Genesis 17:5

“No longer will your name be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.”
Genesis 17:5 · direct translation from the Hebrew

Study it in the app

God establishes his covenant with Abram and changes his nameFaithfulness

With the Hebrew beneath

Noוְלֹאlongerעוֹדwill your nameאֶת שִׁמְךָbe calledיִקָּרֵאAbram,אַבְרָםbutוְyour nameשִׁמְךָwill beהָיָהAbraham,אַבְרָהָםforכִּיI have made youנְתַתִּיךָthe fatherאַבof a multitudeהֲמוֹןof nations.גּוֹיִם

Quotation · Romans 4:17

Go to Romans 4:17

Paul quotes the second half of Genesis 17:5, the explanation of Abraham’s name.

Formula: καθὼς γέγραπται ὅτι “as it is written” (Romans 4:17)

See the original texts

Greek of the New Testament: καθὼς γέγραπται ὅτι Πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν τέθεικά σε κατέναντι οὗ ἐπίστευσεν θεοῦ τοῦ ζῳοποιοῦντος τοὺς νεκροὺς καὶ καλοῦντος τὰ μὴ ὄντα ὡς ὄντα

Hebrew (Masoretic text): וְלֹא יִקָּרֵא עוֹד אֶת שִׁמְךָ אַבְרָם וְהָיָה שִׁמְךָ אַבְרָהָם כִּי אַב הֲמוֹן גּוֹיִם נְתַתִּיךָ

Septuagint (Genesis 17:5 in the Septuagint numbering): καὶ οὐ κληθήσεται ἔτι τὸ ὄνομά σου Ἁβράμ, ἀλλ’ ἔσται Ἀβραὰμ τὸ ὄνομα σου· ὅτι πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν τέθεικά σε.

The Greek of the NT matches the Septuagint word for word in 6 consecutive words: “ὅτι Πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν τέθεικά σε.”

Septuagint, Swete’s text, First1KGreek transcription (with reading errors), CC BY-SA 4.0

Genesis 17:5, word by word

will your nameשִׁמְshim

name

The word by which a person, place or thing is called and recognized.

Where else “shim” appears

be calledיִקָּרֵאyikare

name

To give someone a name.

Where else “yikare” appears

Abramאַבְרָםavram

Abram

Abram, the name of Abraham before God changed it (Genesis 17:5). It means "exalted father".

Where else “avram” appears

will beהָיָהhaya

To be: "I will be their Elohim".

Where else “haya” appears

Abrahamאַבְרָהָםavraham

Abraham

Abraham, the name God gave to Abram; it sounds like "father of a multitude" (Genesis 17:5). The father of the people of Israel, to whom God promised the land and blessing for all the families of the earth.

Where else “avraham” appears

I have made youנְתַתִּיnetati

make

To make someone something: "I have made you a father".

Where else “netati” appears

the fatherאַבav

forefather

Ancestors, those who came before in the family.

Where else “av” appears

of a multitudeהֲמוֹןhamon

multitude

Many people gathered, or a great number of something, like an army.

Where else “hamon” appears

of nationsגּוֹיִםgoyim

nation

A people with their land; also Israel.

Where else “goyim” appears

Translation note

“Abram” means “exalted father”; “Abraham” sounds like “father of a multitude” (av hamon).

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

Quotation · Romans 4:17

Paul quotes the second half of Genesis 17:5, the explanation of Abraham’s name.

See them side by side

Genesis 17:5

⁵No longer will your name be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

Romans 4:17

¹⁷(as it is written: I have made you a father of many nations) in the presence of the God whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls the things that do not exist as though they existed.

The context

4“As for me, look, my covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations.

5 · This verse (above)

6I will make you fruitful exceedingly, and I will make you into nations, and kings will come from you.

Read all of Genesis 17

To study Genesis 17 in a group

1. What it says
What new names did Abram and Sarai receive, and what did Elohim promise Abraham (vv. 5, 15-16)?
2. What it means
What does it show about Elohim’s plan that Abram becomes Abraham, “father of a multitude of nations” (v. 5)?
3. How I live it
What helps you remember each day what Elohim has said about you and your life?

How to use it