Discovery BoxGenesis 17:20 
Context17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. 1 I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. 2 He will become the father of twelve princes; 3 I will make him into a great nation.
Genesis 17:23
Context17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) 4 and circumcised them 5 on that very same day, just as God had told him to do.
1 sn The Hebrew verb translated “I have heard you” forms a wordplay with the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.
2 tn Heb “And I will multiply him exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
3 tn For a discussion of the Hebrew word translated “princes,” see E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical Nasi’,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.
4 tn Heb “Ishmael his son and all born in his house and all bought with money, every male among the men of the house of Abraham.”
5 tn Heb “circumcised the flesh of their foreskin.” The Hebrew expression is somewhat pleonastic and has been simplified in the translation.
