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Selected Verse: Genesis 17:15 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ge 17:15	Strong Concordance	And God [0430] said [0559] unto Abraham [085], As for Sarai [08297] thy wife [0802], thou shalt not call [07121] her name [08034] Sarai [08297], but [03588] Sarah [08283] shall her name [08034] be.
	King James	And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
As for Sarai . . . I will . . . give thee a son also of her--God's purposes are gradually made known. A son had been long ago promised to Abraham. Now, at length, for the first time he is informed that it was to be a child of Sarai.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

As for Sarai . . . I will . . . give thee a son also of her--God's purposes are gradually made known. A son had been long ago promised to Abraham. Now, at length, for the first time he is informed that it was to be a child of Sarai.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The appointment of the sign of the covenant was followed by this further revelation as to the promised seed, that Abram would receive it through his wife Sarai. In confirmation of this her exalted destiny, she was no longer to be called Sarai (שׂרי, probably from שׂרר with the termination ai, the princely), but שׂרה, the princess; for she was to become nations, the mother of kings of nations. Abraham then fell upon his face and laughed, saying in himself (i.e., thinking), "Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old, or shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" "The promise was so immensely great, that he sank in adoration to the ground, and so immensely paradoxical, that he could not help laughing" (Del.). "Not that he either ridiculed the promise of God, or treated it as a fable, or rejected it altogether; but, as often happens when things occur which are least expected, partly lifted up with joy, partly carried out of himself with wonder, he burst out into laughter" (Calvin). In this joyous amazement he said to God (Gen 17:18), "O that Ishmael might live before Thee!" To regard these words, with Calvin and others, as intimating that he should be satisfied with the prosperity of Ishmael, as though he durst not hope for anything higher, is hardly sufficient. The prayer implies anxiety, lest Ishmael should have no part in the blessings of the covenant. God answers, "Yes (אבל imo), Sarah thy wife bears thee a son, and thou wilt call his name Isaac (according to the Greek form Ἰσαάκ, for the Hebrew יצחק, i.e., laughter, with reference to Abraham's laughing; Gen 17:17, cf. Gen 21:6), and I will establish My covenant with him," i.e., make him the recipient of the covenant grace. And the prayer for Ishmael God would also grant: He would make him very fruitful, so that he should beget twelve princes and become a great nation. But the covenant, God repeated (Gen 17:21), should be established with Isaac, whom Sarah was to bear to him at that very time in the following year. - Since Ishmael therefore was excluded from participating in the covenant grace, which was ensured to Isaac alone; and yet Abraham was to become a multitude of nations, and that through Sarah, who was to become "nations" through the son she was to bear (Gen 17:16); the "multitude of nations" could not include either the Ishmaelites or the tribes descended from the sons of Keturah (Gen 25:2.), but the descendants of Isaac alone; and as one of Isaac's two sons received no part of the covenant promise, the descendants of Jacob alone. But the whole of the twelve sons of Jacob founded only the one nation of Israel, with which Jehovah established the covenant made with Abraham (Ex 6 and 20-24), so that Abraham became through Israel the lineal father of one nation only. From this it necessarily follows, that the posterity of Abraham, which was to expand into a multitude of nations, extends beyond this one lineal posterity, and embraces the spiritual posterity also, i.e., all nations who are grafted ἐκ πίστεως Ἀβραάμ into the seed of Abraham (Rom 4:11-12, and Rom 4:16, Rom 4:17). Moreover, the fact that the seed of Abraham was not to be restricted to his lineal descendants, is evident from the fact, that circumcision as the covenant sign was not confined to them, but extended to all the inmates of his house, so that these strangers were received into the fellowship of the covenant, and reckoned as part of the promised seed. Now, if the whole land of Canaan was promised to this posterity, which was to increase into a multitude of nations (Gen 17:8), it is perfectly evident, from what has just been said, that the sum and substance of the promise was not exhausted by the gift of the land, whose boundaries are described in Gen 15:18-21, as a possession to the nation of Israel, but that the extension of the idea of the lineal posterity, "Israel after the flesh," to the spiritual posterity, "Israel after the spirit," requires the expansion of the idea and extent of the earthly Canaan to the full extent of the spiritual Canaan, whose boundaries reach as widely as the multitude of nations having Abraham as father; and, therefore, that in reality Abraham received the promise "that he should be the heir of the world" (Rom 4:13). (Note: What stands out clearly in this promise-viz., the fact that the expressions "seed of Abraham" (people of Israel) and "land of Canaan" are not exhausted in the physical Israel and earthly Canaan, but are to be understood spiritually, Israel and Canaan acquiring the typical significance of the people of God and land of the Lord - is still further expanded by the prophets, and most distinctly expressed in the New Testament by Christ and the apostles. This scriptural and spiritual interpretation of the Old Testament is entirely overlooked by those who, like Auberlen, restrict all the promises of God and the prophetic proclamations of salvation to the physical Israel, and reduce the application of them to the "Israel after the spirit," i.e., to believing Christendom, to a mere accommodation.) And what is true of the seed of Abraham and the land of Canaan must also hold good of the covenant and the covenant sign. Eternal duration was promised only to the covenant established by God with the seed of Abraham, which was to grow into a multitude of nations, but not to the covenant institution which God established in connection with the lineal posterity of Abraham, the twelve tribes of Israel. Everything in this institution which was of a local and limited character, and only befitted the physical Israel and the earthly Canaan, existed only so long as was necessary for the seed of Abraham to expand into a multitude of nations. So again it was only in its essence that circumcision could be a sign of the eternal covenant. Circumcision, whether it passed from Abraham to other nations, or sprang up among other nations independently of Abraham and his descendants (see my Archologie, 63, 1), was based upon the religious view, that the sin and moral impurity which the fall of Adam had introduced into the nature of man had concentrated itself in the sexual organs, because it is in sexual life that it generally manifests itself with peculiar force; and, consequently, that for the sanctification of life, a purification or sanctification of the organ of generation, by which life is propagated, is especially required. In this way circumcision in the flesh became a symbol of the circumcision, i.e., the purification, of the heart (Deu 10:16; Deu 30:6, cf. Lev 26:41; Jer 4:4; Jer 9:25; Eze 44:7), and a covenant sign to those who received it, inasmuch as they were received into the fellowship of the holy nation (Exo 19:6), and required to sanctify their lives, in other words, to fulfil all that the covenant demanded. It was to be performed on every boy on the eighth day after its birth, not because the child, like its mother, remains so long in a state of impurity, but because, as the analogous rule with regard to the fitness of young animals for sacrifice would lead us to conclude, this was regarded as the first day of independent existence (Lev 22:27; Exo 22:29; see my Archologie, 63).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The appointment of the sign of the covenant was followed by this further revelation as to the promised seed, that Abram would receive it through his wife Sarai. In confirmation of this her exalted destiny, she was no longer to be called Sarai (שׂרי, probably from שׂרר with the termination ai, the princely), but שׂרה, the princess; for she was to become nations, the mother of kings of nations. Abraham then fell upon his face and laughed, saying in himself (i.e., thinking), "Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old, or shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" "The promise was so immensely great, that he sank in adoration to the ground, and so immensely paradoxical, that he could not help laughing" (Del.). "Not that he either ridiculed the promise of God, or treated it as a fable, or rejected it altogether; but, as often happens when things occur which are least expected, partly lifted up with joy, partly carried out of himself with wonder, he burst out into laughter" (Calvin). In this joyous amazement he said to God (Gen 17:18), "O that Ishmael might live before Thee!" To regard these words, with Calvin and others, as intimating that he should be satisfied with the prosperity of Ishmael, as though he durst not hope for anything higher, is hardly sufficient. The prayer implies anxiety, lest Ishmael should have no part in the blessings of the covenant. God answers, "Yes (אבל imo), Sarah thy wife bears thee a son, and thou wilt call his name Isaac (according to the Greek form Ἰσαάκ, for the Hebrew יצחק, i.e., laughter, with reference to Abraham's laughing; Gen 17:17, cf. Gen 21:6), and I will establish My covenant with him," i.e., make him the recipient of the covenant grace. And the prayer for Ishmael God would also grant: He would make him very fruitful, so that he should beget twelve princes and become a great nation. But the covenant, God repeated (Gen 17:21), should be established with Isaac, whom Sarah was to bear to him at that very time in the following year. - Since Ishmael therefore was excluded from participating in the covenant grace, which was ensured to Isaac alone; and yet Abraham was to become a multitude of nations, and that through Sarah, who was to become "nations" through the son she was to bear (Gen 17:16); the "multitude of nations" could not include either the Ishmaelites or the tribes descended from the sons of Keturah (Gen 25:2.), but the descendants of Isaac alone; and as one of Isaac's two sons received no part of the covenant promise, the descendants of Jacob alone. But the whole of the twelve sons of Jacob founded only the one nation of Israel, with which Jehovah established the covenant made with Abraham (Ex 6 and 20-24), so that Abraham became through Israel the lineal father of one nation only. From this it necessarily follows, that the posterity of Abraham, which was to expand into a multitude of nations, extends beyond this one lineal posterity, and embraces the spiritual posterity also, i.e., all nations who are grafted ἐκ πίστεως Ἀβραάμ into the seed of Abraham (Rom 4:11-12, and Rom 4:16, Rom 4:17). Moreover, the fact that the seed of Abraham was not to be restricted to his lineal descendants, is evident from the fact, that circumcision as the covenant sign was not confined to them, but extended to all the inmates of his house, so that these strangers were received into the fellowship of the covenant, and reckoned as part of the promised seed. Now, if the whole land of Canaan was promised to this posterity, which was to increase into a multitude of nations (Gen 17:8), it is perfectly evident, from what has just been said, that the sum and substance of the promise was not exhausted by the gift of the land, whose boundaries are described in Gen 15:18-21, as a possession to the nation of Israel, but that the extension of the idea of the lineal posterity, "Israel after the flesh," to the spiritual posterity, "Israel after the spirit," requires the expansion of the idea and extent of the earthly Canaan to the full extent of the spiritual Canaan, whose boundaries reach as widely as the multitude of nations having Abraham as father; and, therefore, that in reality Abraham received the promise "that he should be the heir of the world" (Rom 4:13).

(Note: What stands out clearly in this promise-viz., the fact that the expressions "seed of Abraham" (people of Israel) and "land of Canaan" are not exhausted in the physical Israel and earthly Canaan, but are to be understood spiritually, Israel and Canaan acquiring the typical significance of the people of God and land of the Lord - is still further expanded by the prophets, and most distinctly expressed in the New Testament by Christ and the apostles. This scriptural and spiritual interpretation of the Old Testament is entirely overlooked by those who, like Auberlen, restrict all the promises of God and the prophetic proclamations of salvation to the physical Israel, and reduce the application of them to the "Israel after the spirit," i.e., to believing Christendom, to a mere accommodation.)

And what is true of the seed of Abraham and the land of Canaan must also hold good of the covenant and the covenant sign. Eternal duration was promised only to the covenant established by God with the seed of Abraham, which was to grow into a multitude of nations, but not to the covenant institution which God established in connection with the lineal posterity of Abraham, the twelve tribes of Israel. Everything in this institution which was of a local and limited character, and only befitted the physical Israel and the earthly Canaan, existed only so long as was necessary for the seed of Abraham to expand into a multitude of nations. So again it was only in its essence that circumcision could be a sign of the eternal covenant. Circumcision, whether it passed from Abraham to other nations, or sprang up among other nations independently of Abraham and his descendants (see my Archologie, 63, 1), was based upon the religious view, that the sin and moral impurity which the fall of Adam had introduced into the nature of man had concentrated itself in the sexual organs, because it is in sexual life that it generally manifests itself with peculiar force; and, consequently, that for the sanctification of life, a purification or sanctification of the organ of generation, by which life is propagated, is especially required. In this way circumcision in the flesh became a symbol of the circumcision, i.e., the purification, of the heart (Deu 10:16; Deu 30:6, cf. Lev 26:41; Jer 4:4; Jer 9:25; Eze 44:7), and a covenant sign to those who received it, inasmuch as they were received into the fellowship of the holy nation (Exo 19:6), and required to sanctify their lives, in other words, to fulfil all that the covenant demanded. It was to be performed on every boy on the eighth day after its birth, not because the child, like its mother, remains so long in a state of impurity, but because, as the analogous rule with regard to the fitness of young animals for sacrifice would lead us to conclude, this was regarded as the first day of independent existence (Lev 22:27; Exo 22:29; see my Archologie, 63).

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
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.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah - See note on Gen 17:5.

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²⁹ Thou shalt not delay [0309] to offer the first of thy ripe fruits [04395], and of thy liquors [01831]: the firstborn [01060] of thy sons [01121] shalt thou give [05414] unto me.

²⁷ When a bullock [07794], or a sheep [03775], or a goat [05795], is brought forth [03205], then it shall be seven [07651] days [03117] under the dam [0517]; and from the eighth [08066] day [03117] and thenceforth [01973] it shall be accepted [07521] for an offering [07133] made by fire [0801] unto the LORD [03068].

⁶ And ye shall be unto me a kingdom [04467] of priests [03548], and an holy [06918] nation [01471]. These are the words [01697] which thou shalt speak [01696] unto the children [01121] of Israel [03478].

⁷ In that ye have brought [0935] into my sanctuary strangers [01121] [05236], uncircumcised [06189] in heart [03820], and uncircumcised [06189] in flesh [01320], to be in my sanctuary [04720], to pollute [02490] it, even my house [01004], when ye offer [07126] my bread [03899], the fat [02459] and the blood [01818], and they have broken [06565] my covenant [01285] because [0413] of all your abominations [08441].

²⁵ Behold, the days [03117] come [0935], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], that I will punish [06485] all them which are circumcised [04135] with the uncircumcised [06190];

⁴ Circumcise [04135] yourselves to the LORD [03068], and take away [05493] the foreskins [06190] of your heart [03824], ye men [0376] of Judah [03063] and inhabitants [03427] of Jerusalem [03389]: lest my fury [02534] come forth [03318] like fire [0784], and burn [01197] that none can quench [03518] it, because [06440] of the evil [07455] of your doings [04611].

⁴¹ And that I also have walked [03212] contrary [07147] unto them, and have brought [0935] them into the land [0776] of their enemies [0341]; if then [0176] their uncircumcised [06189] hearts [03824] be humbled [03665], and they then accept [07521] of the punishment of their iniquity [05771]:

⁶ And the LORD [03068] thy God [0430] will circumcise [04135] thine heart [03824], and the heart [03824] of thy seed [02233], to love [0157] the LORD [03068] thy God [0430] with all thine heart [03824], and with all thy soul [05315], that thou mayest live [02416].

¹⁶ Circumcise [04135] therefore the foreskin [06190] of your heart [03824], and be no more stiffnecked [06203] [07185].

¹³ For [1063] the promise [1860], that he should be [1511] the [846] heir [2818] of the world [2889], was not [3756] to Abraham [11], or [2228] to his [846] seed [4690], through [1223] the law [3551], but [235] through [1223] the righteousness [1343] of faith [4102].

¹⁸ In the same [01931] day [03117] the LORD [03068] made [03772] a covenant [01285] with Abram [087], saying [0559], Unto thy seed [02233] have I given [05414] this land [0776], from the river [05104] of Egypt [04714] unto the great [01419] river [05104], the river [05104] Euphrates [06578]:
¹⁹ The Kenites [07017], and the Kenizzites [07074], and the Kadmonites [06935],
²⁰ And the Hittites [02850], and the Perizzites [06522], and the Rephaims [07497],
²¹ And the Amorites [0567], and the Canaanites [03669], and the Girgashites [01622], and the Jebusites [02983].

⁸ And I will give [05414] unto thee, and to thy seed [02233] after thee [0310], the land [0776] wherein thou art a stranger [04033], all the land [0776] of Canaan [03667], for an everlasting [05769] possession [0272]; and I will be their God [0430].

¹⁷ (As [2531] it is written [1125], [3754] I have made [5087] thee [4571] a father [3962] of many [4183] nations [1484],) before [2713] him whom [3739] he believed [4100], even God [2316], who quickeneth [2227] the dead [3498], and [2532] calleth [2564] those things which be [5607] not [3361] as though [5613] they were [5607].

¹⁶ Therefore [1223] [5124] it is of [1537] faith [4102], that [2443] it might be by [2596] grace [5485]; to the end [1519] the promise [1860] might be [1511] sure [949] to all [3956] the seed [4690]; not [3756] to that only [3440] which is of [1537] the law [3551], but [235] to that also [2532] which is of [1537] the faith [4102] of Abraham [11]; who [3739] is [2076] the father [3962] of us [2257] all [3956],

¹¹ And [2532] he received [2983] the sign [4592] of circumcision [4061], a seal [4973] of the righteousness [1343] of the faith [4102] which [3588] he had yet being [1722] uncircumcised [203]: that [1519] he [846] might be [1511] the father [3962] of all [3956] them that believe [4100], though [1223] they be not circumcised [203]; that [1519] righteousness [1343] might be imputed [3049] unto them [846] also [2532]:
¹² And [2532] the father [3962] of circumcision [4061] to them who are not [3756] of [1537] the circumcision [4061] only [3440], but [235] who also [2532] walk [4748] in the steps [2487] of that faith [4102] of our [2257] father [3962] Abraham [11], which he had being [1722] yet uncircumcised [203].

² And she bare [03205] him Zimran [02175], and Jokshan [03370], and Medan [04091], and Midian [04080], and Ishbak [03435], and Shuah [07744].

¹⁶ And I will bless [01288] her, and give [05414] thee a son [01121] also of her: yea, I will bless [01288] her, and she shall be a mother of nations [01471]; kings [04428] of people [05971] shall be of her.

²¹ But my covenant [01285] will I establish [06965] with Isaac [03327], which Sarah [08283] shall bear [03205] unto thee at this set time [04150] in the next [0312] year [08141].

⁶ And Sarah [08283] said [0559], God [0430] hath made [06213] me to laugh [06712], so that all that hear [08085] will laugh [06711] with me.

¹⁷ Then Abraham [085] fell [05307] upon his face [06440], and laughed [06711], and said [0559] in his heart [03820], Shall a child be born [03205] unto him that is an hundred [03967] years [08141] old [01121]? and shall Sarah [08283], that is ninety [08673] years [08141] old [01323], bear [03205]?

¹⁸ And Abraham [085] said [0559] unto God [0430], O that [03863] Ishmael [03458] might live [02421] before thee [06440]!

⁵ Neither shall thy name [08034] any more be called [07121] Abram [087], but thy name [08034] shall be Abraham [085]; for a father [01] of many [01995] nations [01471] have I made thee [05414].