God made a covenant with Abram. This covenant was not conditioned upon anything that Abram needed to do, but the fulfillment of its promises is conditioned upon the actions of each generation of his descendants. It has not yet been fulfilled in its entirety. It is important to note in this chapter that Isaac is the son who receives the promises associated with the covenant and not Ishmael. (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/covenant]] and [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/fulfill]] and [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/promise]])
Circumcision was an unusual practice in the ancient Near East. It served to separate the Hebrew people from the rest of the world. This chapter records the beginning of this practice among Abram and his descendants. (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/circumcise]])
In this chapter, God changed Abram's name to "Abraham." In Scripture, a change in name always occurs at a highly significant point in a person's life. The beginning of the practice of circumcision was a significant event in the history of the Hebrew people.
See in Reader
