Genesis 17:7

_AND I WILL ESTABLISH MY COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND THEE AND THY SEED AFTER THEE IN THEIR GENERATIONS FOR AN EVERLASTING COVENANT, TO BE A GOD UNTO THEE, AND TO THY SEED AFTER THEE._ I will establish my covenant ... to be a God unto thee. Had this communication to Abram been made at the time of his call, it could have conveyed no other idea to the mind of one who had been an idolater, and was imbued with the prejudices engendered by idolatry, than that, instead of the ideal fictitious deities he had been accustomed to look to and worship, the true, living, personal God was to be substituted. But he had now for a long series of years become familiarized with the name, appearances, and educational training of Him who had called him, and therefore he was prepared to accept the promise in a wider and more comprehensive sense-to understand, in short, that to 'be a God unto him' included all tha...

7._And thy seed after thee _There is no doubt that the Lord distinguishes the race of Abraham from the rest of the world. We must now see what people he intends. Now they are deceived who think that his elect alone are here pointed out; and that all the faithful are indiscriminately comprehended, from whatever people, according to the flesh, they are descended. For, on the contrary, the Scripture declares that the race of Abraham, by lineal descent, had been peculiarly accepted by God. And it is the evident doctrine of Paul concerning the natural descendants of Abraham, that they are holy branches which have proceeded from a holy root, (Romans 11:16.) And lest any one should restrict this assertion to the shadows of the law, or should evade it by allegory, he elsewhere expressly declares, that Christ came to be a minister of the circumcision, ...

7-14 The covenant of grace is from everlasting in the counsels of it, and to everlasting in the consequences of it. The token of the covenant was circumcision. It is here said to be the covenant which Abraham and his seed must keep. Those who will have the Lord to be to them a God, must resolve to be to him a people. Not only Abraham and Isaac, and his posterity by Isaac, were to be circumcised, but also Ishmael and the bond-servants. It sealed not only the covenant of the land of Canaan to Isaac's posterity, but of heaven, through Christ, to the whole church of God. The outward sign is for the visible church; the inward seal of the Spirit is peculiar to those whom God knows to be believers, and he alone can know them. The religious observance of this institution was required, under a very severe penalty. It is dangerous to make light of Divine institutions, and to live in the neglect o...

Verse Genesis 17:7. _AN EVERLASTING COVENANT_] ברית עולם _berith olam_. Genesis 13:15. Here the word _olam_ is taken in its own proper meaning, as the words immediately following prove - _to be a God unto thee, and thy_ _seed after thee_; for as the soul is to endure for ever, so it shall eternally stand in need of the supporting power and energy of God; and as the reign of the Gospel dispensation shall be as long as sun and moon endure, and its consequences _eternal_, so must the covenant be on which these are founded....

- 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

AND I WILL ESTABLISH MY COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND THEE,.... Not only renew it, but confirm it by the following token of circumcision: AND THY SEED AFTER THEE, IN THEIR GENERATION; such blessings in it as belonged to his natural seed, as such he confirmed to them, to be enjoyed by them in successive ages; and such as belonged to his spiritual seed, to them also, as they should be raised up in future times in one place and another: FOR AN EVERLASTING COVENANT; to his natural seed, as long as they should continue in the true worship of God; and in their own land; or until the Messiah came, in whom the covenant of circumcision had its accomplishment, and was at an end; and to all his spiritual seed, with respect to the spiritual blessings of it, which are everlasting, and are never taken away, or become void; TO BE A GOD UNTO THEE, AND TO THY SEED AFTER THEE; to his natural seed, as the God...

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....

COVENANT: unconditional. THY SEED. Here, the collective noun _ser'a_ is shown to be plural by the words "after thee" (compare verses: Genesis 17:8; Genesis 17:9), and by the plural pronoun "their generations" (verses: Genesis 17:7; Genesis 17:9). This is not the verse referred to in Galatians 1:3; Galatians 1:16, but Genesis 21:12. See note on...