Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 17:2

"And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly." — Genesis 17:2 (ASV)

I will make my covenant. —In Genesis 15:18 the Hebrew word for “make” is cut, and refers to the severing of the victims; here it is “give,” “place,” and implies that it was an act of grace on God’s part (compare Note on Genesis 9:9).

Abram had now waited twenty-five years after leaving Ur-Chasdim, and fourteen or fifteen years since the ratification of the solemn covenant between him and Jehovah (Genesis 15:17). But the time had at last arrived for the fulfilment of the promise. As a sign of this, Abram and Sarai were to change their names, and all the males were to be brought near to God by a solemn sacrament.