John Gill Commentary Genesis 17:5

"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." — Genesis 17:5 (ASV)

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.