4 `I -- lo, My covenant `is' with thee, and thou hast become father of a multitude of nations;
And Abraham addeth and taketh a wife, and her name `is' Keturah; and she beareth to him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan hath begotten Sheba and Dedan; and the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim; and the sons of Midian `are' Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abidah, and Eldaah: all these `are' sons of Keturah. And Abraham giveth all that he hath to Isaac; and to the sons of the concubines whom Abraham hath, Abraham hath given gifts, and sendeth them away from Isaac his son (in his being yet alive) eastward, unto the east country. And these `are' the days of the years of the life of Abraham, which he lived, a hundred and seventy and five years; and Abraham expireth, and dieth in a good old age, aged and satisfied, and is gathered unto his people. And Isaac and Ishmael his sons bury him at the cave of Machpelah, at the field of Ephron, son of Zoar the Hittite, which `is' before Mamre -- the field which Abraham bought from the sons of Heth -- there hath Abraham been buried, and Sarah his wife. And it cometh to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blesseth Isaac his son; and Isaac dwelleth by the Well of the Living One, my Beholder. And these `are' births of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, hath borne to Abraham; and these `are' the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their births: first-born of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: these are sons of Ishmael, and these their names, by their villages, and by their towers; twelve princes according to their peoples. And these `are' the years of the life of Ishmael, a hundred and thirty and seven years; and he expireth, and dieth, and is gathered unto his people; and they tabernacle from Havilah unto Shur, which `is' before Egypt, in `thy' going towards Asshur; in the presence of all his brethren hath he fallen.
And these `are' births of Esau, who `is' Edom. Esau hath taken his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah daughter of Anah, daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, and Bashemath daughter of Ishmael, sister of Nebajoth. And Adah beareth to Esau, Eliphaz; and Bashemath hath born Reuel; and Aholibamah hath born Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah. These `are' sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan. And Esau taketh his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance which he hath acquired in the land of Canaan, and goeth into the country from the face of Jacob his brother; for their substance was more abundant than to dwell together, and the land of their sojournings was not able to bear them because of their cattle; and Esau dwelleth in mount Seir: Esau is Edom. And these `are' births of Esau, father of Edom, in mount Seir. These `are' the names of the sons of Esau: Eliphaz son of Adah, wife of Esau; Reuel son of Bashemath, wife of Esau. And the sons of Eliphaz are Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz; and Timnath hath been concubine to Eliphaz son of Esau, and she beareth to Eliphaz, Amalek; these `are' sons of Adah wife of Esau. And these `are' sons of Reuel: Nahath and Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah; these were sons of Bashemath wife of Esau. And these have been the sons of Aholibamah daughter of Anah, daughter of Zibeon, wife of Esau; and she beareth to Esau, Jeush and Jaalam and Korah. These `are' chiefs of the sons of Esau: sons of Eliphaz, first-born of Esau: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek; these `are' chiefs of Eliphaz, in the land of Edom; these `are' sons of Adah. And these `are' sons of Reuel son of Esau: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah; these `are' chiefs of Reuel, in the land of Edom; these `are' sons of Bashemath wife of Esau. And these `are' sons of Aholibamah wife of Esau: chief Jeush, chief Jaalam, chief Korah; these `are' chiefs of Aholibamah daughter of Anah, wife of Esau. These `are' sons of Esau (who `is' Edom), and these their chiefs. These `are' sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah, and Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan; these `are' chiefs of the Horites, sons of Seir, in the land of Edom. And the sons of Lotan are Hori and Heman; and a sister of Lotan `is' Timna. And these `are' sons of Shobal: Alvan and Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho and Onam. And these `are' sons of Zibeon, both Ajah and Anah: it `is' Anah that hath found the Imim in the wilderness, in his feeding the asses of Zibeon his father. And these `are' sons of Anah: Dishon, and Aholibamah daughter of Anah. And these `are' sons of Dishon: Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran. These `are' sons of Ezer: Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan. These `are' sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. These `are' chiefs of the Horite: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief Dishan: these `are' chiefs of the Horite in reference to their chiefs in the land of Seir. And these `are' the kings who have reigned in the land of Edom before the reigning of a king over the sons of Israel. And Bela son of Beor reigneth in Edom, and the name of his city `is' Dinhabah; and Bela dieth, and reign in his stead doth Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah; and Jobab dieth, and reign in his stead doth Husham from the land of the Temanite. And Husham dieth, and reign in his stead doth Hadad son of Bedad (who smiteth Midian in the field of Moab), and the name of his city `is' Avith; and Hadad dieth, and reign in his stead doth Samlah of Masrekah; and Samlah dieth, and reign in his stead doth Saul from Rehoboth of the River; and Saul dieth, and reign in his stead doth Baal-hanan son of Achbor; and Baal-hanan son of Achbor dieth, and reign in his stead doth Hadar, and the name of his city `is' Pau; and his wife's name `is' Mehetabel daughter of Matred, daughter of Me-zahab. And these `are' the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families, according to their places, by their names: chief Timnah, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth, chief Aholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, chief Magdiel, chief Iram: these `are' chiefs of Edom, in reference to their dwellings, in the land of their possession; he `is' Esau father of Edom.
And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first of the second month, in the second year of their going out of the land of Egypt, saying: `Take ye up the sum of all the company of the sons of Israel by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names -- every male by their polls; from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host in Israel, ye do number them by their hosts, thou and Aaron; and with you there is a man for a tribe, each is a head to the house of his fathers. `And these `are' the names of the men who stand with you: `For Reuben -- Elizur son of Shedeur. `For Simeon -- Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. `For Judah -- Nahshon son of Amminadab. `For Issachar -- Nathaneel son of Zuar. `For Zebulun -- Eliab son of Helon. `For the sons of Joseph -- for Ephraim: Elishama son of Ammihud: for Manasseh -- Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. `For Benjamin -- Abidan son of Gideoni. `For Dan -- Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. `For Asher -- Pagiel son of Ocran. `For Gad -- Eliasaph son of Deuel. `For Naphtali -- Ahira son of Enan.' These `are' those called of the company, princes of the tribes of their fathers; they `are' heads of the thousands of Israel. And Moses taketh -- Aaron also -- these men, who were defined by name, and all the company they assembled on the first of the second month, and they declare their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names from a son of twenty years and upward, by their polls, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses; and he numbereth them in the wilderness of Sinai. And the sons of Reuben, Israel's first-born -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, by their polls, every male from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host -- their numbered ones, for the tribe of Reuben, are six and forty thousand and five hundred. Of the sons of Simeon -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, its numbered ones in the number of names, by their polls, every male from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host -- their numbered ones, for the tribe of Simeon, `are' nine and fifty thousand and three hundred. Of the sons of Gad -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host -- their numbered ones, for the tribe of Gad, `are' five and forty thousand and six hundred and fifty. Of the sons of Judah -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host -- their numbered ones, for the tribe of Judah, `are' four and seventy thousand and six hundred. Of the sons of Issachar -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host -- their numbered ones, for the tribe of Issachar, `are' four and fifty thousand and four hundred. Of the sons of Zebulun -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host -- their numbered ones, for the tribe of Zebulun, `are' seven and fifty thousand and four hundred. Of the sons of Joseph -- of the sons of Ephraim -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host -- their numbered ones, for the tribe of Ephraim, `are' forty thousand and five hundred. Of the sons of Manasseh -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host -- their numbered ones, for the tribe of Manasseh, `are' two and thirty thousand and two hundred. Of the sons of Benjamin -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host -- their numbered ones, for the tribe of Benjamin, `are' five and thirty thousand and four hundred. Of the sons of Dan -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host -- their numbered ones, for the tribe of Dan, `are' two and sixty thousand and seven hundred. Of the sons of Asher -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host -- their numbered ones, for the tribe of Asher, `are' one and forty thousand and five hundred. `Of' the sons of Naphtali -- their births, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host -- their numbered ones, for the tribe of Naphtali, `are' three and fifty thousand and four hundred. These `are' those numbered, whom Moses numbered -- Aaron also, and the princes of Israel, twelve men -- each for the house of his fathers, they have been. And they are, all those numbered of the sons of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from a son of twenty years and upward, every one going out to the host in Israel, yea, all those numbered are six hundred thousand, and three thousand, and five hundred and fifty. And the Levites, for the tribe of their fathers, have not numbered themselves in their midst, seeing Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, `Only, the tribe of Levi thou dost not number, and their sum thou dost not take up in the midst of the sons of Israel; and thou, appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its vessels, and over all that it hath; they bear the tabernacle, and all its vessels, and they serve it; and round about the tabernacle they encamp. `And in the journeying of the tabernacle, the Levites take it down, and in the encamping of the tabernacle, the Levites raise it up; and the stranger who is coming near is put to death.' And the sons of Israel have encamped, each by his camp, and each by his standard, by their hosts; and the Levites encamp round about the tabernacle of the testimony; and there is no wrath on the company of the sons of Israel, and the Levites have kept the charge of the tabernacle of the testimony. And the sons of Israel do according to all that Jehovah hath commanded Moses; so they have done.
And it cometh to pass, after the plague, that Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, and unto Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, saying, `Take up the sum of all the company of the sons of Israel, from a son of twenty years and upward, by the house of their fathers, every one going out to the host in Israel.' And Moses speaketh -- Eleazar the priest also -- with them, in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, `near' Jericho, saying, `From a son of twenty years and upward,' as Jehovah hath commanded Moses and the sons of Israel who are coming out from the land of Egypt. Reuben, first-born of Israel -- sons of Reuben: `of' Hanoch `is' the family of the Hanochite; of Pallu the family of the Palluite; of Hezron the family of the Hezronite; of Carmi the family of the Carmite. These `are' families of the Reubenite, and their numbered ones are three and forty thousand and seven hundred and thirty. And the son of Pallu `is' Eliab; and the sons of Eliab `are' Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram; this `is that' Dathan and Abiram, called ones of the company, who have striven against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, in their striving against Jehovah, and the earth openeth her mouth, and swalloweth them and Korah, in the death of the company, in the fire consuming the two hundred and fifty men, and they become a sign; and the sons of Korah died not. Sons of Simeon by their families: of Nemuel `is' the family of the Nemuelite; of Jamin the family of the Jaminite; of Jachin the family of the Jachinite; of Zerah the family of the Zarhite; of Shaul the family of the Shaulite. These `are' families of the Simeonite, two and twenty thousand and two hundred. Sons of Gad by their families: of Zephon `is' the family of the Zephonite; of Haggi the family of the Haggite; of Shuni the family of the Shunite; of Ozni the family of the Oznite; of Eri the family of the Erite: of Arod the family of the Arodite; of Areli the family of the Arelite. These `are' families of the sons of Gad, by their numbered ones, forty thousand and five hundred. Sons of Judah `are' Er and Onan; and Er dieth -- Onan also -- in the land of Canaan. And sons of Judah, by their families, are: of Shelah the family of the Shelanite; of Pharez the family of the Pharzite; of Zerah the family of the Zarhite; and sons of Pharez are: of Hezron the family of the Hezronite; of Hamul the family of the Hamulite. These `are' families of Judah, by their numbered ones, six and seventy thousand and five hundred. Sons of Issachar by their families; `of' Tola `is' the family of the Tolaite; of Pua the family of the Punite; of Jashub the family of the Jashubite; of Shimron the family of the Shimronite. These `are' families of Issachar, by their numbered ones, four and sixty thousand and three hundred. Sons of Zebulun by their families: of Sered `is' the family of the Sardite; of Elon the family of the Elonite; of Jahleel the family of the Jahleelite. These `are' families of the Zebulunite by their numbered ones, sixty thousand and five hundred. Sons of Joseph by their families `are' Manasseh and Ephraim. Sons of Manasseh: of Machir `is' the family of the Machirite; and Machir hath begotten Gilead; of Gilead `is' the family of the Gileadite. These `are' sons of Gilead: `of' Jeezer `is' the family of the Jeezerite; of Helek the family of the Helekite; and `of' Asriel the family of the Asrielite; and `of' Shechem the family of the Shechemite; and `of' Shemida the family of the Shemidaite; and `of' Hepher the family of the Hepherite. And Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons but daughters, and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad `are' Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. These `are' families of Manasseh, and their numbered ones `are' two and fifty thousand and seven hundred. These `are' sons of Ephraim by their families: of Shuthelah `is' the family of the Shuthelhite; of Becher the family of the Bachrite; of Tahan the family of the Tahanite. And these `are' sons of Shuthelah: of Eran the family of the Eranite. These `are' families of the sons of Ephraim, by their numbered ones, two and thirty thousand and five hundred. These `are' sons of Joseph by their families. Sons of Benjamin by their families: of Bela `is' the family of the Belaite; of Ashbel the family of the Ashbelite; of Ahiram the family of the Ahiramite; of Shupham the family of the Shuphamite; of Hupham the family of the Huphamite. And sons of Bela are Ard and Naaman: `of Ard is' the family of the Ardite: of Naaman the family of the Naamite. These `are' sons of Benjamin by their families, and their numbered ones `are' five and forty thousand and six hundred. These `are' sons of Dan by their families: of Shuham `is' the family of the Shuhamite; these `are' families of Dan by their families; all the families of the Shuhamite, by their numbered ones, `are' four and sixty thousand and four hundred. Sons of Asher by their families: of Jimna `is' the family of the Jimnite; of Jesui the family of the Jesuite; of Beriah the family of the Beriite. Of sons of Beriah: of Heber `is' the family of the Heberite; of Malchiel the family of the Malchielite. And the name of the daughter of Asher `is' Sarah. These `are' families of the sons of Asher, by their numbered ones, three and fifty thousand and four hundred. Sons of Naphtali by their families: of Jahzeel `is' the family of the Jahzeelite; of Guni the family of the Gunite; of Jezer the family of the Jezerite; of Shillem the family of the Shillemite. These `are' families of Naphtali by their families, and their numbered ones `are' five and forty thousand and four hundred. These `are' numbered ones of the sons of Israel, six hundred thousand, and a thousand, seven hundred and thirty. And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, `To these is the land apportioned by inheritance, by the number of names; to the many thou dost increase their inheritance, and to the few thou dost diminish their inheritance; `to' each according to his numbered ones is given his inheritance. `Only by lot is the land apportioned, by the names of the tribes of their fathers they inherit; according to the lot is their inheritance apportioned between many and few.' And these `are' numbered ones of the Levite by their families: of Gershon `is' the family of the Gershonite; of Kohath the family of the Kohathite; of Merari the family of the Merarite. These `are' families of the Levite: the family of the Libnite, the family of the Hebronite, the family of the Mahlite, the family of the Mushite, the family of the Korathite. And Kohath hath begotten Amram, and the name of Amram's wife is Jochebed, daughter of Levi, whom `one' hath born to Levi in Egypt; and she beareth to Amram Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam their sister. And born to Aaron Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar; and Nadab dieth -- Abihu also -- in their bringing near strange fire before Jehovah. And their numbered ones are three and twenty thousand, every male from a son of a month and upwards, for they have not numbered themselves in the midst of the sons of Israel; for an inheritance hath not been given to them in the midst of the sons of Israel. These `are' those numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who have numbered the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, `near' Jericho; and among these there hath not been a man of those numbered by Moses, and Aaron the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai, for Jehovah said of them, `They do certainly die in the wilderness;' and there hath not been left of them a man save Caleb son of Jephunneh, and Joshua son of Nun.
and a sign he did receive of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith in the uncircumcision, for his being father of all those believing through uncircumcision, for the righteousness also being reckoned to them, and father of circumcision to those not of circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of the faith, that `is' in the uncircumcision of our father Abraham. For not through law `is' the promise to Abraham, or to his seed, of his being heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith; for if they who are of law `are' heirs, the faith hath been made void, and the promise hath been made useless; for the law doth work wrath; for where law is not, neither `is' transgression. Because of this `it is' of faith, that `it may be' according to grace, for the promise being sure to all the seed, not to that which `is' of the law only, but also to that which `is' of the faith of Abraham, who is father of us all (according as it hath been written -- `A father of many nations I have set thee,') before Him whom he did believe -- God, who is quickening the dead, and is calling the things that be not as being. Who, against hope in hope did believe, for his becoming father of many nations according to that spoken: `So shall thy seed be;'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 17
Commentary on Genesis 17 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The covenant had been made with Abram for at least fourteen years, and yet Abram remained without any visible sign of its accomplishment, and was merely pointed in faith to the inviolable character of the promise of God. Jehovah now appeared to Him again, when he was ninety-nine years old, twenty-four years after his migration, and thirteen after the birth of Ishmael, to give effect to the covenant and prepare for its execution. Having come down to Abram in a visible form (Genesis 17:22), He said to him, “ I am El Shaddai (almighty God): walk before Me and be blameless .” At the establishment of the covenant, God had manifested Himself to him as Jehovah (Genesis 15:7); here Jehovah describes Himself as El Shaddai , God the Mighty One. שׁדּי : from שׁדד to be strong, with the substantive termination ai , like חגּי the festal, ישׁישׁי the old man, סיני the thorn-grown, etc. This name is not to be regarded as identical with Elohim , that is to say, with God as Creator and Preserver of the world, although in simple narrative Elohim is used for El Shaddai , which is only employed in the more elevated and solemn style of writing. It belonged to the sphere of salvation, forming one element in the manifestation of Jehovah , and describing Jehovah , the covenant God, as possessing the power to realize His promises, even when the order of nature presented no prospect of their fulfilment, and the powers of nature were insufficient to secure it. The name which Jehovah thus gave to Himself was to be a pledge, that in spite of “his own body now dead,” and “the deadness of Sarah's womb” (Romans 4:19), God could and would give him the promised innumerable posterity. On the other hand, God required this of Abram, “ Walk before Me (cf. Genesis 5:22) and be blameless ” (Genesis 6:9). “Just as righteousness received in faith was necessary for the establishment of the covenant, so a blameless walk before God was required for the maintenance and confirmation of the covenant.” This introduction is followed by a more definite account of the new revelation; first of the promise involved in the new name of God (Genesis 17:2-8), and then of the obligation imposed upon Abram (Genesis 17:9-14). “ I will give My covenant, ” says the Almighty, “ between Me and thee, and multiply thee exceedingly .” בּרית נתן signifies, not to make a covenant, but to give, to put, i.e., to realize, to set in operation the things promised in the covenant - equivalent to setting up the covenant (cf. Genesis 17:7 and Genesis 9:12 with Genesis 9:9). This promise Abram appropriated to himself by falling upon his face in worship, upon which God still further expounded the nature of the covenant about to be executed.
On the part of God אני placed at the beginning absolutely: so far as I am concerned, for my part) it was to consist of this: (1) that God would make Abram the father ( אב instead of אני chosen with reference to the name Abram) of a multitude of nations, the ancestor of nations and kings; (2) that He would be God, show Himself to be God, in an eternal covenant relation, to him and to his posterity, according to their families, according to all their successive generations; and (3) that He would give them the land in which he had wandered as a foreigner, viz., all Canaan, for an everlasting possession. As a pledge of this promise God changed his name אברם , i.e., high father, into אברהם , i.e., father of the multitude, from אב and רהם , Arab . ruhâm = multitude. In this name God gave him a tangible pledge of the fulfilment of His covenant, inasmuch as a name which God gives cannot be a mere empty sound, but must be the expression of something real, or eventually acquire reality.
On the part of Abraham ( ואתּה thou , the antithesis to אני , as for me , Genesis 17:4) God required that he and his descendants in all generations should keep the covenant, and that as a sign he should circumcise himself and every male in his house. המּול Niph . of מוּל , and נמלתּם perf . Niph . for נמלּתם , from מלל = מוּל . As the sign of the covenant, circumcision is called in Genesis 17:13, “ the covenant in the flesh, ” so far as the nature of the covenant was manifested in the flesh. It was to be extended not only to the seed, the lineal descendants of Abraham, but to all the males in his house, even to every foreign slave not belonging to the seed of Abram, whether born in the house or acquired (i.e., bought) with money, and to the “ son of eight days, ” i.e., the male child eight days old; with the threat that the uncircumcised should be exterminated from his people, because by neglecting circumcision he had broken the covenant with God. The form of speech ההיא הנּפשׁ נכרתה , by which many of the laws are enforced (cf. Exodus 12:15, Exodus 12:19; Leviticus 7:20-21, Leviticus 7:25, etc.), denotes not rejection from the nation, or banishment, but death, whether by a direct judgment from God, an untimely death at the hand of God, or by the punishment of death inflicted by the congregation or the magistrates, and that whether יוּמת מות is added, as in Exodus 31:14, etc., or not. This is very evident from Leviticus 17:9-10, where the extermination to be effected by the authorities is distinguished from that to be executed by God Himself (see my biblische Archäologie ii. §153, 1). In this sense we sometimes find, in the place of the earlier expression “ from his people, ” i.e., his nation, such expressions as “from among his people” (Leviticus 17:4, Leviticus 17:10; Numbers 15:30), “from Israel” (Exodus 12:15; Numbers 19:13), “from the congregation of Israel” (Exodus 12:19); and instead of “that soul,” in Leviticus 17:4, Leviticus 17:9 (cf. Exodus 30:33, Exodus 30:38), we find “that man.”
The appointment of the sign of the covenant was followed by this further revelation as to the promised seed, that Abram would receive it through his wife Sarai. In confirmation of this her exalted destiny, she was no longer to be called Sarai ( שׂרי , probably from שׂרר with the termination ai , the princely), but שׂרה , the princess; for she was to become nations, the mother of kings of nations. Abraham then fell upon his face and laughed, saying in himself (i.e., thinking), “ Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old, or shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? ” “The promise was so immensely great, that he sank in adoration to the ground, and so immensely paradoxical, that he could not help laughing” (Del.). “Not that he either ridiculed the promise of God, or treated it as a fable, or rejected it altogether; but, as often happens when things occur which are least expected, partly lifted up with joy, partly carried out of himself with wonder, he burst out into laughter” (Calvin). In this joyous amazement he said to God (Genesis 17:18), “O that Ishmael might live before Thee!” To regard these words, with Calvin and others, as intimating that he should be satisfied with the prosperity of Ishmael, as though he durst not hope for anything higher, is hardly sufficient. The prayer implies anxiety, lest Ishmael should have no part in the blessings of the covenant. God answers, “Yes ( אבל imo), Sarah thy wife bears thee a son, and thou wilt call his name Isaac (according to the Greek form Ἰσαάκ , for the Hebrew יצחק , i.e., laughter, with reference to Abraham's laughing; Genesis 17:17, cf. Genesis 21:6), and I will establish My covenant with him,” i.e., make him the recipient of the covenant grace. And the prayer for Ishmael God would also grant: He would make him very fruitful, so that he should beget twelve princes and become a great nation. But the covenant, God repeated (Genesis 17:21), should be established with Isaac, whom Sarah was to bear to him at that very time in the following year. - Since Ishmael therefore was excluded from participating in the covenant grace, which was ensured to Isaac alone; and yet Abraham was to become a multitude of nations, and that through Sarah, who was to become “nations” through the son she was to bear (Genesis 17:16); the “multitude of nations” could not include either the Ishmaelites or the tribes descended from the sons of Keturah (Genesis 25:2.), but the descendants of Isaac alone; and as one of Isaac's two sons received no part of the covenant promise, the descendants of Jacob alone. But the whole of the twelve sons of Jacob founded only the one nation of Israel, with which Jehovah established the covenant made with Abraham (Ex 6 and 20-24), so that Abraham became through Israel the lineal father of one nation only. From this it necessarily follows, that the posterity of Abraham, which was to expand into a multitude of nations, extends beyond this one lineal posterity, and embraces the spiritual posterity also, i.e., all nations who are grafted ἐκ πίστεως Ἀβραάμ into the seed of Abraham (Romans 4:11-12, and Romans 4:16, Romans 4:17). Moreover, the fact that the seed of Abraham was not to be restricted to his lineal descendants, is evident from the fact, that circumcision as the covenant sign was not confined to them, but extended to all the inmates of his house, so that these strangers were received into the fellowship of the covenant, and reckoned as part of the promised seed. Now, if the whole land of Canaan was promised to this posterity, which was to increase into a multitude of nations (Genesis 17:8), it is perfectly evident, from what has just been said, that the sum and substance of the promise was not exhausted by the gift of the land, whose boundaries are described in Genesis 15:18-21, as a possession to the nation of Israel, but that the extension of the idea of the lineal posterity, “Israel after the flesh,” to the spiritual posterity, “Israel after the spirit,” requires the expansion of the idea and extent of the earthly Canaan to the full extent of the spiritual Canaan, whose boundaries reach as widely as the multitude of nations having Abraham as father; and, therefore, that in reality Abraham received the promise “that he should be the heir of the world” (Romans 4:13).
(Note: What stands out clearly in this promise-viz., the fact that the expressions “ seed of Abraham ” (people of Israel) and “ land of Canaan ” are not exhausted in the physical Israel and earthly Canaan, but are to be understood spiritually, Israel and Canaan acquiring the typical significance of the people of God and land of the Lord - is still further expanded by the prophets, and most distinctly expressed in the New Testament by Christ and the apostles. This scriptural and spiritual interpretation of the Old Testament is entirely overlooked by those who, like Auberlen , restrict all the promises of God and the prophetic proclamations of salvation to the physical Israel, and reduce the application of them to the “Israel after the spirit,” i.e., to believing Christendom, to a mere accommodation.)
And what is true of the seed of Abraham and the land of Canaan must also hold good of the covenant and the covenant sign. Eternal duration was promised only to the covenant established by God with the seed of Abraham, which was to grow into a multitude of nations, but not to the covenant institution which God established in connection with the lineal posterity of Abraham, the twelve tribes of Israel. Everything in this institution which was of a local and limited character, and only befitted the physical Israel and the earthly Canaan, existed only so long as was necessary for the seed of Abraham to expand into a multitude of nations. So again it was only in its essence that circumcision could be a sign of the eternal covenant. Circumcision, whether it passed from Abraham to other nations, or sprang up among other nations independently of Abraham and his descendants (see my Archäologie , §63, 1), was based upon the religious view, that the sin and moral impurity which the fall of Adam had introduced into the nature of man had concentrated itself in the sexual organs, because it is in sexual life that it generally manifests itself with peculiar force; and, consequently, that for the sanctification of life, a purification or sanctification of the organ of generation, by which life is propagated, is especially required. In this way circumcision in the flesh became a symbol of the circumcision, i.e., the purification, of the heart (Deuteronomy 10:16; Deuteronomy 30:6, cf. Leviticus 26:41; Jeremiah 4:4; Jeremiah 9:25; Ezekiel 44:7), and a covenant sign to those who received it, inasmuch as they were received into the fellowship of the holy nation (Exodus 19:6), and required to sanctify their lives, in other words, to fulfil all that the covenant demanded. It was to be performed on every boy on the eighth day after its birth, not because the child, like its mother, remains so long in a state of impurity, but because, as the analogous rule with regard to the fitness of young animals for sacrifice would lead us to conclude, this was regarded as the first day of independent existence (Leviticus 22:27; Exodus 22:29; see my Archäologie , §63).
When God had finished His address and ascended again, Abraham immediately fulfilled the covenant duty enjoined upon him, by circumcision himself on that very day, along with all the male members of his house. Because Ishmael was 13 years old when he was circumcised, the Arabs even now defer circumcision to a much later period than the Jews, generally till between the ages of 5 and 13, and frequently even till the 13th year.