Genesis 17:5

No longer will your name be ¹  Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham ²  because I will make you ³  the father of a multitude of nations.

Ge 17:15; Ge 32:28; Nu 13:16; 2Sa 12:25; Ne 9:7; Isa 62:2-4; Isa 65:15; Jer 20:3; Jer 23:6; Mt 1:21-23; Joh 1:42; Re 2:17

¹ tn Heb “will your name be called.”

² sn Your name will be Abraham. The renaming of Abram was a sign of confirmation to the patriarch. Every time the name was used it would be a reminder of God’s promise. “Abram” means “exalted father,” probably referring to Abram’s father Terah. The name looks to the past; Abram came from noble lineage. The name “Abraham” is a dialectical variant of the name Abram. But its significance is in the wordplay with אַב־הֲמוֹן (’av-hamon, “the father of a multitude,” which sounds like אַבְרָהָם, ’avraham, “Abraham”). The new name would be a reminder of God’s intention to make Abraham the father of a multitude. For a general discussion of renaming, see O. Eissfeldt, “Renaming in the Old Testament,” Words and Meanings, 70-83.

³ tn The perfect verbal form is used here in a rhetorical manner to emphasize God’s intention.