The context of the Noahic blessing is the same as the blessing for Adam. God is granting stewardship over all creation to Noah and his descendants. Similarly, the intent for the increase in population is to create sufficient heirs to affect God’s purpose—not merely more people for the sake of increasing the world’s population or because having children is a rewarding exercise.
Abraham (Gen 17:1–27)
Chapter 17 conveys God’s covenant with Abraham. Verses 1–6 read: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.’ Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.’”
This chapter is linked to our investigation by the inclusion of two phrases. First in v. 2 with the promise by God that God himself will greatly increase Abraham’s numbers (multiply) and then again in v. 6 where God will make Abraham very fruitful. Before we unpack the meaning in chap. 17, we need to first understand the earlier call of Abraham.
Chapter 17 is the ratification of a covenant that God established earlier in Gen 12. In this earlier passage, God promised Abraham the he would become a great nation with a great name (12:2), all the families of the earth would find blessing in him (v. 3), and he would prosses a land (vv. 1–2, 7). Now God is ratifying and further clarifying that promise through a covenantal address.
It is worth tracing these three aspects of the promise from the call to the covenant in order to demonstrate how chapter 17 brings the promises into sharper focus. Going to a land “that I will show you” in 12:1 becomes “this land” in v. 7. The scope of the gifted land is expanded in 13:15 to “all the land which you can see” and again in 15:18 to “from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.” While these passages provide a general outline for the land granted to Abraham, the nation of Canaan is first explicitly mentioned in 17:8 when God states that “[t]he whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you.”
At the beginning of chapter 12 Abraham is told that he will become a great nation. In 13:16 this promise is explained that Abraham’s descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth and again in 15:5, where his descendants will be as many as the stars. The promise begins to be fulfilled in chapter 16 where Abraham fathers a child through whose offspring innumerable offspring would follow. Now in chapter 17 that promise is expanded and explained that Abraham will not just found a great nation (e.g., one nation), but he will father a “multitude of nations” and “kings will be descended from you” (17:4–6).
The nature of the covenant relationship is also defined more clearly in chapter 17 than previously. In 12:3 there was a vague guarantee of protection: those who bless Abraham will be blessed and his disdainers cursed. But this too becomes more explicit. Chapter 15 predicts Egyptian slavery and exodus, but 17:7 announces an eternal covenant with Abraham and his descendants, “in order to be your God and your descendants’ God.”
To mark these great promises, the names of Abram and Sarai are changed to the more familiar Abraham and Sarah, and the national rite of circumcision is instituted as a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham’s descendants. The changing of Abram’s name is significant because names convey meaning. In this case, the original name of Abram was the fusion of two Hebrew words ‘Ab (father) and rām (exalted).41 The changing of the name brings a new component hamôn (multiple). Therefore, the original meaning of Abram’s name was “he is exalted as to his father” (likely referring to God as father); however, it is also possible that the name refers to Abraham as “exalted father.” God is now changing the name to “the exalted father of a multitude” (likely referring to Abraham as the father).
Moving back to explore the linkage to our study of being fruitful and increasing in number, the key is found in 17:6 when God states “I will make you very fruitful . . .” Here the Hebrew root prh (fruit), regularly paired with rbh (multiply), reappears, linking this verse with v. 2. To “be fruitful and increase in numbers” was the first command given to mankind (1:28) and was repeated to Noah in 8:17 and 9:1, 7. Wenham finds that a similar remark is made to Abraham, who like Adam and Noah, stands at the beginning of an epoch in human history. God’s original purpose for mankind, thwarted by the fall and faltering again in the post-Noah period, is eventually to be achieved by Abraham’s descendants.42 Unlike the prior two passages we discussed, the verb used to relate God’s message is no longer an imperative but a reflexive verb. This changes the action from a command on mankind to an action that will be conducted and completed by God himself. Wenham notes that “this change of conjugation suggests that Abraham will be given divine power to achieve this fertility, whereas his predecessors. Left simply to themselves, failed.”43
The key to understanding the passage begins with God’s second speech. Abraham is not simply to become a great nation (12:2) but to become the father of a multitude of nations. His name is changed to confirm that this action, to “father of a multitude” as a lasting guarantee of God’s covenant, will be performed by God. Adam and Noah had simply been told to be fruitful (1:28; 9:1). Here the action is changed so that God will complete what he commands. Abraham will be enabled to achieve the impossible through divine aid. Furthermore, through Abraham God’s plans for humanity will be realized. Indeed, kings will now descend from Abraham. The strong suggestion is that Abrahams offspring will fulfill the other aspect of mankind’s original mandate to have dominion over creation (1:28).
Just as important, however, are the fresh remarks about the covenant (vv. 7–8). Already implicit in 12:1–3 and 15:18, it is now defined more precisely with a view to its confirmation or ratification. This covenant is not simply between God and Abraham but between God and Abraham’s descendants “after you throughout their generations.” It is to be an “eternal covenant.” Similar to the covenant made with Noah, the nature of the covenant demonstrates that a permanent relationship is envisaged, as durable as life itself (cf. 8:20–22; 9:11). This relationship with Abraham’s descendants is to be unique because, unlike the other nations, Israel enjoys a unique relationship with the one true God.
A key feature of the covenant with Abraham and his descendants is their required response. God has taken upon himself the difficult task of providing land, descendants, nations, and kings. All that is left for Abraham and his descendants is to provide a demonstration of acceptance. Abraham is to institute the circumcision of all the males in his household. While this practice was well known in Canaan and the ancient Near East, God commands the practice for those accepting the covenant—investing a singular significance in the practice. The enduring mark of circumcision reflects the eternity of the covenant, the permanent bond between God and Abraham’s descendants (17:13). Most importantly, it is a sign of the covenant (v. 11) that reminds the Israelites of their special spiritual relationship and of their obligation to walk before God and be perfect.
Essentially, circumcision as the sign of the covenant becomes synonymous with being a descendant of Abraham and heir to God’s promises. Therefore, one who is circumcised is grafted into the covenant and the promise of being fruitful, increasing in number, having land, becoming a nation, and being associated with kings.
As with the prior two passages we are left with the hermeneutical