Bible Strands
Genesis 17:5
No longer will you be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses this command to Abram during a covenant revelation, positioned directly after the promise that he will father many nations (Genesis 17:4) and before the pledge that kings will descend from him (Genesis 17:6).
The words — The clause combines וְלֹא (ve./lo'-, "and not") with ע֛וֹד (od, "again") to produce the temporal negation "no longer," while יִקָּרֵ֥א (yi.ka.Re', "it will be called") marks the transition from אַבְרָ֑ם ('av.Ram, "Abram") to the new name.
The thread — The event is recalled in Nehemiah 9:7 as a historical marker of God's choice, and cited in Romans 4:17 to ground the theological claim that Abraham is a father of many nations through faith.
Why it lands — The text states that God's naming directly establishes a new identity and covenant reality, requiring the reader to acknowledge that the promised status precedes and governs the fulfillment of the blessing.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
- Nehemiah 9:7 You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.
- Romans 4:17 As 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.
- Genesis 17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.
- Genesis 32:28 Then 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.”
- Isaiah 62:2 Nations 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.
- Jeremiah 20:3 The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD does not call you Pashhur, but Magor-missabib.
- Revelation 2:17 He 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.
- 2 Samuel 12:25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah because the LORD loved him.
- Isaiah 65:15 You 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.