Genesis 17
17
CHAPTER 17
1Forsooth after that Abram began to be of ninety years and nine, the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, I am Almighty God; go thou before me, and be thou perfect;
2and I shall set my covenant of peace betwixt me and thee; and I shall multiply thee full greatly.
3And Abram felled down low on his face. And God said to him,
4I am, and my covenant of peace is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of many folks;
5and thy name shall no more be called Abram, but thou shalt be called Abraham, for I have made thee [the] father of many folks;
6and I shall make thee to wax full greatly, and I shall set thee in folks, and kings shall go out of thee;
7and I shall make my covenant between me and thee, and between thy seed after thee, in their generations, by everlasting bond of peace, that I be thy God, and of thy seed after thee;
8and I shall give to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy pilgrimage, all the land of Canaan, into everlasting possession, and I shall be the God of them.
9God said again to Abraham, And therefore thou shalt keep my covenant, and thy seed after thee, in their generations.
10This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, betwixt me and you, and thy seed after thee; each male kind of you shall be circumcised,
11and ye shall circumcise the flesh of your man’s rod, that it be into a sign of bond of peace betwixt me and you.
12A young child of eight days shall be circumcised in you, all male kind in your generations, as well a born servant [of your household], as a servant bought, shall be circumcised,
13and whoever is of your kindred, he shall be circumcised; and my covenant shall be in your flesh into everlasting bond of peace.
14A man whose flesh of his rod shall not be circumcised, that man shall be done away from his people; for he made void my covenant.
15Also God said to Abraham, Thou shalt not call Sarai, thy wife, Sarai, but Sarah;
16and I shall bless her, and of her I shall give to thee a son, whom I shall bless, and he shall be into nations, and kings of peoples shall be born of him.
17Abraham felled down on his face, and laughed in his heart, and said, Guessest thou, whether a child shall be born to a man of an hundred years, and Sarah of ninety years shall bear a child?
18And he said to the Lord, I would that Ishmael might live before thee.
19And the Lord said to Abraham, Sarah, thy wife, shall bear a son to thee, and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I shall make my covenant with him into everlasting bond of peace, and to his seed after him;
20also on Ishmael I have heard thee, lo! I shall bless him, and I shall increase him, and I shall multiply him greatly; he shall engender twelve dukes, and I shall make him into a great folk.
21Forsooth I shall make my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall child to thee in this time in the tother year.
22And when the word of the speaker with him was ended, God ascended from Abraham.
23Forsooth Abraham took Ishmael, his son, and all the born servants of his house, and all which he had bought, all the males of all men of his house, and circumcised the flesh of their rods, anon in that day, as the Lord commanded to him.
24Abraham was of ninety years and nine when he circumcised the flesh of his rod,
25and Ishmael, his son, had filled thirteen years in the time of his circumcision.
26Abraham was circumcised in the same day, and Ishmael his son,
27and all the men of his house, as well born servants, as those bought and aliens, were circumcised together.
Wycliffe’s Bible with Modern Spelling ©2017
Wycliffe’s Apocrypha ©2013, 2015
Wycliffe’s Bible © 2012, 2015
Wycliffe’s New Testament ©2001, 2011
Wycliffe’s Old Testament ©2001, 2010
Genesis 17
17
Covenant of Circumcision.#The Priestly source gathers the major motifs of the story so far and sets them firmly within a covenant context; the word “covenant” occurs thirteen times. There are links to the covenant with Noah (v. 1 = 6:9; v. 7 = 9:9; v. 11 = 9:12–17). In this chapter, vv. 1–8 promise progeny and land; vv. 9–14 are instructions about circumcision; vv. 15–21 repeat the promise of a son to Sarah and distinguish this promise from that to Hagar; vv. 22–27 describe Abraham’s carrying out the commands. The Almighty: traditional rendering of Hebrew El Shaddai, which is P’s favorite designation of God in the period of the ancestors. Its etymology is uncertain, but its root meaning is probably “God, the One of the Mountains.” 1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said: I am God the Almighty. Walk in my presence and be blameless.#Gn 35:11; Ex 6:3. 2Between you and me I will establish my covenant, and I will multiply you exceedingly.#Gn 12:2; 13:16; Ex 32:13.
3Abram fell face down and God said to him: 4For my part, here is my covenant with you: you are to become the father of a multitude of nations.#Sir 44:21; Rom 4:17. 5No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham,#Abram and Abraham are merely two forms of the same name, both meaning, “the father is exalted”; another variant form is Abiram (Nm 16:1; 1 Kgs 16:34). The additional -ha- in the form Abraham is explained by popular etymology as coming from ab-hamon goyim, “father of a multitude of nations.” for I am making you the father of a multitude of nations.#Neh 9:7. 6I will make you exceedingly fertile; I will make nations of you; kings will stem from you. 7I will maintain my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting covenant, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.#Ps 105:42; Lk 1:72–73; Gal 3:16. 8I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are now residing as aliens, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God.#Ex 32:13; Dt 1:8; 14:2; Lk 1:55; Acts 7:5. 9God said to Abraham: For your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages. 10This is the covenant between me and you and your descendants after you that you must keep: every male among you shall be circumcised.#Circumcised: circumcision was widely practiced in the ancient world, usually as an initiation rite for males at puberty. By shifting the time of circumcision to the eighth day after birth, biblical religion made it no longer a “rite of passage” but the sign of the eternal covenant between God and the community descending from Abraham. #Jn 7:22; Acts 7:8; Rom 4:11. 11Circumcise the flesh of your foreskin. That will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.#Sir 44:20. 12Throughout the ages, every male among you, when he is eight days old, shall be circumcised, including houseborn slaves and those acquired with money from any foreigner who is not of your descendants.#Lv 12:3; Lk 1:59; 2:21. 13Yes, both the houseborn slaves and those acquired with money must be circumcised. Thus my covenant will be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. 14If a male is uncircumcised, that is, if the flesh of his foreskin has not been cut away, such a one will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.
15God further said to Abraham: As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.#Sarai and Sarah are variant forms of the same name, both meaning “princess.” 16I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her. Her also will I bless; she will give rise to nations, and rulers of peoples will issue from her.#Gn 18:10; Gal 4:23. 17Abraham fell face down and laughed#Laughed: yishaq, which is also the Hebrew form of the name “Isaac”; similar explanations of the name are given in Gn 18:12 and 21:6. as he said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at ninety?”#Rom 4:19; Heb 11:11–12. 18So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael could live in your favor!” 19God replied: Even so, your wife Sarah is to bear you a son, and you shall call him Isaac. It is with him that I will maintain my covenant as an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him.#Gn 11:30; 21:2; Ex 32:13; Sir 44:22. 20Now as for Ishmael, I will heed you: I hereby bless him. I will make him fertile and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve chieftains, and I will make of him a great nation.#Gn 16:10; 21:13, 18; 25:12–16. 21But my covenant I will maintain with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you by this time next year.#Gn 18:14; 21:2; 26:2–5; Rom 9:7. 22When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God departed from him.
23Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all his slaves, whether born in his house or acquired with his money—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins on that same day, as God had told him to do. 24Abraham was ninety-nine years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised,#Gn 17:10; Rom 4:11. 25and his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised. 26Thus, on that same day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised; 27and all the males of his household, including the slaves born in his house or acquired with his money from foreigners, were circumcised with him.
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