Genesis 17:4

_AS FOR ME, BEHOLD, MY COVENANT IS WITH THEE, AND THOU SHALT BE A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS._ My covenant is with thee - renewed mention is made of it as the foundation of the communication that follows. It is the covenant of grace made with all who believe in the Saviour. It deserves notice that although many of the promises to Abram are recorded (see Genesis 12:1-20; Genesis 13:1-18), they are not termed a "covenant" until an account is given in Genesis 15:1-21 of their being solemnly ratified....

4._As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee _(404) They who translate the passage, ‘Behold, I make a covenant with thee,’ or, ‘Behold, I and my covenant with thee;’ do not seem to me faithfully to represent the meaning of Moses. For, first, God declares that he is the speaker, in order that absolute authority may appear in his words. For since our faith can rest on no other foundation than his eternal veracity, it becomes, above all things, necessary for us to be informed that what is proposed to us, has proceeded from his sacred mouth. Therefore, the pronoun I, is to be read separately as a preface to the rest; in order that Abram might have a composed mind, and might engage, without hesitation, in the proposed covenant. Whence a useful doctrine is deduced, that faith necessarily has reference to God: because, although all angels and men should speak to us, never would their authorit...

1-6 The covenant was to be accomplished in due time. The promised Seed was Christ, and Christians in him. And all who are of faith are blessed with faithful Abram, being partakers of the same covenant blessings. In token of this covenant his name was changed from Abram, "a high father," to Abraham, "the father of a multitude." All that the Christian world enjoys, it is indebted for to Abraham and his Seed....

- 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. 5. אברהם _'abrâhām_, Abraham, from אברם _'abrām_ “high-father,” and הם _hām_ the radical part of המין _hāmôn_ a “multitude,” is obtained by a euphonic abbreviation אברהם _'abrâhām_, “father of a multitude.” The root רהם _rhm_ is a variat

EXPOSITION GENESIS 17:1 AND WHEN ABRAM WAS NINETY YEARS OLD AND NINE—consequently an interval of thirteen years had elapsed since the birth of Ishmael; the long delay on the part of God being probably designed as chastisement for Abram's second nuptials (Calvin), and at least corresponding with Abram's undue haste (Lange)—THE LORD APPEARED TO ABRAM—lest he should regard Ishmael's birth as a complete fulfillment of the promise (Menochius), and be satisfied with Hagar's child as the expected seed (Calvin)—AND SAID TO HIM, I AM THE ALMIGHTY GOD—_El Shaddai_, found six times in Genesis and thirty-one times in Job, composed of _El_, God, and _Shaddai_;_ _not a _nomen compositum _(from שֶׁ = אֲשֶׁר and דַּי) signifying _qui sufficiens est _(Aquinas, Symmachus, Theodoret

AS FOR ME, BEHOLD, MY COVENANT [IS] WITH THEE,.... Who was gracious to make it, faithful to keep it, and immutable in it, though Abram was but a man, and sinful: AND THOU SHALT BE A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS: as he was of many Arabian nations, and of the Turks in the line of Ishmael; and of the Midianites, and others, in the line of his sons by Keturah; and of the Israelites in the line of Isaac, as well as of the Edomites in the line of Esau; and in a spiritual sense the father of all that believe, in all the nations of the world, circumcised or uncircumcised, as the apostle explains it, Romans 4:11....

CHAPTER 17 THE FIFTH COMMUNICATION AND THE COVENANT REPEATED _ 1. The communication and Abram worships (Genesis 17:1)_ 2. The enlarged promise (Genesis 17:4) 3. The covenant sign (Genesis 17:9) 4. Sarah's seed promised (Genesis 17:15) 5. The laughter of Abraham (Genesis 17:17) 6. Abraham's plea for Ishmael (Genesis 17:18) 7. Abraham's obedience ...

GENESIS 12:1 TO GENESIS 25:18. THE STORY OF ABRAHAM. In this section the three main sources, J. E, P are present. Gunkel has given strong reasons for holding that J is here made up of two main sources, one connecting Abraham with Hebron, the other with Beersheba and the Negeb. The former associates Abraham with Lot. (For details, see ICC.) On the interpretation to be placed on the figures of Abraham and the patriarchs, see the Introduction. The interest, which has hitherto been diffused over the fortunes of mankind in general, is now concentrated on Abraham and his posterity, the principle of election narrowing it down to Isaac, Ishmael being left aside, and then to Jacob, Esau being excluded....

MANY. Emph. Figure of speech _Antimereia_ (of Noun), for emphasis....

_father of a multitude of nations_ "Multitude," _hamôn_= "tumult." LXX πολλῶν ἐθνῶν....