Cornelius a Lapide's Commentary on Genesis 17
The Covenant with Abraham and the Change of Name
Gen 17:3 He fell down, adoring and giving thanks to God.
Gen 17:4 "I AM": I am He who is; I am eternal, immutable, constant, and faithful in My promises. Therefore, My covenant, which I sanction with you by these words, shall be immutable and irrevocable.
St. Jerome, in his Epistle to Marcella, notes that God alone truly is, because He knows not "to have been" nor "to be about to be"—whose essence is to be, and to whom our being, when compared, is as nothing. Concerning this, see more in my commentaries on Exodus 3 and 6.
"Nor shall your name be called Abram any more, but you shall be called Abraham" (Gen 17:5)
Abram in Hebrew is said to be quasi Ab-Ram (אַבְרָם), that is, "exalted father"—one who thinks exalted thoughts, dwells in exalted things (for example, in heavenly things), plans and pursues exalted and divine things.
Now God calls Abram Abraham, quasi Ab-Ram-Hamon (אַבְרָם הָמוֹן), that is, "father of a great and exalted multitude," or "father of many exalted ones," because, as follows: "I have made you a father of many nations"—namely, of Jews and Gentiles.
Therefore, because Abraham hitherto used his name well, and because an exalted life corresponded well to him, hence he merits here to receive another name, by which he might also make many others exalted. If we too respond to our name, which we have received from Christ, He will give us another new name, "which the mouth of the Lord shall name" (Isaiah 62:2; Revelation 3:12).
The name Abraham, therefore, is as it were a column upon which God inscribed the promise of posterity and of a faithful, elect seed unto eternity, as St. Chrysostom says here. See the praises of Abraham chanted by Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 44:20.
Note from the Apostle (Romans 9:5-7): The posterity of Abraham is here taken literally as natural and carnal—namely, the Jews, who were divided into twelve tribes as into twelve nations. But allegorically, and most importantly, the spiritual sons of Abraham are here understood—namely, the faithful who imitate the faith and piety of Abraham. Such were first the Jews; then, under Christ, few Jews and all the Gentiles. For these are properly called "many nations," and among these many were exalted—namely, Apostles, Martyrs, Doctors, Virgins, etc.
Therefore, God here mingles spiritual promises with carnal ones, as I have said on Romans 9:6. Abraham, therefore, is the father of all the exalted—that is, of the heavenly dwellers: namely, the 144,000 sealed from the Jews, and the great multitude sealed from the Gentiles, "which no one could number" (Revelation 7:9).
The Mystical Significance of the Letter He
The Hebrews, St. Jerome, Lipomanus, and others note that to Abram the letter He (ה) is added, so that it becomes Abraham. The same letter is also added to Sarai, so that it becomes Sarah. This letter He is principal in the tetragrammaton name of God, for it is placed twice therein—as if by this God indicates that the Messiah, who is God and the Son of God, namely Jesus Christ, would be born from Abraham and Sarah.
Pererius adds that He signifies five—namely, the fifth millennium of the world, at the beginning of which Christ was born from Abraham and Sarah. But more truly, Christ was born toward the end of the fourth millennium.
Philo's Allegorical Interpretation
Philo (De Gigantibus) notes secondly that Abram was called "exalted father" because he was an astrologer, because he scrutinized high and heavenly things; but afterward he was called Abraham, quasi Ab-Bar-Hamon (אַב בַּר הָמוֹן), that is, "father, chosen one of great sound or voice," or "father of elect consonance." And this is the voice and life of a good man: for he is elect and purified, and the father of that voice and consonance by which we sound forth God's praises, and to which we consonantly respond in our whole life, by our deeds and words.
From Abram, therefore, he became Abraham—that is, from an astrologer, a divine man; from a man of heaven, a man of God (Philo). But these things are symbolic and mystical.
A Note on Chrysostom
Note thirdly: St. Chrysostom seems here to have lapsed in memory, when he says that Abram signifies "a passer-by" (transitor), and that the name was given by his parents because they foresaw his passage from Ur of the Chaldees into Canaan. For he confuses the name Abram with the name Hebrew, which signifies [a passer-by]; or certainly he thinks that Abram from his parents was a Hebrew, which is not probable.
"And kings shall come forth from you" (Gen 17:6)
Namely, kings of Judah from Jacob; from Esau, kings of the Idumeans and Amalekites; moreover, Ishmael and others born from Keturah also had kings.
"And I will establish" (Gen 17:7)
Hebrew: הֲקִימֹתִי (hakimoti)—"I will cause to stand," "I will stabilize," "I will confirm the covenant which I have already begun with you" (v. 4).
"An Everlasting Covenant"
This covenant was eternal not absolutely, but relatively: in the carnal seed—namely, the Jews—it lasted as long as the Church and commonwealth endured. But in the spiritual seed—namely, the faithful—it is absolutely eternal.
"That I may be your God, and the God of your seed after you"
As if to say: By this law and condition I make a covenant with you and with yours, O Abram, namely, that I may be your God and the God of yours—surely, that I alone may be adored and worshipped by you, and that you may depend upon Me; and that I, in turn, may love, care for, protect, and bless you as My special possession. Thus Vatablus and others.
"You shall keep" (Gen 17:9)
"Keep"—so St. Augustine reads (instead of "you shall guard").
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