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NASB | Genesis 17:1 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; Walk [habitually] before Me [with integrity, knowing that you are always in My presence], and be blameless and complete [in obedience to Me]. |
Bible Question: What is meant by these verses? |
Bible Answer: Laura Beckman The blood covenant is known in all civilizations and is basically done the same way. From this many conclude the process was started with God before or through Noah. In Gen17:1-7 we see a vital two parts of many found in the covenant process. The first is the public announcement of what is expected or promised in the covenant and the second the name exchange. If a covenant was to be made between to humans the expected results of the covenant would be spoken out publicly. Let us say a covenant is going to be made between a man “Smith” who is a farmer and a man named “Jones” who is a warrior. Smith promises to feed Jones if Jones promises to protect Smith. If they agree the first thing they would do is speak out the covenant verbally for all to hear. We see this is verses 1-7 where God tells Abram to walk blameless before Him, and God will make him a father of a great nation and will continue the covenant with Abram’s lineage. The second part of the covenant process is the name exchange. We see it in verse 5 In our example of Jones and Smith. Smith name would change to Smith Jones and Jones name would change from Jones to Jones Smith. Here Abram’s name is changed to Abraham which in Hebrew was the really the appending of the guttural “H” sound to his name. In Hebrew such a guttural “H” sound appended to a persons name meant that person belonged to God. God’s name would be eternally called the God of Abraham we see this in Exodus 3:15 Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.' We see he is also the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob since God had promised to extend the covenant to Abraham’s children. There are many other things that had to take place in the covenant process such as the shedding of blood (circumvention and the slaughtered animals). But to explain all of that would require more room than this response has. I hope this explains a little of what is taking place in Gen 17:1-7 EdB |