Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Genesis 17:3-8
‘And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him saying, “As for me, behold my covenant is with you and you will be the father of a multitude of nations”.'
The presence of Yahweh is so real and awe-inspiring that Abram ‘falls on his face' as before a great king (compare Genesis 17:22 - which demonstrates that this is a genuine theophany). The title ‘God' is used because Yahweh is here representing Himself as ‘God Almighty' (El Shaddai). So throughout this passage He is spoken of as ‘God', that is ‘El Shaddai' for it reaches beyond those who worship Him as Yahweh.
“Neither shall your name any more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.”
The change of name indicates a new beginning. Now the thought is of more than one nation. The name ‘Abram' is found in many contemporary ancient texts, often in the form ‘Abi-ram' - ‘my father is Ram - the exalted One', it may also mean ‘my father is exalted'. The name ‘Ab-raham' is also similarly found and may mean ‘father of a multitude' but there is a typical play on words rather than the name necessarily meaning that. Thus the name change, although being an alternative form rather than a new name, (it is like changing Steve to Stephen), indicates the extending of the promises to Abram.
“And I will make you exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of you and kings shall come from you.”
Now it is more than one nation that will come out of Abram and his seed, and the added promise is made of ‘kings', rulers of peoples, re-emphasising the extension of the promise to many peoples so that there will be many tribes. It is to miss the point to see this as directly a prophecy of the Davidic kingship, although later readers would read it so. This is not as specific as that. It is the natural result of a man in Abram's position producing many tribes and peoples necessitating many rulers. Not one nation but many. And his descendants will rule over them. This reaches its final culmination when all nations are Abraham's seed in Christ the king and all the nations of the world are blessed (Genesis 12:3).
“And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your seed after you.”
Here God makes explicit what has previously been implicit, that the covenant is with, and includes, all generations of his seed to come. It is a covenant that will never cease. God will never cease to be their God. The covenant is permanent and ‘everlasting'.
“Me and you and your seed after you --”. The latter is repeated three times to confirm the completeness of the covenant. His descendants are now specifically brought in to the covenant. But there is still a stress on Abraham's favoured position. His descendants are blessed because of him. His seed includes all his seed, the nations that will spring from him.
“And I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, and I will be their God.”
At present they are dwellers in the land, but much of the land is owned by others. They are sojourners, they merely have ‘temporary residence rights'. But one day his descendants will own and possess the land in the name of Almighty God Who can do whatever He will. There may be a hint here that Abraham has been becoming concerned about the fact that his reception of the land has seemed to be delayed. This stresses that God has not overlooked him.
And He will be God to them. His sovereign power will be exerted on their behalf and He will rule over them receiving their homage and worship. It is interesting that in Exodus 3-6 the reverse situation applies. Here, as Yahweh, He is revealing Himself in the name ‘El Shaddai' as the God Who is over all because His new covenant includes those outside the original covenant who will not be part of that covenant until all nations are blessed in Abram. In Exodus He Who is their God (El Shaddai), as they dwell outside the land, Who will also reveal Himself as the God of the covenant, as Yahweh, as ‘the One Who is there', acting in history in the actual fulfilling of the promises by possession of the land.