Genesis 17 Study Notes

17:9-14 God now placed one final covenant-related demand on Abraham and his offspring: circumcision. This surgical removal of the foreskin of the penis was typically done with a razor-sharp flint knife (Jos 5:2-3). On newborns it was performed when the boy was eight days old; no form of female circumcision was authorized. This surrender of the first portion of the bodily instrument used to fulfill God’s first command to humanity (“Be fruitful, multiply,” Gn 1:28) symbolized the individual’s willingness to submit all of himself to God and to all of his covenant commands.

The fact that every male among them was to be circumcised had a leveling effect within the Israelite community; whether wealthy or poor, master or slave, all shared a common experience and a common mark. All were equal before God. So vital was the acceptance of the sign on the body that anyone who lacked it was to be cut off from his people because he had broken the covenant.

17:15-16 The Lord decreed that Abraham’s wife Sarai was now to receive the name Sarah (“Princess,” which is an alternate form of Sarai). This “princess” would be given the privilege of producing nations; kings of peoples would come from her. During the OT period at least four nations came from Sarah’s womb: Israel, Judah, Edom, and the Amalekites. Over Israel and Judah collectively a total of forty-one kings reigned. Sarah is the only woman in the OT whom the Lord specifically indicated he would bless.

17:17-22 Undaunted by Abraham’s well-intended suggestion regarding Ishmael, God reaffirmed that Sarah would bear him a son who, appropriately, would be named Isaac—“He Laughs.” With Isaac God would confirm a permanent covenant—the Abrahamic covenant—that would continue with future offspring. Lesser promises were made for Ishmael. Though no covenant would be established with him, God would bless Ishmael, enabling him to fulfill humanity’s basic command to be fruitful and multiply . . . greatly (1:28; 9:1,7). No kings were promised in Ishmael’s lineage, but from him would come twelve tribal leaders (25:13-16), and his offspring would become a great nation.

The Lord’s amazing final statement named the child not yet conceived, confirmed a binding relationship between God and that son, and then set a date when the boy would be born to ninety-year-old Sarah. Dramatically, God then “ascended above” (CSB, withdrew from) Abraham.

17:23-27 Promptly after the Lord ascended, Abraham circumcised himself and all the males in his household. With the sign of the covenant now on his body, Abraham was qualified to father the covenant child.