Genesis · Chapter 17

1. and the posture Abram was in, ver. 3.

II. The covenant itself, in the particular instances. 1. That he should be the father of many nations, ver. 4. 6. and in token of that his name was changed, ver. 5. 2. That God would be a God to him and his seed, and would give them the land of Canaan, ver. 7, 8. and the seal of this part of the covenant was circumcision, ver. 9-14. 3. That he should have a son by Sarai, and in token of that her name was changed, ver. 15, 16. This promise Abraham received, ver.

17. And his request for Ishmael, (ver. 18.) was answered abundantly to his satisfaction, ver. 19-22.

III. The circumcision of Abraham and his family, according to God’s appointment, ver. 23-27.

V. 1. And when Abram was ninety nine years old-Full thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael. So long the promise of Isaac was deferred;

1. Perhaps to correct Abram’s over-hasty marrying of Hagar.

2. That Abram and Sarai being so far striken in age, God’s power in this matter might be the more magnified.

The Lord appeared unto Abram-In some visible display of God’s immediate glorious presence with him.

And said, I am the Almighty God-By this name he chose to make himself known to Abram, rather than by his name Jehovah, Exodus 6:3. He used it to Jacob, Genesis 35:11. They called him by this name, Genesis 28:5 43:14 48:3. It is the name of God that is mostly used throughout the book of Job, at least 30 times in the discourses of that book, in which Jehovah is used but once. After Moses, Jehovah is more frequently used, and this very rarely. I am El-Shaddai. It speaks the almighty power of God, either 1. As an avenger, from wrv he destroyed, or laid waste; so some: and they think God took this title from the destruction of the old world: Or, 2. As a benefactor, v for rva who, and yr it sufficeth. Our old English translation reads it here, very significantly, I am God All-sufficient. The God with whom we have to do, is self-sufficient; he hath every thing, and he needs not any thing. And he is enough to us, if we be in covenant with him; we have all in him, and we have enough in him; enough to satisfy our most enlarged desires; enough to supply the defect of every thing else, and to secure us happiness for our immortal souls.

But the covenant is mutual, walk before me, and be thou perfect-That is, upright and sincere. Observe,

1. That to walk before God, is to set God always before us, and to think, and speak, and act, in every thing as those that are always under his eye. It is to have a constant regard to his word, as our rule, and to his glory, as our end, in all our actions. It is to be inward with him in all the duties of religious worship, and to be entire for him in all holy conversation.

2. That upright walking with God is the condition of our interest in his all-sufficiency. If we neglect him, or dissemble with him, we forfeit the benefit of our relation to him.

Verse 1. The Lord appeared to Abram] See Clarke’s note on “Genesis 15:1”.

I am the Almighty God] ydv la yna ani El shaddai, I am God all-sufficient; from hdv shadah, to shed, to pour out. I am that God who pours out blessings, who gives them richly, abundantly, continually. Walk before me] ynpl Ëlhth hithhallech lephanai, set thyself to walk-be firmly purposed, thoroughly determined to obey, before me; for my eye is ever on thee, therefore ever consider that God seeth thee. Who can imagine a stronger incitement to conscientious, persevering obedience? Be thou perfect.] תמים hyhw vehyeh thamim, and thou shalt be perfections, i.e., a together perfect. Be just such as the holy God would have thee to be, as the almighty God can make thee and live as the all-sufficient God shall support thee; for he alone who makes the soul holy can preserve it in holiness. Our blessed Lord appears to have had these words pointedly in view, Matthew 5:48: esesqe umeiv teleioi, wsper o en toiv ouranois teleiov esti. Ye SHALL BE perfect, as your Father who is in heaven is perfect. But what does this imply? Why, to be saved from all the power, the guilt, and the contamination of sin. This is only the negative part of salvation, but it has also a positive part; to be made perfect-to be perfect as our Father who is in heaven is perfect, to be filled with the fulness of God, to have Christ dwelling continually in the heart by faith, and to be rooted and grounded in love. This is the state in which man was created, for he was made in the image and likeness of God. This is the state from which man fell, for he broke the command of God. And this is the state into which every human soul must be raised, who would dwell with God in glory; for Christ was incarnated and died to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. What a glorious privilege! And who can doubt the possibility of its attainment, who believes in the omnipotent love of God, the infinite merit of the blood of atonement, and the all-pervading and all-purifying energy of the Holy Ghost? How many miserable souls employ that time to dispute and cavil against the possibility of being saved from their sins, which they should devote to praying and believing that they might be saved out of the hands of their enemies! But some may say, “You overstrain the meaning of the term; it signifies only, be sincere; for as perfect obedience is impossible, God accepts of sincere obedience.” If by sincerity the objection means good desires, and generally good purposes, with an impure heart and spotted life, then I assert that no such thing is implied in the text, nor in the original word; but if the word sincerity be taken in its proper and literal sense, I have no objection to it. Sincere is compounded of sine cera, “without wax;” and, applied to moral subjects, is a metaphor taken from clarified honey, from which every atom of the comb or wax is separated. Then let it be proclaimed from heaven, Walk before me, and be SINCERE! purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump unto God; and thus ye shall be perfect, as your Father who is in heaven is perfect. This is sincerity. Reader, remember that the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin. Ten thousand quibbles on insulated texts can never lessen, much less destroy, the merit and efficacy of the great Atonement.

Verse 1. And when Abram was ninety-nine years old — Full thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael. So long the promise of Isaac was deferred; 1st, Perhaps to correct Abram’s over-hasty marrying of Hagar. 2d, That Abram and Sarai being so far stricken in age, God’s power in this matter might be the more magnified. The Lord appeared unto Abram — In some visible display of his glory. And said, I am the almighty God — By this name he chose to make himself known to Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, rather than by his name Jehovah, Exodus 6:3, and Genesis 35:11. And they called him by this name. It is the name of God that is mostly used throughout the book of Job, at least thirty times in the discourses of that book, in which Jehovah is used but once. After Moses, Jehovah is more frequently used, and this very rarely. I am El-shaddai. It speaks the almighty power of God, either, 1st, As an avenger, from ddv, he destroyed, or laid waste; a title, as some think, taken from the destruction of the old world: Or, 2d, As a benefactor, v for dva, who, and yd, it sufficeth. Our old English translation reads it here, very significantly. I am God all-sufficient. The God with whom we have to do is self-sufficient; he hath every thing, and he needs not any thing. And he is enough to us, if we be in covenant with him; we have all in him, and we have enough in him; enough to satisfy our most enlarged desires; enough to supply the defect of every thing else, and to secure us happiness for our immortal souls. But the covenant is mutual; walk before me, and be thou perfect — That is, upright and sincere. To walk before God is to set him always before us, and to think, and speak, and act in every thing as those that are always under his eye. It is to have a constant regard to his word as our rule, and to his glory as our end, in all our actions. It is to be spiritual in all the duties of religious worship, and, wholly devoted to him in all holy conversation. We must remember that this upright walking with God is the condition of our interest in his all- sufficiency. If we neglect him or dissemble with him, we forfeit the benefit of our relation to him.

Verse 1. The Almighty God. The original word Shaddai is often rendered, All-sufficient. He is so called because he sheds down blessings as the rain.

THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION, 1-27.

1. Ninety years old and nine — Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael. Comp. Genesis 16:16; 18:25. Slowly the years roll on, and God keeps promising, but not fulfilling. The Lord appeared — The words imply some visible theophany. Probably the appearance of Jehovah’s Angel, as in Genesis 16:7. Comp. verse 22. I am the Almighty God — Hebrews, I am El-Shaddai. Compare the use of this word in Genesis 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:25; and in Exodus 6:3; where see note. We have met with the name El-Elion in Genesis 14:18, 19, 20, 22, which designates the Supreme God, or God Most High. El-Shaddai denotes the Powerful or Omnipotent God. This name is appropriately introduced here as designating the Almighty Power which can override all opposing forces, and work miracles in order to fulfil the divine promises and plans. The deadness of Abram’s body, and also that of Sarai’s womb, (Romans 4:19,) shall not hinder the accomplishment of what El-Shaddai pledges. Walk before me — Let thy heart, thy life, thy character be such as one should be on whom El-Shaddai gazes. The long deferring of the promised seed was, that Abram might acquire a permanence of faith in God: something like Enoch, who walked three hundred years with Elohim. Genesis 5:22. El-Shaddai would lift Abram from a passive to an active faith. Be thou perfect — Complete, finished, blameless. The conscientious walking as in the sight of the Almighty leadeth on to perfection.

Ver. 2. My covenant; so called because God gave it to Abraham, and is still mindful of it to confirm it forever to the faithful. Isaiah 51:6.

2. I will make my covenant — The formal and symbolical cutting of the covenant was described in chap. xv; here Jehovah gives Abram the sign and seal of the covenant. Accordingly we note that in chap. 15:18, the Hebrew expression is cut (trk) a covenant; here it is give (ˆtn) a covenant. “The freedom of the covenant of promise is expressed in this latter phrase. It was a gift from a superior, rather than a bargain between equals; and as it was accompanied by the rite of circumcision, it was typical of the freedom of that covenant made afterwards to Christians, and sealed to them in the sacred rite of baptism.” — Speaker’s Commentary.

3. A continual regard to God’s all-sufficiency will have a great influence upon our upright walking with him.

V. 3. And Abram fell on his face while God talked with him-Either,

1. As one overcome by the brightness of the Divine glory: Daniel and John did so likewise. Or.

2. As one ashamed of himself, and blushing to think of the honours done to one so unworthy. He looks upon himself with humility, and upon God with reverence, and, in token of both, falls on his face.

Verse 3. And Abram fell on his face] The eastern method of prostration was thus: the person first went down on his knees, and then lowered his head to his knees, and touched the earth with his forehead. A very painful posture, but significative of great humiliation and reverence.

Verse 3. And Abram fell on his face while God talked with him — Either, 1st, As one overcome by the brightness of the divine glory; as Daniel and John also were. Or, 2d, As one ashamed of himself, and blushing to think of the honours done to one so unworthy. He looks upon himself with humility, and upon God with reverence; and, in token of both, falls on his face.

Ver. 3. Fell on his face. The exterior acts of worship were in general four.

(1) Prostration of the body to the ground.

(2) Bowing the head.

(3) Bowing the upper part of the body to the knees, and sometimes so much that the forehead touched the ground.

(4) Genuflections.

3. Abram fell on his face — Overwhelmed by the fulness and majesty of the revelation. God talked with him — Here the word for God is Elohim; and so in the space of these three verses we have the three divine names, Jehovah, El-Shaddai, and Elohim — a strange anomaly in the Jehovistic and Elohistic document hypothesis. Compare Introd., pp. 51-54.

V. 4. The promise is here introduced with solemnity: As for me, saith the Great God, Behold, behold and admire it, behold and be assured of it, my covenant is with thee.

And thou shalt be a father of many nations-This implies,

1. That his seed after the flesh should be very numerous, both in Isaac and in Ishmael, and in the sons of Keturah. And the event answered, for there have been, and are, more of the children of men descended from Abraham, than from any one man at equal distance with him from Noah, the common root.

2. That all believers, in every age, should be looked upon as his spiritual seed, as the father of the faithful. In this sense the apostle directs us to understand this promise, Romans 4:16,17. He is the father of those, in every nation, that, by faith, enter into covenant with God, and (as the Jewish writers express it) are gathered under the wings of the divine majesty.

Verse 4. The promise is here introduced with solemnity: As for me, saith the great God, behold — Admire, and be assured of it; my covenant is with thee; and thou shalt be a father of many nations — This implies, 1st, That his seed after the flesh should be very numerous, both in Isaac and in Ishmael, and in the sons of Keturah. And the event answered; for there have been, and are, more of the children of men descended from Abraham, than from any one man at an equal distance with him from Noah, the common root. 2d, That all believers in every age should be looked upon as his spiritual seed. In this sense the apostle directs us to understand this promise, Romans 4:16. He is the father of the faithful, of those, in every nation, that, by faith, enter into covenant with God, and (as the Jewish writers express it) are gathered under the wings of the Divine Majesty.

4. As for me — Contrast the thou in verse 9. Here God declares what he will do for his part; there he directs what Abram must do. A father of many nations — Or, of a noise of nations; a tumultuous mass of nations. The Ishmaelites, the Edomites, and the descendants of Keturah, (xxv, 1,) as well as the twelve tribes of Israel, sprang from Abram. So that Abram was literally the father of a great multitude of nations, and no name is more honoured in the East to day.

V. 5. In token of this, his name was changed from Abram, a high father, to Abraham, the father of a multitude. This was to confirm the faith of Abraham, while he was childless; perhaps even his own name was sometimes an occasion of grief to him; Why should he be called a high father, who was not a father at all? But now God had promised him a numerous issue, and had given him a name which signified so much; that name was his joy.

Verse 5. Thy name shall be Abraham] Abram אברם literally signifies a high or exalted father. Ab-ra-ham אברהם differs from the preceding only in one letter; it has h he before the last radical. Though this may appear very simple and easy, yet the true etymology and meaning of the word are very difficult to be assigned. The reason given for the change made in the patriarch’s name is this: For a father of many nations have I made thee, ba גוים המונ ab-hamon goyim, “a father of a multitude of nations.” This has led some to suppose that אברהם Abraham, is a contraction for המונ br ba ab-rab-hamon, “the father of a great multitude.”

Aben Ezra says the name is derived from המונ ryba abir-hamon, “a powerful multitude.”

Rabbi Solomon Jarchi defines the name cabalistically, and says that its numeral letters amount to two hundred and forty-eight, which, says he, is the exact number of the bones in the human body. But before the h he was added, which stands for five, it was five short of this perfection. Rabbi Lipman says the h he being added as the fourth letter, signifies that the Messiah should come in the fourth millenary of the world. Clarius and others think that the h he, which is one of the letters of the Tetragrammaton, (or word of four letters, hwhy YeHoVaH,) was added for the sake of dignity, God associating the patriarch more nearly to himself, by thus imparting to him a portion of his own name. Having enumerated so many opinions, that of William Alabaster, in his Apparatus to the Revelation, should not be passed by. He most wisely says that ab-ram or ab-rom signifies father of the Romans, and consequently the pope; therefore Abraham was pope the first! This is just as likely as some of the preceding etymologies.

From all these learned as well as puerile conjectures we may see the extreme difficulty of ascertaining the true meaning of the word, though the concordance makers, and proper name explainers find no difficulty at all in the case; and pronounce on it as readily and authoritatively as if they had been in the Divine council when it was first imposed.

Hottinger, in his Smegma Orientale, supposes the word to be derived from the Arabic root [Arabic] rahama, which signifies to be very numerous. Hence [Arabic] ab raham would signify a copious father or father of a multitude. This makes a very good sense, and agrees well with the context. Either this etymology or that which supposes the inserted h he to be an abbreviation of the word המנ hamon, multitude, is the most likely to be the true one. But this last would require the word to be written, when full, המונ רם ba ab-ram-hamon.

The same difficulty occurs, Genesis 17:15, on the word Sarai, yrc which signifies my prince or princess, and Sarah, hrc where the whole change is made by the substitution of a h he for a y yod. This latter might be translated princess in general; and while the former seems to point out her government in her own family alone, the latter appears to indicate her government over the nations of which her husband is termed the father or lord; and hence the promise states that she shall be a mother of nations, and that kings of people should spring from her. See Genesis 17:15, 16.

Now as the only change in each name is made by the insertion of a single letter, and that letter the same in both names, I cannot help concluding that some mystery was designed by its insertion; and therefore the opinion of Clarius and some others is not to be disregarded, which supposes that God shows he had conferred a peculiar dignity on both, by adding to their names one of the letters of his own: a name by which his eternal power and Godhead are peculiarly pointed out.

From the difficulty of settling the etymology of these two names, on which so much stress seems to be laid in the text, the reader will see with what caution he should receive the lists of explanations of the proper names in the Old and New Testaments, which he so frequently meets with, and which I can pronounce to be in general false or absurd.

Verse 5. In token of this, his name was changed from Abram, a high father, to Abraham, the father of a multitude. This was to confirm the faith of Abraham, while he was childless; perhaps even his own name was sometimes an occasion of grief to him: Why should he be called a high father, who was not a father at all? But now, God having promised him a numerous issue, and given him a name which signified so much, that name was his joy.

Ver. 5. Abram. Ab, father, and Ram, high, compounded his name before: but now Ham, multitude, was added. Abraham, according to the words of the covenant, signifies, a father of many nations.

5. Abram… Abraham — With the giving of the covenant of circumcision is given also a new name. Hence the custom of giving names at the time of circumcision. Abram signifies high father; Abraham, father of a multitude, (by the addition of µh apparently shortened form of ˆwmh, translated many, or multitude, in this same verse and in verse 4. This seems a simpler derivation than to assume, as Gesenius and others, a lost root, µhr.) Compare verse 15, where Sarai’s name is changed to Sarah. Thus the letter H, (h,) which occurs twice in the memorial name Jehovah, is incorporated in the new names of both the father and mother of the chosen seed. Comp. the “new name” of Revelation 2:17; 3:12. By these new names Abraham and Sarah become divinely consecrated, as they had not so fully been before.

Ver. 6. Exceedingly fruitful. The first blessing named was an immense progeny of nations; and Ishmael’s progeny alone seems more than those of Isaac. They are called Saracen’s, for Ishmael was born as Sarah’s son, and heir of the house, if Sarah had continued barren. The land of Canaan was promised as a possession: when God gives children, he also gives bread.

6. Exceeding fruitful… nations… kings — A threefold promise, enhanced in the two following verses by the mention of “an everlasting covenant” and “an everlasting possession.” Mark the gradation. 1) A numerous posterity, in itself an enviable blessing, and the glory of a Hebrew. 2) That posterity would branch out into nations; a higher honour still than merely that of a numerous family. 3) These nations should rise to the dignity of mighty civil powers, and be represented and ruled by mighty kings. 4) God’s covenant with Abraham would abide through all the ages, an everlasting covenant, by which all the families of the earth should be blessed. 5) The land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. The whole is crowned by the closing words of verse 8. 8. And I will be their God — Here observes Murphy, “the temporal and the spiritual are brought together. The land of promise is made sure to the heirs of promise for a perpetual possession, and God engages to be their God. The phrase perpetual possession has here two elements of meaning: first, that the possession, in its coming form of a certain land, shall last as long as the co-existing relations of things are continued; and, secondly, that the said possession, in all the variety of its ever grander phases, will last absolutely forever. Each form will be perfectly adequate to each stage of a progressive humanity. But in all its forms, and at every stage, it will be their chief glory that God is their God.”

V. 7. And I will establish my covenant-Not to be altered or revoked; not with thee only, then it would die with thee but with thy seed after thee; and it is not only thy seed after the flesh, but thy spiritual seed. It is everlasting in the evangelical meaning of it. The covenant of grace is everlasting; it is from everlasting in the counsels of it, and to everlasting in the consequences of it; and the external administration of it is transmitted, with the seal of it, to the seed of believers, and the internal administration of it by the Spirit to Christ’s seed in every age. This is a covenant of exceeding great and precious promises. Here are two which indeed are all-sufficient, that God would be their God. All the privileges of the covenant, all its joys, and all its hopes, are summed up in this. A man needs desire no more than this to make him happy. What God is himself, that he will be to his people: wisdom to guide and counsel them, power to protect and support them, goodness to supply and comfort them; what faithful worshippers can expect from the God they serve, believers shall find in God as theirs. This is enough, yet not all.

Verse 7. An everlasting covenant] µlw[ tyrb berith olam. See Clarke’s note on “Genesis 13:15”. Here the word olam is taken in its own proper meaning, as the words immediately following prove-to be a God unto thee, and thy seed after thee; for as the soul is to endure for ever, so it shall eternally stand in need of the supporting power and energy of God; and as the reign of the Gospel dispensation shall be as long as sun and moon endure, and its consequences eternal, so must the covenant be on which these are founded.

Verse 7. And I will establish my covenant — Not to be altered or revoked; not with thee only, then it would die with thee; but with thy seed after thee — Especially thy spiritual seed. It is everlasting in the evangelical meaning of it, from everlasting in the counsels of it, and to everlasting in the consequences of it. This is a covenant of exceeding great and precious promises. Here are two which indeed are all-sufficient: one is, that God would be a God to him and to his seed. All the privileges of the covenant, all its joys and all its hopes, are summed up in this. A man needs desire no more than this to make him happy. What God is himself, that he will be to his people: wisdom to guide and counsel them, power to protect and support them, goodness to supply and comfort them; what faithful worshippers can expect from the God they serve, believers shall find in God as theirs. This is enough, yet not all: The other is, —

THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION, 1-27.

1. Ninety years old and nine — Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael. Comp. Genesis 16:16; 18:25. Slowly the years roll on, and God keeps promising, but not fulfilling. The Lord appeared — The words imply some visible theophany. Probably the appearance of Jehovah’s Angel, as in Genesis 16:7. Comp. verse 22. I am the Almighty God — Hebrews, I am El-Shaddai. Compare the use of this word in Genesis 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:25; and in Exodus 6:3; where see note. We have met with the name El-Elion in Genesis 14:18, 19, 20, 22, which designates the Supreme God, or God Most High. El-Shaddai denotes the Powerful or Omnipotent God. This name is appropriately introduced here as designating the Almighty Power which can override all opposing forces, and work miracles in order to fulfil the divine promises and plans. The deadness of Abram’s body, and also that of Sarai’s womb, (Romans 4:19,) shall not hinder the accomplishment of what El-Shaddai pledges. Walk before me — Let thy heart, thy life, thy character be such as one should be on whom El-Shaddai gazes. The long deferring of the promised seed was, that Abram might acquire a permanence of faith in God: something like Enoch, who walked three hundred years with Elohim. Genesis 5:22. El-Shaddai would lift Abram from a passive to an active faith. Be thou perfect — Complete, finished, blameless. The conscientious walking as in the sight of the Almighty leadeth on to perfection.

V. 8. And I will give thee Canaan for an everlasting possession-God had before promised this land to Abraham and his seed, Genesis 15:18. But here, it is promised for an everlasting possession, as a type of heaven, that everlasting rest which remains for the people of God. This is that better country to which Abraham had an eye, and the grant of which was that which answered the vast extent of that promise, that God would be to them a God; so that if God had not designed this, he would have been ashamed to be called their God, Hebrews 11:16. As the land of Canaan was secured to the seed of Abraham, according to the flesh; so heaven is secured to all his spiritual seed for a possession truly everlasting. The offer of this eternal life is made in the word, and confirmed by the sacraments, to all that are under the external administration of the covenant, and the earnest of it is given to all believers.

Verse 8. Everlasting possession] Here µlw[ olam appears to be used in its accommodated meaning, and signifies the completion of the Divine counsel in reference to a particular period or dispensation. And it is literally true that the Israelites possessed the land of Canaan till the Mosaic dispensation was terminated in the complete introduction of that of the Gospel. But as the spiritual and temporal covenants are both blended together, and the former was pointed out and typified by the latter, hence the word even here may be taken in its own proper meaning, that of ever-during, or eternal; because the spiritual blessings pointed out by the temporal covenant shall have no end. And hence it is immediately added, I will be their God, not for a time, certainly, but for ever and ever. See Clarke’s note on “Genesis 21:33”.

Verse 8. And I will give thee Canaan for an everlasting possession — As a type of heaven, that everlasting rest which remains for the people of God. This is that better country to which Abraham had an eye, and the grant of which was that which answered the vast extent of that promise, that God would be to them a God; so that if God had not designed this, he would have been ashamed to be called their God, Hebrews 11:16. As the land of Canaan was secured to the seed of Abraham, according to the flesh; so heaven is secured to all his spiritual seed for a possession truly everlasting. The offer of this eternal life is made in the word, and the earnest of it is given to all believers.

THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION, 1-27.

1. Ninety years old and nine — Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael. Comp. Genesis 16:16; 18:25. Slowly the years roll on, and God keeps promising, but not fulfilling. The Lord appeared — The words imply some visible theophany. Probably the appearance of Jehovah’s Angel, as in Genesis 16:7. Comp. verse 22. I am the Almighty God — Hebrews, I am El-Shaddai. Compare the use of this word in Genesis 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:25; and in Exodus 6:3; where see note. We have met with the name El-Elion in Genesis 14:18, 19, 20, 22, which designates the Supreme God, or God Most High. El-Shaddai denotes the Powerful or Omnipotent God. This name is appropriately introduced here as designating the Almighty Power which can override all opposing forces, and work miracles in order to fulfil the divine promises and plans. The deadness of Abram’s body, and also that of Sarai’s womb, (Romans 4:19,) shall not hinder the accomplishment of what El-Shaddai pledges. Walk before me — Let thy heart, thy life, thy character be such as one should be on whom El-Shaddai gazes. The long deferring of the promised seed was, that Abram might acquire a permanence of faith in God: something like Enoch, who walked three hundred years with Elohim. Genesis 5:22. El-Shaddai would lift Abram from a passive to an active faith. Be thou perfect — Complete, finished, blameless. The conscientious walking as in the sight of the Almighty leadeth on to perfection.

9. Thou shalt keep — God has now said what he for his part will do; here he directs Abraham’s part of observing the covenant. Comp. verse 4, note.

V. 10. The token of the covenant, is circumcision, for the sake of which the covenant is itself called the covenant of circumcision, Acts 7:8. It is here said to be the covenant which Abraham and his seed must keep, as a copy or counterpart, it is called a sign and seal, Romans 4:11, for it was.

1. A confirmation to Abraham and his seed of those promises which were God’s part of the covenant, assuring them that, in due time, Canaan should be theirs: and the continuance of this ordinance, after Canaan was theirs, intimates, that that promise looked farther, to another Canaan.

2. An obligation upon Abraham and his seed to that duty which was their part of the covenant, not only to the duty of accepting the covenants and putting away the corruption of the flesh, which were primarily signified by circumcision, but in general to the observation of all God’s commands. They who will have God to be to them a God, must consent to be to him a people.

Now, 1. Circumcision was a bloody ordinance, for all things by the law were purged with blood, Hebrews 9:22. See Exodus 24:8. But the blood of Christ being shed, all bloody ordinances are now abolished. Circumcision therefore gives way to baptism.

2. It was peculiar to the males, though the women also were included in the covenant.

3. Christ having not yet offered himself for us, God would have man to enter into covenant, by the offering of some part of his own body, and no part could be better spared.

4. The ordinance was to be administered to children when they were eight days old, that they might gather some strength to be able to undergo the pain of it.

5. The children of the strangers were to be circumcised, which looked favourable upon the Gentiles, who should, in due time be brought into the family of Abraham, by faith.

Here is, (1.) The promise made to Abraham of a son by Sarai, that son in whom the promise made to him should be fulfilled, that he should be the father of many nations, for she also shall be a mother of nations, and kings of people shall be of her, Genesis 17:16. Note,

1. God reveals the purposes of his good-will to his people by degrees. God had told Abraham long before, that he should have a son, but never ‘till now that he should have a son by Sarai.

2. The blessing of the Lord makes fruitful, and adds no sorrow with it; no such sorrow as was in Hagar’s case. I will bless her, with the blessing of fruitfulness, and then thou shalt have a son of her.

3. Civil government and order is a great blessing to the church. It is promised not only that people, but kings of people should be of her; not a headless rout, but a well modelled, well governed society.

Verse 10. Every man-child-shall be circumcised.] Those who wish to invalidate the evidence of the Divine origin of the Mosaic law, roundly assert that the Israelites received the rite of circumcision from the Egyptians. Their apostle in this business is Herodotus, who, lib. ii., p. 116, Edit. Steph. 1592, says: “The Colchians, Egyptians, and Ethiopians, are the only nations in the world who have used circumcision apJ archv, from the remotest period; and the Phœnicians and Syrians who inhabit Palestine acknowledge they received this from the Egyptians.” Herodotus cannot mean Jews by Phœnicians and Syrians; if he does he is incorrect, for no Jew ever did or ever could acknowledge this, with the history of Abraham in his hand. If Herodotus had written before the days of Abraham, or at least before the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt, and informed us that circumcision had been practised among them apJ archv, from the beginning, there would then exist a possibility that the Israelites while sojourning among them had learned and adopted this rite. But when we know that Herodotus flourished only 484 years before the Christian era, and that Jacob and his family sojourned in Egypt more than 1800 years before Christ, and that all the descendants of Abraham most conscientiously observed circumcision, and do so to this day, then the presumption is that the Egyptians received it from the Israelites, but that it was impossible the latter could have received it from the former, as they had practised it so long before their ancestors had sojourned in Egypt.

Verse 10. The token of the covenant is circumcision, for the sake of which, the covenant is itself called the covenant of circumcision, Acts 7:8. It is here said to be the covenant which Abraham and his seed must keep, as a copy or counterpart. It is called a sign and seal, (Romans 4:11,) for it was, 1st, A confirmation to Abraham and his seed of those promises which were God’s part of the covenant, assuring them that, in due time, Canaan should be theirs: and the continuance of this ordinance, after Canaan was theirs, intimates that that promise looked further, to another Canaan. 2d, An obligation upon Abraham and his seed to that duty which was their part of the covenant, not only to the duty of accepting the covenant, and putting away the corruption of the flesh, which were primarily signified by circumcision, but in general to the observation of all God’s commands. They who will have God to be to them a God, must consent to be to him a people.

Ver. 10. Circumcised. To teach him that the concupiscence of the flesh must be mortified: yet who would ever have thought of imposing this bloody rite on infants, if God had not enforced it by a strong command?

10. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep — That is, this is the sign or seal of the covenant which it will be your place to observe. Hence Stephen said: “He gave him the covenant of circumcision.” Acts 7:8. Every man child among you shall be circumcised — Here was a positive commandment, as direct and uncompromising as the absolute prohibition of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Genesis 2:17. Obedience must now supplement faith. “Circumcision was confined to the male sex. This was neither owing to the physical nor to the ethical state of woman, but to the dependent position which she occupied in antiquity. Circumcision implies as much the humiliation as the exaltation of man, expressing as it did both his natural incapacity for being a member of the covenant, and his special divine calling in that direction. The absence of circumcision does not convey that these lessons and privileges applied not to woman also, but that she was dependent, and that her position in the natural and covenant life was not without the husband, but in and with him, not in her capacity as woman, but as wife and mother.” — Kurtz.

Verse 11. And it shall be a token] twal leoth, for a sign of spiritual things; for the circumcision made in the flesh was designed to signify the purification of the heart from all unrighteousness, as God particularly showed in the law itself. See Deuteronomy 10:16; see also Romans 2:25-29;Colossians 2:11. And it was a seal of that righteousness or justification that comes by faith, Romans 4:11. That some of the Jews had a just notion of its spiritual intention, is plain from many passages in the Chaldee paraphrases and in the Jewish writers. I borrow one passage from the book Zohar, quoted by Ainsworth: “At what time a man is sealed with this holy seal, (of circumcision,) thenceforth he seeth the holy blessed God properly, and the holy soul is united to him. If he be not worthy, and keepeth not this sign, what is written? By the breath of God they perish, (Job 4:9,) because this seal of the holy blessed God was not kept. But if he be worthy, and keep it, the Holy Ghost is not separated from him.”

11. Circumcise the flesh of your foreskin — The act of circumcision consisted in cutting off the prepuce, or foreskin, which covers the glans of the penis in males. Whether this custom originated with this covenant with Abraham, or whether it was in use among ancient peoples before this time, is a disputed question. It appears probable, on the whole, that the practice was older than Abraham, and the language here used seems to favour this view. Were this the origin of circumcision, we should naturally have expected particular directions as to the mode of performing it, but the absence of such directions rather implies that the custom was not new, or strange. As the rainbow appeared in the sky before it was made the token of God’s covenant with Noah, and as divers baptisms were in use before the baptism of water was made a sacrament of the Christian Church, so circumcision may have been practised before Abram’s time, but was consecrated into a new meaning by the Abrahamic covenant. Abraham “received the sign of circumcision,” says the apostle, “a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised.” Romans 4:11. The typical significance of circumcision arises from the consideration that, as the depravity and corruption of human nature are transmitted by generation, and the promise is to the seed of Abraham, so the organs of generation receive the symbol of “putting off the body of the sins of the flesh,” (Colossians 2:11,) and the chosen seed are thereby set apart and consecrated as holy unto the Lord. The spiritual significance of the rite is recognised in such texts as Leviticus 26:41; Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6; Ezekiel 44:7; Romans 2:28, 29. For more on the subject of circumcision, see note at the end of this chapter.

Verse 12. He that is eight days old] Because previously to this they were considered unclean, Leviticus 12:2,3, and circumcision was ever understood as a consecration of the person to God. Neither calf, lamb, nor kid, was offered to God till it was eight days old for the same reason, Leviticus 22:27.

12. Eight days old — A whole seven days must pass, and on the eighth day the ceremony. Comp. Genesis 21:4; Leviticus 12:3; Luke 1:59; 2:21; Philippians 3:5. For this, perhaps, a twofold reason may be assigned: the symbolism of the sacred number seven, and the necessity that the child should have sufficient age to endure the operation.

Verse 13. He that is born in thy house] The son of a servant; he that is bought with thy money-a slave on his coming into the family. According to the Jewish writers the father was to circumcise his son; and the master, the servant born in his house, or the slave bought with money. If the father or master neglected to do this, then the magistrates were obliged to see it performed; if the neglect of this ordinance was unknown to the magistrates, then the person himself, when he came of age, was obliged to do it.

13. He that is born in thy house — The bond slave of a patriarchal family as distinguished from one bought or taken in war. Comp. Genesis 14:14.

Verse 14. The uncircumcised-shall be cut off from his people] By being cut off some have imagined that a sudden temporal death was implied; but the simple meaning seems to be that such should have no right to nor share in the blessings of the covenant, which we have already seen were both of a temporal and spiritual kind; and if so, then eternal death was implied, for it was impossible for a person who had not received the spiritual purification to enter into eternal glory. The spirit of this law extends to all ages, dispensations, and people; he whose heart is not purified from sin cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Reader, on what is thy hope of heaven founded?

Ver. 14. Cut off. This word, which will often occur, signifies, sometimes a judgment inflicted by God; sometimes the punishment of death inflicted by the magistrates, and sometimes excommunication from the congregation.

14. Shall be cut off from his people — This may mean either excommunication, or, as these words seem to signify in Exodus 31:14, the penalty of death. The neglect of such a sign and ordinance would be an open breach of the covenant, and demand a severe penalty. He hath broken my covenant — To neglect this sign was looked upon as open and defiant disobedience. It was equivalent to a violation of the covenant itself. Note now the five points of circumcision: 1) It was an outward ceremony of the flesh. 2) It was the token of the covenant. 3) It was to be performed on the eighth day. 4) It was to be applied to all the regular household. 5) It was imperative and inviolable under penalty of death.

V. 15. Sarah shall her name be-The same letter is added to her name that was to Abraham’s. Sarai signifies my princess, as if her honour were confined to one family only: Sarah signifies a princess, viz. of multitudes.

Verse 15. Thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah] See Clarke’s note on “Genesis 17:5”.

Verse 15. Here is the promise made to Abraham of a son by Sarai, that son in whom the promise made to him should be fulfilled, that he should be the father of many nations, for she also shall be a mother of nations, and kings of people shall be of her, verse 16. Thus God reveals the purposes of his good-will to his people by degrees. He had told Abraham long before that he should have a son, but never till now that he should have a son by Sarai. Sarah shall her name be — The same letter is added to her name that was to Abraham’s. Sarai signifies my princess, as if her honour were confined to one family only; Sarah signifies a princess, namely, of multitudes.

Ver. 15. Sarai, my princess; but Sarah imports, that she was to be the princess of all the great nations here promised to her husband.

15. Sarai… Sarah — The precise meaning of the name Sarai (yrc) is not easy to decide, but the sense of my princess, generally adopted by the older interpreters, appears the most simple. In this sense she is heroine, princely, noble, in a more special idea of being the princess of a single race; or high princess, as Abram was high father. Sarah means princess, and “aptly is she so named, for she is to bear the child of promise, to become nations, and be the mother of kings.” — Murphy. Compare note on change of Abram’s name, verse 5. Though Sarah and her female descendants receive not the sign of the covenant, they nevertheless are divinely recognised as identified with the chosen people, and heirs of the promise.

Verse 16. I will bless her, &c.] Sarah certainly stands at the head of all the women of the Old Testament, on account of her extraordinary privileges. I am quite of Calmet’s opinion that Sarah was a type of the blessed Virgin. St. Paul considers her a type of the New Testament and heavenly Jerusalem; and as all true believers are considered as the children of Abraham, so all faithful holy women are considered the daughters of Sarah, Galatians 4:22, 24, 26. See also 1 Peter 3:6.

16. She shall be a mother of nations — Hebrews, she shall become nations. Hence appropriately named Sarah, the princess.

V. 17. Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed-It was a laughter of delight, not of distrust. Now it was that Abraham rejoiced to see Christ’s day, now he saw it and was glad, John 8:56, for as he saw heaven in the promise of Canaan, so he saw Christ in the promise of Isaac, and said, Shall a child be born to him that is an hundred years old?-He doth not here speak of it, as at all doubtful, for we are sure he staggered not at the promise, Romans 4:20, but as wonderful, and that which could not be effected but by the almighty power of God.

Verse 17. Then Abraham-laughed] I am astonished to find learned and pious men considering this as a token of Abraham’s weakness of faith or unbelief, when they have the most positive assurance from the Spirit of God himself that Abraham was not weak but strong in the faith; that he staggered not at the promise through unbelief, but gave glory to God, Romans 4:19, 20. It is true the same word is used, Genesis 18:12, concerning Sarah, in whom it was certainly a sign of doubtfulness, though mixed with pleasure at the thought of the possibility of her becoming a mother; but we know how possible it is to express both faith and unbelief in the same way, and even pleasure and disdain have been expressed by a smile or laugh. By laughing Abraham undoubtedly expressed his joy at the prospect of the fulfilment of so glorious a promise; and from this very circumstance Isaac had his name. qjxy yitschak, which we change into Isaac, signifies laughter; and it is the same word which is used in the verse before us: Abraham fell on his face, qjxyw vaiyitschak, and he laughed; and to the joy which he felt on this occasion our Lord evidently alludes, John 8:56: Your father Abraham REJOICED to see my day; and he saw it, and was GLAD. And to commemorate this joy he called his son’s name Isaac. See Clarke’s note on “Genesis 21:6”.

Verse 17. Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed — It was a laughter of delight, not of distrust. Now it was that Abraham rejoiced to see Christ’s day; now he saw it and was glad; (John 8:56;) for as he saw heaven in the promise of Canaan, so he saw Christ in the promise of Isaac, and said, Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old? — He doth not here speak of it as at all doubtful, for we are sure he staggered not at the promise, (Romans 4:20,) but as wonderful, and that which could not be effected but by the almighty power of God.

Ver. 17. Abraham—laughed; that is, rejoiced and was glad to see the day of Christ, in the promise and birth of Isaac.

17. Laughed — Abraham’s prostration, and the whole tenor of this history, forbid the supposition that this was the laughter of incredulity. It was the excessive outburst of joyful emotion over these precious promises. By faith Abraham now saw the day of redemption and was glad. John 8:56. Said in his heart — The questions which follow are not to be understood as the expressions of doubt, but as exclamations of exultant wonder.

V. 18. And Abraham said, O that Ishmael might live before thee!-This he speaks nor as desiring that Ishmael might be preferred before the son he should have by Sarah, but as dreading lest he should be forsaken of God, he puts up this petition on his behalf. The great thing we should desire of God, for our children, is, that they may live before him, that is, that they may be kept in covenant with him, and may have grace to walk before him in their uprightness. God’s answer to this prayer, is an answer of peace. Abraham could not say he sought God’s face in vain.

Verse 18. O that Ishmael might live before thee!] Abraham, finding that the covenant was to be established in another branch of his family, felt solicitous for his son Ishmael, whom he considered as necessarily excluded; on which God delivers that most remarkable prophecy which follows in Genesis 17:20, and which contains an answer to the prayer and wish of Abraham: And as for Ishmael I have heard thee; so that the object of Abraham’s prayer was, that his son Ishmael might be the head of a prosperous and potent people.

Verse 18. And Abraham said, O that Ishmael might live before thee! — This he speaks, not as desiring that Ishmael might be preferred before the son he should have by Sarah, but as dreading lest he should be forsaken of God. The great thing we should desire of God for our children is, that they may live before him; that is, that they may be kept in covenant with him, and may have grace to walk before him in uprightness. God’s answer to this prayer is an answer of peace. Abraham could not say he sought God’s face in vain; nor shall we, if we seek it sincerely.

Ver. 18. Oh that Ishmael might live before thee. This was Abraham’s own spirit; but the Messiah must not descend in the line of Ishmael.

18. O that Ishmael might live before thee — The patriarch seems to fear that Ishmael is to be cut off. The boy of thirteen has won a deep place in his father’s heart, and notwithstanding the promise of a son by Sarah, he yearns to see Ishmael blessed of God.

19. Call his name Isaac — Which means, he shall laugh. A memorial of Abraham’s joyful emotion and wonder here recorded.

V. 20. As for Ishmael, I have heard thee; I have blessed him-That is, I have many blessings in store for him.

1. His posterity shall be numerous; I will multiply him exceedingly;

2. They shall be considerable; twelve princes shall he beget. We may charitably hope that spiritual blessings also were bestowed upon him, though the visible church was not brought out of his loins.

Verse 20. Twelve princes shall he beget, &c.] See the names of these twelve princes, Genesis 25:12-16. From Ishmael proceeded the various tribes of the Arabs, called also Saracens by Christian writers. They were anciently, and still continue to be, a very numerous and powerful people. “It was somewhat wonderful, and not to be foreseen by human sagacity,” says Bishop Newton, “that a man’s whole posterity should so nearly resemble him, and retain the same inclinations, the same habits, and the same customs, throughout all ages! These are the only people besides the Jews who have subsisted as a distinct people from the beginning, and in some respects they very much resemble each other 1. The Arabs, as well as the Jews, are descended from Abraham, and both boast of their descent from the father of the faithful. 2. The Arabs, as well as the Jews, are circumcised, and both profess to have derived this ceremony from Abraham. 3. The Arabs, as well as the Jews, had originally twelve patriarchs, who were their princes or governors. 4. The Arabs, as well as the Jews, marry among themselves, and in their own tribes. 5. The Arabs, as well as the Jews, are singular in several of their customs, and are standing monuments to all ages of the exactness of the Divine predictions, and of the veracity of Scripture history. We may with more confidence believe the particulars related of Abraham and Ishmael when we see them verified in their posterity at this day. This is having, as it were, ocular demonstration for our faith.” See Bp. Newton’s Second Dissertation on the Prophecies, and See Clarke’s note on “Genesis 16:12”.

Verse 20. As for Ishmael, I have heard thee; I have blessed him — That is, I have many blessings in store for him. 1st, His posterity shall be numerous: I will multiply him exceedingly. 2d, They shall be considerable: twelve princes shall he beget. We may charitably hope that spiritual blessings also were bestowed upon him, though the visible church was not brought out of his loins.

20. Ishmael, I have heard — Allusion to the meaning of the name, God will hear. See Genesis 16:11, note. Twelve princes — See Genesis 25:12-16.

V. 21. He names that child, Isaac-Laughter, because Abraham rejoiced in spirit when this son was promised him.

Verse 21. My covenant will I establish with Isaac] All temporal good things are promised to Ishmael and his posterity, but the establishment of the Lord’s covenant is to be with Isaac. Hence it is fully evident that this covenant referred chiefly to spiritual things-to the Messiah, and the salvation which should be brought to both Jews and Gentiles by his incarnation, death, and glorification.

Verse 21. He names that child Isaac, that is, laughter, because Abraham rejoiced in spirit when this son was promised him.

THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION, 1-27.

1. Ninety years old and nine — Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael. Comp. Genesis 16:16; 18:25. Slowly the years roll on, and God keeps promising, but not fulfilling. The Lord appeared — The words imply some visible theophany. Probably the appearance of Jehovah’s Angel, as in Genesis 16:7. Comp. verse 22. I am the Almighty God — Hebrews, I am El-Shaddai. Compare the use of this word in Genesis 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:25; and in Exodus 6:3; where see note. We have met with the name El-Elion in Genesis 14:18, 19, 20, 22, which designates the Supreme God, or God Most High. El-Shaddai denotes the Powerful or Omnipotent God. This name is appropriately introduced here as designating the Almighty Power which can override all opposing forces, and work miracles in order to fulfil the divine promises and plans. The deadness of Abram’s body, and also that of Sarai’s womb, (Romans 4:19,) shall not hinder the accomplishment of what El-Shaddai pledges. Walk before me — Let thy heart, thy life, thy character be such as one should be on whom El-Shaddai gazes. The long deferring of the promised seed was, that Abram might acquire a permanence of faith in God: something like Enoch, who walked three hundred years with Elohim. Genesis 5:22. El-Shaddai would lift Abram from a passive to an active faith. Be thou perfect — Complete, finished, blameless. The conscientious walking as in the sight of the Almighty leadeth on to perfection.

Verse 22. God went up from Abraham.] Ascended evidently before him, so that he had the fullest proof that it was no human being, no earthly angel or messenger, that talked with him; and the promise of a son in the course of a single year, at this set time in the next year, Genesis 17:21, which had every human probability against it, was to be the sure token of the truth of all that had hitherto taken place, and the proof that all that was farther promised should be fulfilled in its due time. Was it not in nearly the same way in which the Lord went up from Abraham, that Jesus Christ ascended to heaven in the presence of his disciples? Luke 24:51.

22. God went up from Abraham — These words imply some open epiphany. Probably the Angel of the Lord appearing and ascending, as in the case of Manoah. Judges 13:20.

Verse 23. And Abraham took Ishmael, &c.] Had not Abraham, his son, (who was of age to judge for himself,) and all the family, been fully convinced that this thing was of God, they could not have submitted to it. A rite so painful, so repugnant to every feeling of delicacy, and every way revolting to nature, could never have sprung up in the imagination of man. To this day the Jews practise it as a Divine ordinance; and all the Arabians do the same. As a distinction between them and other people it never could have been designed, because it was a sign that was never to appear. The individual alone knew that he bore in his flesh this sign of the covenant, and he bore it by the order of God, and he knew it was a sign and seal of spiritual blessings, and not the blessings themselves, though a proof that these blessings were promised, and that he had a right to them. Those who did not consider it in this spiritual reference are by the apostle denominated the concision, Philippians 3:2, i.e., persons whose flesh was cut, but whose hearts were not purified.

THE contents of this chapter may be summed up in a few propositions:—

1. God, in renewing his covenant with Abram, makes an important change in his and Sarai’s name; a change which should ever act as a help to their faith, that the promises by which God had bound himself should be punctually fulfilled. However difficult it may be for us to ascertain the precise import of the change then made, we may rest assured that it was perfectly understood by both; and that, as they had received this name from God, they considered it as placing them in a new relation both to their Maker and to their posterity. From what we have already seen, the change made in Abram’s name is inscrutable to us; there is something like this in Revelation 2:17: To him that overcometh will I give a white stone, and a NEW NAME-which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it. The full import of the change made in a soul that enters into covenant with God through Christ, is only known to itself; a stranger intermeddleth not with its joy. Hence, even men of learning and the world at large have considered experimental religion as enthusiasm, merely because they have not understood its nature, and have permitted themselves to be carried away by prejudices which they have imbibed perhaps at first through the means of ignorant or hypocritical pretenders to deep piety; but while they have the sacred writings before them, their prejudices and opposition to that without which they cannot be saved are as unprincipled as they are absurd.

2. God gives Abraham a precept, which should be observed, not only by himself, but by all his posterity; for this was to be a permanent sign of that covenant which was to endure for ever. Though the sign is now changed from circumcision to baptism, each of them equally significant, yet the covenant is not changed in any part of its essential meaning. Faith in God through the great sacrifice, remission of sins, and sanctification of the heart, are required by the new covenant as well as by the old.

3. The rite of circumcision was painful and humiliating, to denote that repentance, self-denial, &c., are absolutely necessary to all who wish for redemption in the blood of the covenant; and the putting away this filth of the flesh showed the necessity of a pure heart and a holy life.

4. As eternal life is the free gift of God, he has a right to give it in what way he pleases, and on what terms. He says to Abraham and his seed, Ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and he that doth not so shall be cut off from his people. He says also to sinners in general, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Repent, and believe the Gospel; and, Except ye repent, ye shall perish. These are the terms on which he will bestow the blessings of the old and new covenants. And let it be remembered that stretching out the hand to receive an alms can never be considered as meriting the bounty received, neither can repentance or faith merit salvation, although they are the conditions on which it is bestowed.

5. The precepts given under both covenants were accompanied with a promise of the Messiah. God well knows that no religious rite can be properly observed, and no precept obeyed, unless he impart strength from on high; and he teaches us that that strength must ever come through the promised seed. Hence, with the utmost propriety, we ask every blessing through him, in whom God is well pleased.

6. The precept, the promise, and the rite, were prefaced with, “I am God all-sufficient; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” God, who is the sole object of religious worship, has the sole authority to prescribe that worship, and the rites and ceremonies which shall be used in it; hence he prescribed circumcision and sacrifices under the old law, and baptism and the eucharist under the Gospel; and to render both effectual to the end of their institution, faith in God was indispensably necessary.

7. Those who profess to believe in him must not live as they list, but as he pleases. Though redeemed from the curse of the law, and from the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish Church, they are under the law to Christ, and must walk before him-be in all things obedient to that moral law which is an emanation from the righteousness of God, and of eternal obligation; and let it ever be remembered that Christ is “the author of eternal salvation to all that obey him.” Without faith and obedience there can be no holiness, and without holiness none can see the Lord. Be all that God would have thee to be, and God will be to the”’ all that thou canst possibly require. He never gives a precept but he offers sufficient grace to enable thee to perform it. Believe as he would have thee, and act as he shall strengthen thee, and thou wilt believe all things savingly, and do all things well. GENESIS

Ver. 23. Their foreskin. The Jews put a silver pin through the projecting skin of the infant, so as to keep clear of the head of the penis; and then with a sharp knife passed behind the pin, took the prepuce clean away. This yoke is done away in Christ; but not the yoke to mortify the deeds of the flesh, and possess the body in sanctification and honour. Young men, says Polycarp, keep your flesh as the temple of God.

23. Abraham… in the selfsame day — The promptness of his obedience is noticeable. Abraham’s “faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect.” James 2:22.

THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION, 1-27.

1. Ninety years old and nine — Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael. Comp. Genesis 16:16; 18:25. Slowly the years roll on, and God keeps promising, but not fulfilling. The Lord appeared — The words imply some visible theophany. Probably the appearance of Jehovah’s Angel, as in Genesis 16:7. Comp. verse 22. I am the Almighty God — Hebrews, I am El-Shaddai. Compare the use of this word in Genesis 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:25; and in Exodus 6:3; where see note. We have met with the name El-Elion in Genesis 14:18, 19, 20, 22, which designates the Supreme God, or God Most High. El-Shaddai denotes the Powerful or Omnipotent God. This name is appropriately introduced here as designating the Almighty Power which can override all opposing forces, and work miracles in order to fulfil the divine promises and plans. The deadness of Abram’s body, and also that of Sarai’s womb, (Romans 4:19,) shall not hinder the accomplishment of what El-Shaddai pledges. Walk before me — Let thy heart, thy life, thy character be such as one should be on whom El-Shaddai gazes. The long deferring of the promised seed was, that Abram might acquire a permanence of faith in God: something like Enoch, who walked three hundred years with Elohim. Genesis 5:22. El-Shaddai would lift Abram from a passive to an active faith. Be thou perfect — Complete, finished, blameless. The conscientious walking as in the sight of the Almighty leadeth on to perfection.

25. Thirteen years old — Josephus (Ant., 1:12, 2) says the Arabians, because of this, do not circumcise their children until the thirteenth year. ADDITIONAL NOTE ON CIRCUMCISION.

The practice of circumcision obtained among many ancient nations, and was probably in use before the time of Abraham. See note on verse 11 above. Herodotus was unable to determine whether the Egyptians learned the custom from the Ethiopians, or the Ethiopians from the Egyptians. Herod., 2:104. Both nations observed the custom from the earliest times, and it is difficult to believe that they would have borrowed it from the Hebrews. The practice also prevailed among the Colchians of Asia and the savage Troglodytes of Africa, (Diod. Sic., 3:31,) and is still continued by several African tribes and the inhabitants of many islands of the Pacific. PICKERING, Races of Men, pp. 153, 199. The Abyssinian Christians are said also to perform this rite at the present day, and upon both sexes. LUDOLF, Hist. Ethiopia, 1. 19. The practice prevailed also among the Phoenicians and Syrians (Herod., 2:104) and the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites. Jeremiah 9:25. The Arabians perform the rite after the thirteenth year, thus following the example of Ishmael. Verse 25 above, note. Mohammed was circumcised, according to the custom of his countrymen; and, though the Koran does not enjoin the practice, circumcision is as common among the Mohammedans as among the Jews. As to the origin and reason of this practice many hold that it was introduced in those southern countries not as a religious rite, but from a physical cause. It is believed that the burning temperature of those climes, in many cases combined with a peculiar bodily structure of those races, gave rise to the custom. It was thought to prevent painful diseases and such disorders as phimosis, and gonorrhoea spuria. Modern travellers testify that it precludes great physical inconvenience among the Bush-men; and the Christian missionaries who tried to abolish it in Abyssinia, were compelled, by the dangerous physical consequences, to desist from their plans. Herodotus observes that the Egyptian priests were circumcised for the sake of cleanliness, deeming it better to be clean than handsome. Herod., 2:37. It was observed, however, in the course of time, that many tribes and nations inhabiting the same zones remained uncircumcised without perceptible injury or inconvenience. The Philistines seem never to have adopted the custom. The Edomites neglected it, (Josephus, Ant., 13:9, 1,) and some classes of the Egyptians omitted it; and when, in the time of the Persian and Greek dominion, the primitive institutions of Egypt were neglected or underwent important modifications, circumcision ceased to be a national custom. The priests alone preserved it as a mark of their superior purity. Kalisch. But whatever the occasion or reason of its origin, the Egyptian priests doubtless connected some religious significance with the rite of circumcision. Other nations also probably associated it with sacred mysteries. It has been thought that among idolatrous peoples it may have had some reference to the deification of the powers of nature, and especially those of generation. It is impossible, however, to determine exactly what religious significance the heathen nations attached to the custom. But if it seem strange that a custom practised by idolatrous tribes should have been made a sign and seal of God’s covenant with Abraham, let us consider that almost every religious ceremony of the Hebrew people was based upon some prevailing Eastern custom or tradition, and that it was divested of base and superstitious elements by such appropriation to new purposes, and exalted to be the vehicle of lofty doctrines. This accommodation to traditionary practices, says Kalisch, secured the external success of the true religion, while the transformation of rotten and idolatrous institutions into laws of indestructible vitality, constitutes its indisputable claim to originality, and commands the admiration of all ages. With Abraham and his posterity it became the sacred token of a blood-covenant, the most solemn and obligatory conceivable, between man and God. Abraham became henceforth, ina notable sense, “the friend of God.” 2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23. Verses 10 and 11, above, are thus paraphrased by Trumbull: “The blood-covenant of friendship shall be consummated by your giving to me of your personal blood at the very source of paternity — ’under your girdle;’ thereby pledging yourself to me, and pledging also to me those who shall come after you in the line of natural descent.” The Blood Covenant, p. 217. New York, 1885.

The rite was in the earliest times performed with a stone knife, (Exodus 4:25; Joshua 5:2,) sometimes by the mother, but generally by the father of the child. Afterwards it became the business of a physician, but in modern times it is performed by a special officer. The eighth day after birth was the usual time for the circumcision, (Leviticus 12:3; Luke 1:59,) at which time the child is named. In the course of the ceremony the following is uttered: “Blessed art thou, O Lord, our God! who hath sanctified his beloved from the womb, and ordained an ordinance for his kindred, and sealed his descendants with the mark of his holy covenant. Preserve this child to his father and mother, and let his name be called in Israel, A, the son of B. Let the father rejoice in those that go forth from his loins, and let his mother be glad in the fruit of her womb.” See more in the Biblical Cyclopedias, under the word Circumcision.

THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION, 1-27.

1. Ninety years old and nine — Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael. Comp. Genesis 16:16; 18:25. Slowly the years roll on, and God keeps promising, but not fulfilling. The Lord appeared — The words imply some visible theophany. Probably the appearance of Jehovah’s Angel, as in Genesis 16:7. Comp. verse 22. I am the Almighty God — Hebrews, I am El-Shaddai. Compare the use of this word in Genesis 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:25; and in Exodus 6:3; where see note. We have met with the name El-Elion in Genesis 14:18, 19, 20, 22, which designates the Supreme God, or God Most High. El-Shaddai denotes the Powerful or Omnipotent God. This name is appropriately introduced here as designating the Almighty Power which can override all opposing forces, and work miracles in order to fulfil the divine promises and plans. The deadness of Abram’s body, and also that of Sarai’s womb, (Romans 4:19,) shall not hinder the accomplishment of what El-Shaddai pledges. Walk before me — Let thy heart, thy life, thy character be such as one should be on whom El-Shaddai gazes. The long deferring of the promised seed was, that Abram might acquire a permanence of faith in God: something like Enoch, who walked three hundred years with Elohim. Genesis 5:22. El-Shaddai would lift Abram from a passive to an active faith. Be thou perfect — Complete, finished, blameless. The conscientious walking as in the sight of the Almighty leadeth on to perfection.

THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION, 1-27.

1. Ninety years old and nine — Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael. Comp. Genesis 16:16; 18:25. Slowly the years roll on, and God keeps promising, but not fulfilling. The Lord appeared — The words imply some visible theophany. Probably the appearance of Jehovah’s Angel, as in Genesis 16:7. Comp. verse 22. I am the Almighty God — Hebrews, I am El-Shaddai. Compare the use of this word in Genesis 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:25; and in Exodus 6:3; where see note. We have met with the name El-Elion in Genesis 14:18, 19, 20, 22, which designates the Supreme God, or God Most High. El-Shaddai denotes the Powerful or Omnipotent God. This name is appropriately introduced here as designating the Almighty Power which can override all opposing forces, and work miracles in order to fulfil the divine promises and plans. The deadness of Abram’s body, and also that of Sarai’s womb, (Romans 4:19,) shall not hinder the accomplishment of what El-Shaddai pledges. Walk before me — Let thy heart, thy life, thy character be such as one should be on whom El-Shaddai gazes. The long deferring of the promised seed was, that Abram might acquire a permanence of faith in God: something like Enoch, who walked three hundred years with Elohim. Genesis 5:22. El-Shaddai would lift Abram from a passive to an active faith. Be thou perfect — Complete, finished, blameless. The conscientious walking as in the sight of the Almighty leadeth on to perfection.