Gen. 17 God renews his covenant with Abram, Gen. 17:1–4. His name in token thereof changed, Gen. 17:5. Kings shall be born of him, Gen. 17:6. The covenant established with his seed, Gen. 17:7. The promise of Canaan to him and his seed repeated, Gen. 17:8. Circumcision instituted, Gen. 17:9–10.

I am the Almighty God, who can do all that I have promised, or shall promise to time, and whatsoever pleaseth me; and therefore do thou firmly believe all my words.

I am come to renew, establish, and enlarge that covenant which I formerly made with thee.

Abram fell on his face, partly in self-abasement, and a humble sense of his own undeservedness of such favours; and partly in reverence and worship to God, and a thankful acknowledgment of his marvellous kindness. Compare Lev. 9:24, Ezek. 43:3.

Both literally, or after the flesh, of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Edomites, &c., and spiritually, of all believers of all nations, to whom Abram hath in some sort the place of a father, Rom. 4:12, Rom. 4:17.

Abraham, i.e. the father of a multitude; Ham in the Hebrew being put for Hamon, which signifies a multitude, by a figure called apocope, which is usual in proper names.

So did the kings of Israel and Judah, of Edom, of the Saracens, and the Messias, who is King of kings, and Lord of lords.

i.e. Whatsoever I am or have, all that shall be thine, and shall be employed for thy protection, consolation, and salvation. This phrase contains in it the confluence of all blessing, temporal, spiritual, and eternal. See Lev. 26:12, Ps. 33:12, Ps. 144:15, Jer. 31:33.

And to thy seed; unto thee, not in thy own person, but in thy seed. See Gen. 13:15, Gen. 13:17. For an everlasting possession; upon condition of their obedience to God, as is oft expressed; wherein seeing they so notoriously failed, it is no wonder if they possessed it but a little while, as the…

The agreement is mutual: my part was expressed before; now follows thy part, and the condition to which my promise and blessing is annexed.

Circumcision is here called the covenant by a usual metonomy, because it is the condition, sign, and seal of the covenant, the pledge of God’s promise and man’s duty. And upon the same grounds the cup, i.e.

The flesh of your foreskin, i.e. by a usual hypallage, the foreskin of your flesh; and the word flesh is here put for the genital part, as it is Lev. 15:2, Lev. 15:19, Ezek. 16:26, Ezek. 23:20, and elsewhere.

Eight days; not before that time, because of the child’s weakness and imperfection, and impurity too, Ex. 22:30, Lev. 12:3, for which reason also beasts were not to be offered to God before the eighth day, Ex. 22:30.

So it was, and is properly in regard of the thing signified to all true believers; and for the sign, it is so called because it was to endure through all generations till the coming of the Messias; the word olam, here and elsewhere rendered everlasting, or for ever, being oft used to express not…

And the uncircumcised man-child; or rather, and as for the uncircumcised man-child. So the nominative is put absolutely, as is frequent in the Hebrew tongue.

Sarai signifies my lady, or my princess, which confines her dominion to one family; but Sarah signifies either a lady or princess, simply and absolutely without restriction, or the princess of a multitude, the Hebrew letter he being taken out of Hamon, and added to her name, as it was to Abram’s…

He laughed, through admiration and holy rejoicing at so great a blessing, not through unbelief, as Sarah did, Gen. 18:12–13, as appears from Rom. 4:19–20. And though the outward act was the same in both, yet God discerned their differing dispositions and intentions therein.

Grant, O Lord, that the giving of one son may not be joined with the taking away of another; that Ishmael may faithfully serve thee, and may have a share in thy favour and gracious covenant.

Isaac signifies laughter, not from Sarah’s laughter, which as yet had not happened, but from Abraham’s past laughter, Gen. 17:17, and future joy in his son.

Have heard thee, to wit, in part, or so far as is here expressed; and probably, as to the chief blessing of the covenant, to wit, the forgiveness of his sins, and eternal life, as the Hebrew doctors and some others collect from Gen. 25:17, and from other considerations.

The covenant of the promised Seed to come out of his loins, and of life and salvation to accrue to himself and to his posterity by virtue of that Seed; in comparison whereof God speaks slightly of all the temporal blessings conferred upon Ishmael, though in themselves they were great and glorious.

To heaven in a visible manner, as it seems he conversed with him in some visible shape. Compare Gen. 35:13, Judg. 13:20.

Circumcised the flesh of their foreskin; partly by his own hand, and partly by the help of others, whom he by Divine instinct called to and directed in that work; in the self-same day, in which God appeared to him and gave the command. So he made haste and delayed not to execute God’s command.