Genesis 17 · The Lantern

Forsothe aftir that Abram bigan to be of nynti yeer and nyne, the Lord apperide to hym, and seide to him, Y am Almyyti God; go thou bifore me, and be thou perfit;

The words "be blameless" are addressed to Abraham, to whom had been given the spirit of wisdom, holy, marvelously agile, unpolluted. The soul of the just man, therefore, must be in training night and day, ever on the lookout, never indulging in sleep but on perpetual watch, intent on God, so as to understand the things that are and to comprehend the causes of each.

After the tenth year he took Ishmael, his child by the maidservant, and considered that the promises had been fulfilled for him in the child. The patriarch was, you remember, the text tells us, eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born. The loving God, however, exercised the virtue of the just man for a still further period of thirteen years.

After he had turned ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be perfect.

and Y schal sette my couenaunt of pees bitwixe me and thee; and Y schal multiplie thee ful greetli.

And Abram felde doun lowe on his face.

And God seide to hym, Y am, and my couenaunt of pees is with thee, and thou schalt be the fadir of many folkis;

(Chapter 17—Verse 3 and following) And the Lord spoke to him, saying: Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. It should be noted that wherever we read Testament in Greek, in the Hebrew language it is the word covenant or pact, that is, Berith ().

And God said to him: I am, and my covenant is with you. For what is it for the Lord to say: I am, if not to clearly declare the state of his eternity, in which he is always the same? About which the Psalm also says: But you are the same (Psalm 102:28). This place harmonizes with the Gospel where the Lord said to the Jews: Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58).

Conjugal chastity accords with the written law by reason of the divine promise: because the Lord promised to Abraham, Genesis 17: You shall be the father of many nations; and I will make you increase most exceedingly, and I will establish you among nations, and kings shall come forth from you.

and thi name schal no more be clepid Abram, but thou schalt be clepid Abraham, for Y haue maad thee fadir of many folkis;

and Y schal make thee to wexe ful greetli, and Y schal sette thee in folkis, and kyngis schulen go out of thee;

and Y schal make my couenaunt bitwixe me and thee, and bitwixe thi seed after thee, in her generaciouns, bi euerlastynge bond of pees, that Y be thi God, and of thi seed after thee;

and Y schal yyue to thee and to thi seed after thee the lond of thi pilgrymage, al the lond of Chanaan, in to euerlastynge possessioun, and Y schal be the God of hem.

God seide eft to Abraham, And therfor thou schalt kepe my couenaunt, and thi seed after thee, in her generaciouns.

This is my couenaunt, which ye schulen kepe bitwixe me and you, and thi seed after thee; ech male kynde of you schal be circumcidid,

and ye schulen circumside the fleisch of youre mannes yeerd, that it be in to a signe of boond of pees bytwixe me and you.

We, therefore, instructed by the apostle Paul, say that just as many other things were made in the figure and image of future truth, so also that circumcision of flesh was bearing the form of spiritual circumcision about which it was both worthy and fitting that "the God of majesty" give commands to mortals.

Abraham is ordered to circumcise himself when he is about to receive the inheritance of a true progeny. Is it not evident that "circumcision of the flesh" is the precept of chastity, that one should remove the passions of the flesh and curb the desires that unbridled lust renders indomitable?

In what sense is the covenant eternal? One interpretation is that it is eternal according to the One promising, for the things of God are not time conditioned. But relative to us eternal things become time conditioned. Another interpretation is that even when the covenant with Israel was abolished, it was maintained for us, and we are God's [people] in place of them.

A yong child of eiyte daies schal be circumsidid in you, al male kynde in youre generaciouns, as wel a borun seruaunt as a seruaunt bouyt schal be circumsidid, and who euere is of youre kynrede he schal be circumsidid;

and my couenaunt schal be in youre fleisch in to euerlastynge boond of pees.

A man whos fleisch of his yerde schal not be circumsidid, thilke man schal be doon a wei fro his puple; for he made voide my couenaunt.

Nothing done unwittingly is declared punishable by the law, since the law makes allowance even for one who claims to have committed unintentional homicide. Why then is the eight-day-old infant who is uncircumcised menaced as though subject to the penalty of death? Some say that this is to be applied, by way of interpretation, to the parents.

See the Lord's wisdom in knowing how inobservant future generations are likely to be, and so, as though putting a bit in their mouths, he gave them this sign of circumcision, curbing their unrestrained urges in case they should mingle with other peoples.

A male whose foreskin's flesh has not been circumcised, that soul will be cut off from his people: because he has broken my covenant.

Also God seide to Abraham, Thou schalt not clepe Saray, thi wijf, Sarai, but Sara;

and Y schal blesse hir, and of hir I schal yyue to thee a sone, whom I schal blesse, and he schal be in to naciouns, and kyngis of puplis schulen be borun of hym.

Abraham felde doun on his face, and leiyede in his hert, and seide, Gessist thou, whethir a sone schal be borun to a man of an hundrid yeer, and Sara of nynti yeer schal bere child?

Now Abraham was not guilty of any doubt by his laughter, for he showed his love toward Ishmael in what he said. He had clung to this hope for twenty-five years. Abraham had manifested his faith in every vision that had come to him. However great his contest with barrenness became, he manifested the victory of his faith.

(Verse 17.) And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed. And he said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And after a little while: And thou shalt call his name Isaac. Different opinions, but there is one etymology why he is called Isaac. For Isaac is interpreted as laughter.

Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, saying in his heart: "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old, and will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" The laughter of Abraham is the exultation of one rejoicing, not the mockery of one disbelieving: those words which he said in his heart are not those of one doubting, but of one admiring; as testified als…

And he seide to the Lord, Y wolde that Ismael lyue bifore thee.

And the Lord seide to Abraham, Sara, thi wijf, schal bere a sone to thee, and thou schalt clepe his name Ysaac, and Y schal make my couenaunt to hym in to euerlastynge boond of pees, and to his seed aftir hym;

also on Ysmael Y haue herd thee, lo! Y schal blesse him, and Y schal encreesse, and Y schal multiplie him greetli; he schal gendre twelue dukis, and Y schal make hym in to a greet folk.

Forsothe Y schal make my couenaunt to Ysaac, whom Sare schal childe to thee in this tyme in the tother yeer.

And whanne the word of the spekere with hym was endid, God stiede fro Abraham.

Forsothe Abraham took Ismael, his sone, and alle the borun seruauntis of his hous, and alle which he hadde bouyte, alle the malis of alle men of his hous, and circumsidide the fleisch of her yerde, anoon in that dai, as the Lord comaundide him.

Abraham was of nynti yeer and nyne whanne he circumsidide the fleisch of his yeerd,

and Ismael, his sone, hadde fillid threttene yeer in the tyme of his circumsicioun.

Abraham was circumsidid in the same day, and Ismael his sone,

and alle men of his hows, as wel borun seruauntis as bouyt and aliens, weren circumcidid togidre.

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