AISBT ReaderRom 4:17–18: Gen 17:5 (the new name) and Gen 15:5 (the stars)
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Rom 4:17–18: Gen 17:5 (the new name) and Gen 15:5 (the stars)

Says Gen 17:5 renames Abram: אַבְרָם וְהָיָה שִׁמְךָ אַבְרָהָם (avram vehayah shimkha avraham), כִּי אַב־הֲמוֹן גּוֹיִם נְתַתִּיךָ (ki av-hamon goyim netattikha, "for I have made you a father of many nations," BSB; הָמוֹן, "multitude," BDB p. 242).

Uncertain How the name is explained. The lean is a play on sound: אַבְרָהָם echoes אַב־הֲמוֹן, though הֲמוֹן has no r. The alternative is that the clause gives the name's actual derivation.

Says Swete's LXX also changes the name from Abram to Abraham and reads ὅτι πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν τέθεικά σε. Rom 4:17 quotes Πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν τέθεικά σε after καθὼς γέγραπται ὅτι, word for word. The perfect τέθεικα renders the Hebrew perfect נְתַתִּיךָ.

Says At 4:18 Paul quotes Gen 15:5, where God shows Abram the stars: וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ כֹּה יִהְיֶה זַרְעֶךָ (vayyo'mer lo koh yihyeh zar'ekha, "So shall your offspring be"). Swete has καὶ εἶπεν Οὕτως ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα σου; Paul's Οὕτως ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα σου is the LXX wording.

Implies Paul joins the two promises: the many nations of Gen 17:5 are the countless offspring of Gen 15:5, and Abraham "believed and so became the father of many nations" (4:18, BSB).

Claims

  • SaysGen 17:5 MT אַבְרָם וְהָיָה שִׁמְךָ אַבְרָהָם כִּי אַב־הֲמוֹן גּוֹיִם נְתַתִּיךָ; הָמוֹן "multitude" (BDB p. 242).
  • UncertainWhether the explanation of אַבְרָהָם by אַב־הֲמוֹן is a sound-play (lean; הֲמוֹן has no r) or the name's actual derivation.
  • SaysLXX Gen 17:5 changes the name from Abram to Abraham and reads ὅτι πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν τέθεικά σε; Rom 4:17 quotes it word for word; τέθεικα renders the perfect נְתַתִּיךָ.
  • SaysGen 15:5 MT וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ כֹּה יִהְיֶה זַרְעֶךָ; LXX καὶ εἶπεν Οὕτως ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα σου; Rom 4:18 has the LXX wording.
  • ImpliesPaul joins the promises of Gen 17:5 and Gen 15:5: the many nations are the countless offspring (4:18).

Citations

  • OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 17:5; Gen 15:5
  • BDB CC BY 4.0 s.v. hamon (H1995), p. 242, entry e.bt.ab
  • LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 17:5 (p. 25; apparatus gives only D's fragmentary text); Gen 15:5 (p. 23, read on the page image: καὶ εἶπεν Οὕτως). LXX checked against Swete scan, vol. 1 (1909), pp. 23, 25.
  • SBLGNT CC BY 4.0 Rom 4:17–18
  • BSB public domain Gen 15:5; 17:5; Rom 4:18
Sources OSHB CC BY 4.0 LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 SBLGNT CC BY 4.0 BDB CC BY 4.0 BSB public domain Bible Scholarship & Tool CC BY 4.0

Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits

2026-10-30

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