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Chapter 16
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Genesis, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
God, Humanity, and Creation
Mistrust, Disobedience, and Death
Covenants and Faith in God’s Promises
The Role of Women
Summary
Analysis
When Abram is 99 years old, the LORD appears to him. He says that Abram must walk blamelessly before him. He also makes a covenant with Abram, promising to make him the ancestor of many nations. God says that Abram must be called Abraham from now on. God’s covenant with Abraham will also include his offspring forever; he will give them the land of Canaan perpetually.
Though God made a covenant with Abram in Genesis 15 to give him children, this covenant takes a wider view, speaking not just of offspring, but of “many nations.” Abram means “exalted ancestor,” while Abraham means “ancestor of a multitude”—the change of name reflects his new status.
Themes
For Abraham’s part, God says, he and his offspring must keep the covenant by undergoing circumcision; all the males among them must circumcise the flesh of their foreskins as a sign of the covenant. This will be done when each male is eight days old, and foreign slaves are included. Any uncircumcised male must be cut off from God’s people as a covenant-breaker.
Then God says that Abraham’s wife must no longer be called Sarai, but Sarah. God will give Abram a son by her, and from her will come nations and kings. At this, Abraham falls on his face, laughing; he is 100 years old, and Sarah is 90. He tells God, “O that Ishmael might live in your sight!” God repeats that Abram will have a son by Sarah, whose name will be Isaac. God will also bless Ishmael, making him a great nation. But God will make an everlasting covenant with Isaac and his offspring. Abraham takes Ishmael and all the men of his household, including male slaves, and circumcises them as God has commanded.
“Sarah” means “princess,” alluding to God’s promise that Sarah will be the ancestor of kings. The idea is so absurd, however, that it strikes Abraham as a joke—he and Sarah are surely too old to have even one child, and God must be referring to Ishmael. But God repeats the promise of a son named Isaac, which means “He laughs,” a reference to Abraham’s reaction here (and Sarah’s reaction in the next chapter when she hears the news). Abraham obeys God by applying the sign of circumcision to his household.
Themes
