The Book of Genesis, Chapter 17

Genesis 17:1-27

Summary

God approaches Abram and establishes his covenant with him. This covenant involves a name change for Abram and Sarai, and what seems to me to be a rather inordinate amount of focus on the foreskins of Abram's family's penises. God tells the newly-named Abraham that his son Ishmael will be the father of many princes and a great nation, but that it is with Isaac that God will make his covenant.

Commentary

As anybody who has ever worked at, gone to, or been in the general vicinity of Huron Church Camp can tell you, a covenant is a big deal. Often written in crayon on funky paper (well, at Camp, at least). A covenant is a solemn promise made between people, and in the Bible often between people and God, in which both parties agree to perform some sort of action.

God's side of the covenant is pretty impressive. God tells Abram that she will make him "the ancestor of a multitude of nations," (Gen 17:4), and further goes on to change Abram's name. The footnotes for the online Bible say that "Abram" should be taken to mean "exalted ancestor" and "Abraham" (the new name) should be taken to mean "ancestor of a multitude." Which makes sense, as God goes on to tell Abram that he will be the "ancestor of a multitude of nations," and "exceedingly fruitful," and that he will be the father of kings (Gen 17:6).

Yeah, there's a pretty impressive amount of repetition in this chapter, but I think part of that is an attempt to emphasize how important this covenant really is. This isn't the sort of promise that God makes every day to just any ancient patriarch. It's a grand covenant, that bestows on Abra(ha)m all the glories of being the father of nations who is in an everlasting covenant with God. And all it costs is a little bit of skin, from every male.

Ah yes, the eminently reasonable requirement of circumcision. That's only partially a joke, because at the time I'm sure it made sense. A circumcised penis is easier to keep clean, and with actual cleanliness tends to come ritual cleanliness. I haven't seen a lot of it yet, but I do know that a huge emphasis on being ritually clean is upcoming, and this appears to be the very start of it.

God requires that every male, including the slaves born into the household and the slaves purchased from elsewhere, must be circumcised at the age of eight days. Presumably any slave older than eight days when purchased would be circumcised that day (or at least reasonably, it's sometimes hard to tell how much leeway you get with something like this). It must be done, however, because "[a]ny uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken [God's] commandment" (Gen 17:14).

It kind of strikes me as a slightly odd place to start with requirements for a covenant with God, but I fully admit straight up that I don't really know what pleases God all the time. Maybe it's the cleanliness, maybe it's the unquestioning loyalty that he later forces Abra(ha)m to display with his son, but taken at face value God clearly needs this for a reason, I just don't know what that reason is.

In the next bit, God also changes Sarai's name to Sarah, and tells Abra(ha)m that she will bear him a child. In response to this, Abra(ha)m "fell on his face and laughed" (Gen 17:17). I love that moment, because it speaks powerfully to the humanity of Abra(ha)m; he just can't believe that his ninety-year-old-wife can bear him a son, and who can blame him?

I enjoy seeing the reactions of people in the Bible who are experiencing God's power for the first time, because I know that were I to witness the same raw power and majesty, I'd probably have a hard time believing it as well. My ninety-year-old wife bear me a son? Preposterous! Maybe it'd be better if God just established his covenant with Ishmael, Abra(ha)m suggests, but God won't allow it.

Ishmael doesn't get left with nothing, though, God hears Abra(ha)m's plea for his bastard son to be blessed as well, and says that he will be made "fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes and [God] will make him a great nation" (Gen 17:20).

In the end, though, Ishmael is still denied the greatest gift, the sweetest pot in the whole deal. God says that though Ishmael is to be blessed, "[God's] covenant will be established with Isaac" (Gen 17:21). I don't know the specifics of how inheritance law really worked back then, but as Ishmael was considered a legitimate heir, it was probably a bit of a kick in the pants when Isaac showed up on the scene and became the heir-designate. I wonder if being the son of the patriarch's wife would supersede being the eldest? I don't know, either way, I imagine there was some bad blood, even if it didn't get recorded in the Bible (to be honest, it might have been, I don't know much about Abraham's sons, it's Isaac's sons I know a little more about).

The last few verses of the chapter tell us that Abraham and Ishmael and all their slaves and male family members were circumcised. It doesn't tell us that God said it was good, but I think we can assume that God was approving.