promises made thus far to Abram, and then, Abram went out ahead of God and impregnated Hagar the Egyptian slave-girl. So, for 13 years, God has been there, tapping His foot, waiting to give grace to Abram.

Let’s not become confused here. God has not withdrawn His promises from Abram. God is not punishing Abram for 13 years because of his dalliance with Little Egypt. What Abram did was throw off the timetable. God cannot desert Abram’s seed, which is Ishmael, born to him by Hagar. So God allows Ishmael to be born and to grow into a young man (13 years old). God’s specific promises to Abram had to be put on hold until that time.

Abram’s spiritual heritage is going to flow through one very specific genetic line, which line will be begun with a child sired by Abram and carried by Sarai. God still has to allow for Abram’s decision to impregnate Hagar; and time must be allowed for their child to be raised properly in a good environment. That takes 13 years. So, for all intents and purposes, Abram is not waiting on God but God is waiting on Abram.

Application: Is God waiting on you to move His plan for you forward?

Translation: ...Furthermore, I will greatly multiply [your descendants].” As a part of God’s contract—or, as a part of His relationship with Abram, God promises to multiply Abram, which suggests that God would multiply Abram’s descendants.

Gen 17:1–2 When Abram was 99 years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be spiritually mature, that I may make My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you greatly."

God has to let certain things run their course before He can step back into Abram’s life. Raising up Ishmael to the point of being a young adult has to occur, and then God can come back to Abram and give him grace. God can come back into Abram’s life and bless him with a gracious contract. But, because of Abram’s actions, God had to wait. This was not punishment to Abram; God has not walked off in a huff, saying, “I’ll show him!” A certain amount of time has to transpire and Ishmael has to become a young adult before God can step back into Abram’s life and to continue the work which God had begun.

Walking before God and being spiritually mature means, Abram is in fellowship (there is no unconfessed sin in his life), he is trusting God’s promises, and he is obedient to the laws of divine establishment.

To multiply is in the Hiphil imperfect. The Hiphil is the causative stem, and this verb is given the following Hiphil definitions: to make much, make many, have many; to multiply, increase; to make much to do, do much in respect of, transgress greatly; to increase greatly or exceedingly; to make great, enlarge, do much. What follows is a repetition of the adverb m^eʾôd (מְאֹד) [pronounced m^e-ODE], which means exceedingly, extremely, greatly, very. Strong’s #3966 BDB #547. Not only is the verb intensified, but it is doubly intensified, as this adverb occurs twice, which is rare in the Hebrew. Verbs in the Hebrew are often doubled, relatively speaking; adverbs much less so. This indicates that God has an incredible amount of blessing that He wants to pour on Abram.

Abram is just one man, a very successful rancher, who comes down to us today as one of the most well-known people from the ancient world. During Abram’s day, there were many vigorous peoples, many powerful nations; and yet, the most well-known person of this era is Abram. What king from Abram’s day is as well-known? What king or man of great power can you name from that era (say, 2100–1900 b.c.)? And yet, Abram is not a king he is simply a very successful businessman, successful because God has greatly blessed him. He is known to us today as the father of the Jewish race or the father of the Jewish people. Furthermore, he is known to us because God promised him, “I will multiply you greatly.“

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God Renames Abram, as a Part of the Covenant Promise

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Targum of Onkelos                And because Abram was not circumcised, he was not able to stand, but he bowed himself upon his face; and the Lord spake with him, saying...

Latin Vulgate                          Abram fell flat on his face.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so falls Abram upon his face; and so speaks with him Elohim, to say,...

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying,...

Septuagint (Greek)                And Abram fell upon his face, and God spoke to him, saying,...

Significant differences:           The Latin sensibly takes the latter half of this verse and places it with v. 4. This explains some of the translations below. The targum adds all kinds of additional material, much of which is false or not pertinent.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Contemporary English V.       Abram bowed with his face to the ground, and God said:...

Easy English (Pocock)           Then Abram *bowed down with his face close to the ground. God spoke to him.

Easy-to-Read Version            Then Abram bowed down before God. God said to him,...

Good News Bible (TEV)         Abram bowed down with his face touching the ground, and God said,...

The Message                         Overwhelmed, Abram fell flat on his face. Then God said to him,...

New Berkeley Version           Abram fell on his face while God continued speaking to him:...

New Century Version             Then Abram bowed facedown on the ground. God said to him,...

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Well at that, Abram fell with his face [to the ground]. Then God spoke to him [again], saying,...

Ancient Roots Translinear      Abram fell toward his face. God spoke with him, saying,...

God’s Word™                         Immediately, Abram bowed with his face touching the ground, and again God spoke to him,...

New Jerusalem Bible             And Abram bowed to the ground. God spoke to him as follows,...

Revised English Bible            Abram bowed down, and God went on,...

Today’s NIV                          Abram fell facedown, and God said to him...

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             And Abram went down on his face on the earth, and the Lord God went on talking with him, and said,...

Conservapedia                       Abram fell on his face. God continued to talk with him, saying,...

The Expanded Bible              Then Abram ·bowed facedown on the ground [^Lfell on his face]. God said to him,...

New Advent Bible                  Abram fell flat on his face.

NET Bible®                             Abram bowed down with his face to the ground [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.], and God said to him [tn Heb "God spoke to him, saying." This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.],...

NIV – UK                                Abram fell face down, and God said to him,...

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           Avram fell on his face, and God continued speaking with him:...

exeGeses companion Bible   And Abram falls on his face:

and Elohim words with him, saying,...

JPS (Tanakh—1917)               And Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying:...

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               Abram threw himself on his face; and God spoke to him further,...

Kaplan Translation                 Abram fell on his face. God spoke to him [again], saying,...

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And Avram fell on his face; and Elohim talked with him, saying,...

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Concordant Literal Version    And falling is Abram on his face.

English Standard Version      Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him,...

Syndein                                  And Abram kept on falling face {picture of his own helplessness - a perfect response to the grace of God}. 'Elohim/Godhead kept on communicating categorically {dabar} {with him}, saying {'amar}...

World English Bible                Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying,...

Young’s Updated LT             And Abram falls upon his face, and God speaks with him, saying,...

The gist of this verse:          Abram falls on his face before God, and God continues speaking with him.

Translation: Abram then fell upon his face [or, in front of Him];... It has been 13 years since Abram has spoken with God. This is somewhat of a shock to him, and he takes this meeting quite seriously, falling on his face. You will note that there are two different ways of interpreting this final phrase; Abram can either be falling upon his own face; or he can fall in front of God.

This is new. Abram’s response was to do obeisance to God, which is something he has not done before. God has not spoken to Abram for a long time. God spoke to Hagar, Sarai’s slave girl, 13 years previous to this (which information, she apparently passed along to Abram), and prior to that, God spoke to Abram, which would have been perhaps 15–20 years previous (Abram left Charan at age 75, and he is now 99). Therefore, Abram, having no idea how much longer he will live, is quite overwhelmed to speak to God again.

It is reasonable to suppose that Abram has remembered and/or recorded all that God said to him earlier. In other words, all of the contact between God and Abram are recorded for us today. There is no reason to think that there were several other meetings between God and Abram that Abram chose not to talk about.

My guess is, this is not a forced reaction, or something that Abram thinks about, and then does. My thinking is, after all of this time, Abram automatically falls to his face in front of our Lord. He does not do it intentionally to indicate his respect, but does this as an automatic reaction to God standing before him and speaking.

Somehow, in some way, we have taken a very casual attitude toward God. Some of us think that, if we spoke to God, we’d be like, “That’s right; it’s cool. I’m probably cool since God is here speaking to me.” If it were not for God’s justice, which has been satisfied at the cross, God could cast us immediately into the Lake of Fire. For whatever sins we have doing lately, God could lay out all kinds of punishment upon us.

So, Abram, after this time, has become more responsive to God, not less. As I have suggested earlier, I believe that Abram received the Word of God from Melchizedek (the first 10–12 chapters of Genesis and perhaps the book of Job) and had spent time reading it, to understand God. Or, as I have suggested before, it is possible and reasonable that Melchizedek gave these books to Abram verbally. Abram’s thinking was superior to ours and that he had memorized these pages of God’s Word and was, over the past 13 years, calling them back into his mind, and thinking about them. As a result, his respect for God has increased immensely.

Translation: ...and God spoke to him, saying,... As has been mentioned, the Latin Vulgate wisely places this half of v. 3 with v. 4. However, it ought to be noted here that God does not speak to Abram, but He now speaks with Abram. That is an important advance. It suggests that Abram has advanced spiritually.

The Hebrew is much more difficult that most English translations make it out to be here. First of all, there are 2 verbs here which mean to speak. The first is the Piel (intensive stem) imperfect of dâbar (דָּבַר) [pronounced daw^b-VAHR], which means (in the Piel): to speak, to talk [and back with action], to give an opinion, to expound, to make a formal speech, to speak out, to promise, to propose, to speak kindly of, to declare, to proclaim, to announce. Strong’s #1696 BDB #180. This phrase ends with the words to speak, to say (the more common verb for to say). Furthermore, we do not have the normal preposition here; we would expect the lâmed preposition, which simply means to or the more formal preposition, unto. What we have here instead is, with. The implication is, God is speaking to Abram as a friend and willing to interact with him. Literally, this reads: And so speaks with him, Elohim [the subject of the verb, in Hebrew, usually follows the verb], to say... My point is, this is much more formal than it appears in most English translations.

Gen 17:3b And Elohim spoke with him, saying,...

God is about to lay out His covenant with Abram, so the Hebrew indicates that this is a very formal event.

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Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Targum of Onkelos                Behold, I have confirmed (or divided) my covenant with you; and you will be the father of many peoples.

Latin Vulgate                          And God said to him: I am, and my covenant is with you, and you will be a father of many nations.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        “I, behold, My covenant [is] with you and you have been to a father of a multitude of nations.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    As for me, behold, I am establishing my covenant with you, and you shall be a father of many peoples.

Septuagint (Greek)                And I, behold! My covenant [is] with you, and you shall be a father of a many nations.

Significant differences:           The Latin more sensibly affixes v. 3b to v. 4. The English translations from the targum and from the Syriac insert a verb at the beginning. The Hebrew verb to be is in the perfect tense. However, it is a future middle indicative in the Greek and appears to be a future tense in the targum, Latin and Syriac. The preposition found in the Hebrew is not found in the other ancient translations.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           "But me, my covenant is with you; you will be the ancestor of many nations.

Contemporary English V.       I promise that you will be the father of many nations. That's why I now change your name from Abram to Abraham. This is actually vv. 3–4 combined.

Easy English (Pocock)           'Look! I have made a *covenant with you. You will be the father of a great crowd of nations.

Easy-to-Read Version            “This is my part of our agreement: I will make you the father of many nations.

Good News Bible (TEV)         "I make this covenant with you: I promise that you will be the ancestor of many nations.

The Message                         "This is my covenant with you: You'll be the father of many nations.

New Century Version             "I am making my agreement with you: I will make you the father of many nations.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          'Look; I am making My Sacred Agreement with you. You will become the father of many nations.

Ancient Roots Translinear      "Behold me and my covenant with you! You are the father of a multitude of nations.

God’s Word™                         "My promise is still with you. You will become the father of many nations.

New American Bible              For my part, here is my covenant with you: you are to become the father of a multitude of nations. Sir 44:21; Rom 4:17.

New Jerusalem Bible             'For my part, this is my covenant with you: you will become the father of many nations.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             As for me, my agreement is made with you, and you will be the father of nations without end.

Conservapedia                       "As for Me, look: My covenant is with you, and you will be a father of many ethnic groups.

The Expanded Bible              "I am making my ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] with you: I will make you the father of ·many [^La host/multitude of] nations.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 “I now make a Covenant with you, and you shall be a father of many nations;...

New Advent Bible                  And God said to him: I am, and my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. You see here how this follows the more logical Latin Vulgate with regards to the verses.

NET Bible®                             "As for me [tn Heb "I."], this [Heb “is” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).] is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Kaplan Translation                 'As far as I am concerned, here is My covenant with you: You shall be the father of a horde of nations.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           As for Me, hinei, My brit (covenant) is with thee, and thou shalt be an Av of many Goyim [see 18:18].

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                As for Me, behold, My covenant (solemn pledge) is with you, and you shall be the father of many nations.

Concordant Literal Version    And speaking with him is the Elohim, saying, "I, behold! My covenant is with you. And you are to become the forefather of a throng of nations.

English Standard Version      "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.

Heritage Bible                        As for me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many peoples..

New RSV                               `As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.

World English Bible                "As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations.

Young’s Updated LT             “I—lo, My covenant is with you, and you have become father of a multitude of nations;...

The gist of this verse:          God tells Abram that His covenant is with Abram and that he is a father of many nations.

Translation: “[It is] I; listen, My contract [is] with you... Jesus Christ, the Revealed Member of the Trinity is standing; Abram is laying on the ground; and Jehovah Elohim says, “I, listen!” Or, “Behold Me!” The idea is, while Abram is laying there, he needs to pay close attention.

God never had to tell Abram to fear Him or to give Him reverence. Abram was well-acquainted with God's power and majesty and that he, Abram, was nothing in comparison. He immediately does obeisance to God, being in His presence. One of the toughest words to translate and make work in the demonstrative particle hinnêh (הִנֵּה) [pronounced hin-NAY] and it means to pay attention, listen to this, observe, give me your undivided attention. It is too often anachronistically translated as behold! or lo! God promises to Abram that He will give him a great number of descendants and that these descendants will become many nations.

13 years have passed since God last spoke to Abram. Abram may have even thought that God was now working through Hagar, as God had spoken to her and gave him a son through her. God assures Abram that His covenant is with Abram. God has not gone off and made a covenant with someone else; God did not make a covenant with Hagar.

Like v. 3b, this phrase is also more complicated that most English translations make it out to be. Literally, it reads: “I, behold! My covenant [is] with you.” Some translators render this, “As for Me, behold...” Several ignore these first 2 Hebrew words. Essentially, the first 2 words might be more idiomatically rendered, “Listen to Me” “Listen up” “Pay attention to what I am going to say.” Remember, Abram fell on the ground before God. God needs his full attention here.

The second phrase leaves out the verb to be, which indicates great emphasis in these words. Elliptical phrases often indicate great emphasis. As mentioned before, God has not said anything to Abram, and now He tells him to listen, saying, “My covenant with you!” The idea is, God has not changed His mind. He has not been observing Abram over the past 15 or so years, deciding, “Naw, I need to pick someone else as a part of my covenant.” The power and force here indicates that we are speaking of something which is quite exclusive and directed specifically toward Abram. God is not going around and making agreements with several dozen people. This is a very specific and very exclusive contract that God is making with Abram.

There is a reason I am putting great emphasis upon this: God, who is all-knowing (Job 37:16 Psalm 139:1–4 147:4–5), Who knows the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10), did not make a mistake by choosing Abram and He is not going to transfer all of His promises to Abram to another group of people (the church) because the Jews never turned out to be quite the people that God wanted them to be. That view is called Covenant Theology, and it is the basis for much of the Christian theology today. God will set the Jewish race aside, for a time, and work through the church (just as He has done with Abram), but the Jews are still His people.

Translation: ...and you will be a father of many [gentile] nations. Almost every translation I read has the verb as a future tense. However, God says, “You are [already] a father of many nations.” Or, “You have become a father of many gentile nations.” The verb is in the perfect tense, which means, this is an established fact; this thing has already occurred in some point in time. However, quite obviously, Abram has but one son. Insofar as God is concerned, Abram is already the father of a multitude of nations. He already has a down payment on this promise; Ishmael, Hagar’s child, was born to Abram. This is at least one nation, the Ishmaelites. And Ishmael will begin having a number of children right from the get-go.

Also in this second half of the verse is the untranslated lâmed preposition. Its use here seems to be #4 above; the mark of the dative case. Abram is the father of many gentile nations; this is to his benefit; to his advantage.