1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee. 6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. 9 And God said unto Abraham, And as for thee, thou shalt keep my covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt me and you. 12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner that is not of thy seed. 13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant. 15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. 16 And I will bless her, and moreover I will give thee a son of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be [a mother of] nations; kings of peoples shall be of her. 17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? 18 And Abraham said unto God, Oh that Ishmael might live before thee! 19 And God said, Nay, but Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. 22 And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham. 23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him. 24 And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son. 27 And all the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money of a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Genesis · American Standard Version (1901)
Genesis 17 American Standard Version (1901)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Abraham
Called by God, he left home in faith to become the father of a chosen people.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 12–25
Ishmael
Abraham's son by Hagar, blessed by God to become a great nation.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 16; 17:20; 21; 25:12–18
Sarah
Wife of Abraham who bore Isaac in her old age, long after hope seemed gone.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 17-21
Cross references (26)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Philippians 4:13; Ephesians 3:20; Luke 1:6; Genesis 18:14; Genesis 6:9
- 2 Genesis 17:4–6; Genesis 12:2; Genesis 15:18; Psalm 105:8–11; Genesis 13:16
- 3 Genesis 17:17; Judges 13:20; Matthew 17:6; Joshua 5:14; Numbers 16:45
- 4 Genesis 35:11; Romans 4:11–18; Galatians 3:28–29; Genesis 12:2; Genesis 22:17
- 5 Matthew 1:21–23; Nehemiah 9:7; Romans 4:17; Genesis 17:15; Genesis 32:28
- 6 Genesis 17:4; Matthew 1:6–17; Genesis 35:11; Genesis 17:16; Genesis 17:20
- 7 Romans 9:7–9; Genesis 26:24; Acts 2:39; Genesis 15:18; Hebrews 8:10
- 8 Leviticus 26:12; Psalm 105:11; Genesis 12:7; Exodus 6:7; Genesis 13:15
- 9 Psalm 25:10; Psalm 103:18; Isaiah 56:4–5
- 10 Acts 7:8; Colossians 2:11–12; Galatians 5:3–6; Romans 4:9–11; Joshua 5:2
- 11 Romans 4:11; Acts 7:8; Deuteronomy 10:16; Exodus 4:25; Joshua 5:3
- 12 Leviticus 12:3; Luke 2:21; Philippians 3:5; Exodus 12:48–49; Luke 1:59
- 13 Exodus 12:44; Nehemiah 5:8; Genesis 37:36; Exodus 21:16; Genesis 37:27
- 14 Exodus 4:24–26; Numbers 15:30–31; Exodus 12:19; Exodus 30:33; Isaiah 33:8
- 15 Genesis 32:28; Genesis 17:5; 2 Samuel 12:25
- 16 Genesis 35:11; 1 Peter 3:6; Isaiah 49:23; Galatians 4:26–31; Genesis 18:10–14
- 17 Genesis 18:12; Genesis 21:6; Romans 4:19–20; John 8:56; Revelation 11:16
- 18 Acts 2:39; Psalm 4:6; Psalm 41:12; Genesis 4:14; Jeremiah 32:39
- 19 Genesis 21:2–3; Luke 1:13–20; Genesis 18:10–14; Galatians 4:28–31; Genesis 21:6
- 20 Genesis 21:18; Genesis 21:13; Genesis 25:12–18; Genesis 16:10–12
- 21 Genesis 21:2–3; Genesis 26:2–5; Genesis 18:10; Romans 9:9; Galatians 3:29
- 22 Genesis 35:9–15; Genesis 18:33; John 10:30; Deuteronomy 5:4; Judges 13:20
- 23 Psalm 119:60; Proverbs 27:1; Genesis 17:10–14; Genesis 18:19; Genesis 17:26–27
- 24 Romans 4:11; Genesis 12:4; Genesis 17:17; Romans 4:19–20; Genesis 17:1
- 26 Psalm 119:60; Genesis 12:4; Genesis 22:3–4
- 27 Genesis 18:19
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
For it declares: "God said unto Abraham, Every male among you shall be circumcised; and ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, as a token of the covenant between Me and you." This same does Ezekiel the prophet say with regard to the Sabbaths: "Also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that …
… handmaid's son, "when Abram was ninety years old and nine, God appeared to him, and said unto him, I am God; be well-pleasing in my sight, and be without complaint, and I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will fill thee exceedingly." Here there are more distinct promises about the calling of the nations in Isaac, that …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
Being faithful in these things, he was sealed for righteousness, and received circumcision as a seal of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, having received a promise that he should be the father of many nations.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
When it is said, "The male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people, because he hath broken my covenant," some may be troubled how that ought to be understood, since it can be no fault of the infant whose life it is said must perish; nor has the …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
And I will give thee a son of Sarah; and I will bless him, and he shall become nations, and kings of nations shall be of him," --a promise which we now see fulfilled in Christ,--from that time forward this couple are not called in Scripture, as formerly, Abram and Sarai, but Abraham and Sarah, as we have called them …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)