John Gill Commentary Genesis 17

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine
Which was thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael last mentioned; so many years more it was before he is expressly told he should have a son by Sarai, or had the promise of Isaac, which was for the trial of his faith; and his age is here observed, that the power of God might be more manifest in fulfilling his promise, and giving him a son by Sarai:

the Lord appeared to Abram ;
in a visible manner, in a human form very probably, even the Logos, the Word and Son of God: it seems as if the Lord had not appeared to him since the birth of Ishmael, until this time; and if so, it may be thought to be a correction for him for listening to the voice of his wife in marrying Hagar, without asking counsel of God:

and said unto him, I [am] the Almighty God ;
as the Word of God is, as appears by his creation of all things, his sustaining of them, his government of the church, his redemption of it, and preservation of his people safe to glory, see (Revelation 1:8) ; and this epithet is very appropriate here, when the Lord was about to give out a promise of a son to Abram and Sarai, so much stricken in years. Some render it "all sufficient" ^F3, as Jehovah is, sufficient in and of himself, and for himself, and stands in no need of any, or of anything from another; and has a sufficiency for others, both in a way of providence and grace:

walk before me :
not as though Abram had not walked in this way, or had discontinued his walk before God, but that he would go on to walk by faith in a dependence on him for everything he wanted, both with respect to things temporal and spiritual; and to walk in all his commandments and ordinances, that he had given, or should give him; and all this as in his presence, and under his watchful eye, that sees and observes all things, and before whom all things are naked and open, as all are to the essential Word of God, (Hebrews 4:12Hebrews 4:13) ;

and be thou perfect :
upright and sincere in acts of faith, and in duties of religion, and go on to perfection; which though a sinless one is not attainable in this life, is desirable, and is to be had in Christ, though not in ourselves: but here it chiefly denotes an holy and unblamable life and conversation, which though not entirely free from sin, yet without any notorious ones, which bring dishonour to God and disgrace upon a man's character and profession, see (Genesis 6:9) . This respects not perfection in his body or flesh, as the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it, through circumcision, by which the Jews ^F4 fancy Abram became perfect, but he was not until circumcised.

FOOTNOTES:

• F3: (ydv la) "Deus sufficiens", Cocceius; so Jarchi and Ainsworth.
• F4: Jarchi in loc. Pirke Eliezer, c. 29. Misn. Nedarim, c. 13. sect. 11.

And I will make my covenant between me and you The covenant of circumcision, so called from the token of it, which God is said to make or give ^F5, being his own constitution, and depended on his sovereign will and pleasure, see (Acts 7:8) ;

and will multiply you exceedingly; as he had before promised at several times, and now renews it, lest he should think that Ishmael was the promised seed; for though Hagar's seed is promised to be multiplied, yet here Abram's seed by Sarai is intended, which should be exceeding exceedingly, or in great abundance multiplied; and especially as this may include both his natural seed by her, and his spiritual seed among all nations, who are of the same faith with him, see (Genesis 12:2) (13:16) (15:5) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F5: (hnta) "dabo", Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt.

And Abram fell on his face At the sight of so glorious a Person that appeared to him, and in reverence of his majesty, and as sensible of his unworthiness of such a visit, and of having such favours bestowed upon him; and not because he was not as yet circumcised, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; and so other Jewish ^F6 writers observe, that before he was circumcised he fell, when God spoke to him, but afterwards he sat and stood, (Genesis 18:1) ; but it may be observed, that not only uncircumcised persons, as Balaam, (Numbers 22:31) , in whom Jarchi instances, but circumcised ones, as Ezekiel, (Ezekiel 1:28) , Joshua, (Joshua 5:14) , and others, have fallen on their faces at a divine appearance:

and God talked with him ; after he was raised up, and was strengthened and encouraged to stand up before God, and hear what he had to say to him; for after this we read of his falling on his face again, (Genesis 17:17) ; which shows that he had been erect, after he first fell on his face: saying; as follows.

FOOTNOTES:

• F6: Jarchi in loc. Pirke Eliezer, ut supra. (c. 29.)

As for me, behold, my covenant [is] with you Who was gracious to make it, faithful to keep it, and immutable in it, though Abram was but a man, and sinful:

and you shall be a father of many nations : as he was of many Arabian nations, and of the Turks in the line of Ishmael; and of the Midianites, and others, in the line of his sons by Keturah; and of the Israelites in the line of Isaac, as well as of the Edomites in the line of Esau; and in a spiritual sense the father of all that believe, in all the nations of the world, circumcised or uncircumcised, as the apostle explains it, (Romans 4:11Romans 4:12Romans 4:16–18) .

Neither shall your name be any more called Abram
Which signifies an "high father", which name he bore for many years before he was the father of anyone:

but your name shall be Abraham :
with all addition of the letter (h) inserted into it, and makes the last syllable two, "raham": which word in the Arabic language, as Hottinger ^F7 observes, signifies "numerous" ^F8; so that with this addition his name Abraham may be interpreted, the father of a numerous offspring; and with this agrees the reason of it, as follows:

for a father of many nations have I made you ;
not that he was so already in fact, but in the purpose and promise of God, (Romans 4:17) ; Abraham has not only been the father of many nations, in a literal sense, as before observed, but in a mystical sense, of the whole world; that is, of all in it that believe, whether Jews or Gentiles; and so the Rabbins ^F9 interpret it: at first, they say, he was the father of Aram, and therefore his name was called Abram, but now he is the father of the whole world, and therefore called Abraham; and so Maimonides ^F11 himself says, quoting this passage, ``behold he is the father of the whole world, who are gathered under the wings of the Shechinah.''

FOOTNOTES:

• F7: Smegma Oriental. p. 88.
• F8: , "numerus", "copiosus", Golius, col. 1055, 1056. Castel. col. 3537.
• F9: In Massechet Biccurim, apud Galat. in Arcan. Cathol. Ver. l. 5, 13. & 9, 12. in Maimon. in Misn. ib. c. 1. sect. 4.
• F11: Hilchot Biccurim, c. 4. sect. 3.