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When God had finished speaking, he left Abraham.
Genesis 17:22 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB When he finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
  • KJV And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
  • BSB When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.
  • NKJV Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
  • NASB When He finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

When God finished speaking, He went up from Abraham. The divine encounter concluded, leaving Abraham to obey.

Overview

The revelation ends with God withdrawing from Abraham, marking the close of this momentous covenant conversation. The brief note signals that the time for hearing has passed and the time for obedience, seen in the immediate circumcision that follows, has come. It reminds readers that encounters with God's word call for faithful response.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Gen 35:9–15God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him.
  • Gen 18:33Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
  • Judg 13:20For when the flame went up toward the sky from off the altar, Yahweh’s angel ascended in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife watched; and they fell on their faces to the ground.
  • John 10:30I and the Father are one.”
  • Gen 17:3Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying,
  • Deut 5:4Yahweh spoke with you face to face on the mountain out of the middle of the fire,
  • Num 12:6–8He said, “Now hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream.
  • John 1:18No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
  • Judg 6:21Then Yahweh’s angel stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up out of the rock, and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. Then Yahweh’s angel departed out of his sight.
  • Exod 20:22Yahweh said to Moses, “This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 17:22YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.

How Genesis 17:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.