No longer will you be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
Parallel translations
- WEB Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
- KJV Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
- NKJV No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.
- NASB “No longer shall you be named Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
- NLT What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations.
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
God changed Abram's name to Abraham, father of a multitude. The new name embodied the enlarged promise.
Overview
God renames Abram, high father, as Abraham, father of a multitude, sealing the promise in his very identity. Name changes in Scripture often mark a new calling or covenant role. Abraham becomes the father of many nations, a title Paul applies to all who share his faith, foreshadowing the gathering of the nations into God's people through the gospel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Matt 1:21–23She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
- Neh 9:7You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.
- Rom 4:17As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist.
- Gen 17:15Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.
- Gen 32:28Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”
- Rev 2:17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.
- Jer 20:3The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD does not call you Pashhur, but Magor-missabib.
- Isa 62:2–4Nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.
- Jer 23:6In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.
- 2 Sam 12:25and sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah because the LORD loved him.
- Isa 65:15You will leave behind your name as a curse for My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you; but to His servants He will give another name.
- John 1:42Andrew brought him to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated as Peter).
- Num 13:16These were the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land; and Moses gave to Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 17:5 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.