Another promise: Robert Alter's translation of Genesis, Chapters 17

Chapter seventeen opens with mention of Abram being ninety nine years old, thus setting up the extent of the miracle that God is about to promise. God begins with a request, "be blameless, and I will grant my covenant"(17:2), and then moves on to a general summation of his promise: "I will multiply you very greatly"(17:3).

Rather than question or doubt, Abram "flung himself on his face,"(17:4). This response suggests God is perhaps appearing in a more awesome aspect to Abram than in prior visits. Possibly owing to the style of their source, in 12 and 13, Abram's immediate or initial response to his encounters is not detailed; instead, the narrative indicates he simply obeys by faithfully carrying out the Lord's command. Three times, he builds altars soon after a direct encounter with the Lord:12:7,8 and 13:18. It is not clear if this is to mark those encounters, but it would appear so. In 15, Abram's initial response is to question the Lord's promise.

Perhaps Abram's more dramatic and immediate response in 17 can be attributed to God's aspect. In 17, God is referred to as El Shaddai, a term that Alter notes has "tenuous associations...with a semitic word meaning 'mountain' and with fertility"(p72, n.1). More likely, the more dramatic response is owing to the story-style of the source; specifically, the narrator/editor in 17 relies on a more literary, concrete and detailed type of story to tell his history.

God's promise and request is certainly detailed. The promise has five parts. One, Abram is to be a "father to a multitude of nations"(17:4); Two, "kings shall come forth from you"(17:6). Three, God promises "an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your seed after you"(17:7). Fourth, God will give "the whole land of Canaaan, as an everlasting holding"(17:8). Finally, God promises that Sarai will be the mother of Abram's heir: "I will also give you from her a son" (17:16) and names a time for the birth.

God's request has parts. Abram and Sarai are to change their names and the child is to be named Isaac, reflecting that Isaac laughed (yitshaq, being the Hebrew word for "to laugh") when he heard of the child. Abram is to circumcise "every male"(17:11).

When God promises Abram heirs through Sarai, Abram again "flung himself on his face and he laughed"(17:17). It is hard to reconcile the two actions. Alter observes "the laugher here-hardly the expected response of a man flinging himself on his face-is in disbelief, perhaps edged with bitterness"(p.75, n.17). I wonder if Abram isn't here flinging himself down on his face to hide his laughter, most especially if it is, as Alter suggests, born of bitterness.

The text infers that the act of circumcision will be sign that an everlasting covenant has been entered into by both parties. Yet, the sacrifice episode later on in the text, where Abraham is called on to sacrifice Isaac, complicates such a reading of circumcisions as a symbol marking the permanence of the covenant.