The covenant had been made with Abram for at least fourteen years, and yet Abram remained without any visible sign of its accomplishment, and was merely pointed in faith to the inviolable character of the promise of God. Jehovah now appeared to Him again, when he was ninety-nine years old, twenty-four years after his migration, and thirteen after the birth of Ishmael, to give effect to the covenant and prepare for its execution. Having come down to Abram in a visible form (Genesis 17:22), He said to him, "I am El Shaddai (almighty God): walk before Me and be blameless." At the establishment of the covenant, God had manifested Himself to him as Jehovah (Genesis 15:7); here Jehovah describes Himself as El Shaddai, God the Mighty One. שׁדּי: from שׁדד to be strong, with the substantive termination ai, like חגּי the festal, ישׁישׁי the old man, סיני the thorn-grown, etc. This name is not to be regarded as identical with Elohim, that is to say, with God as Creator and Preserver of the world, although in simple narrative Elohim is used for El Shaddai, which is only employed in the more elevated and solemn style of writing. It belonged to the sphere of salvation, forming one element in the manifestation of Jehovah, and describing Jehovah, the covenant God, as possessing the power to realize His promises, even when the order of nature presented no prospect of their fulfilment, and the powers of nature were insufficient to secure it. The name which Jehovah thus gave to Himself was to be a pledge, that in spite of "his own body now dead," and "the deadness of Sarah's womb" (Romans 4:19), God could and would give him the promised innumerable posterity. On the other hand, God required this of Abram, "Walk before Me (cf. Genesis 5:22) and be blameless" (Genesis 6:9). "Just as righteousness received in faith was necessary for the establishment of the covenant, so a blameless walk before God was required for the maintenance and confirmation of the covenant." This introduction is followed by a more definite account of the new revelation; first of the promise involved in the new name of God (Genesis 17:2-8), and then of the obligation imposed upon Abram (Genesis 17:9-14). "I will give My covenant," says the Almighty, "between Me and thee, and multiply thee exceedingly." בּרית נתן signifies, not to make a covenant, but to give, to put, i.e., to realize, to set in operation the things promised in the covenant - equivalent to setting up the covenant (cf. Genesis 17:7 and Genesis 9:12 with Genesis 9:9). This promise Abram appropriated to himself by falling upon his face in worship, upon which God still further expounded the nature of the covenant about to be executed.

Genesis 17:7 Parallel Commentaries

And I.

Genesis 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your seed have I given this land...

Genesis 26:24 And the LORD appeared to him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham your father: fear not, for I am with you...

Exodus 6:4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage...

Psalm 105:8-11 He has remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations...

Micah 7:20 You will perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

Luke 1:54,55,72-75 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy...

Romans 9:4,8,9 Who are Israelites; to whom pertains the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God...

Galatians 3:17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after...

Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air...

God.

Genesis 26:24 And the LORD appeared to him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham your father: fear not, for I am with you...

Genesis 28:13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac...

Exodus 3:6,15 Moreover he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face...

Leviticus 26:12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.

Psalm 81:10 I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt: open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

Ezekiel 28:26 And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they shall dwell with confidence...

Matthew 22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

Hebrews 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, said the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind...

Hebrews 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: why God is not ashamed to be called their God...

and to.

Exodus 19:5,6 Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people...

Mark 10:14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said to them, Suffer the little children to come to me, and forbid them not...

Acts 2:39 For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.

Romans 9:7-9 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall your seed be called...