לתשובת המינים

Genesis 17:5 How is Abraham a Father to Many Nations? Romans 4:17

"Your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations;"

In perhaps one of the best known accounts of the Hebrew Scriptures, God commands Abraham to circumcise himself as a sign of the Covenant He was making with him. During that exchange God gave Abraham his name, which He changed from Abram. God told Abraham that his new name reflected his new status as a "father of many nations".

Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, sought to impress upon them that justification in the eyes of God was achieved not by one’s actions but by one’s faith. He argued that Abraham was considered righteous prior to his circumcision due to his faith. He then cites our passage indicating that those who he describes as children of Abraham because of their faith are a fulfillment of the promise to Abraham that he would be a father of many nations.

Who then is the verse speaking of when it promises many nations to descend from Abraham? While one might reasonably assume Ishmael and his descendants were included in this promise, that alone is insufficient to fulfill the promise since God clarifies that Sarah too would have many nations descend from her as well (Gen. 17:15-16). Indeed Sarah gave "rise to nations" with not only Israel (and Judah) descending from her but Edom and Amalek. Meanwhile Abraham who was promised many nations was also the father of those nations descending from Ishmael.

Nevertheless Paul’s assertion that the "promise" isn’t limited to those physically descended from Abraham is not totally without merit. However it could not conceivably be applied to those Paul sought to apply it to but only those who have legitimately joined the covenant through conversion (including circumcision for males). God commanded that all of Abraham offspring be circumcised in the flesh (Gen.17:11,13 etc.), and that any "an uncircumcised male the flesh of whose foreskin shall not be circumcised – that soul shall be cut off from its people" (Gen. 17:14). ¹ It is impossible to assert that someone who is neither a physical descendant of Abraham, nor circumcised in the flesh in accordance with God’s directive for the descendants of Abraham, could be rightly called the offspring of Abraham.

Throughout the generations there have been those who have sought refuge under the "wings of the Shechina" and joined the Covenant of Abraham. It is individuals such as these, who in actuality obey the demands of the Covenant, the first and foremost being physical circumcision, who are the sons of Abraham. It is patently absurd to suggest someone is the promised offspring of Abraham while specifically rejecting the actual performance of the commandment of circumcision which accompanied the promise.

¹Of course in many places the T’nakh speaks of the necessity and importance of what is called the "circumcision of the heart." It is, however, impossible to equivocate and claim to be in compliance with God’s command for descendants of Abraham to be circumcised when He specifically commands physical circumcision. It may not be sufficient condition to be in compliance with God’s will, but for a descendant of Abraham it is a necessary condition.