The rabbis even say that all 613 of the Jewish laws fall below circumcision.
Abram means “exalted father.”
Abraham means “father of nations.”
Sarai means “my princess.”
Sarah means “princess,” without the confining “my” possessive.
But perhaps we are meant to look at the appearance of the names as well:
The name of God has two “hey” (ה) letters: YHWH (יהוה)
Abram (אַבְרָם) to Abraham (אַבְרָהָם)
Sarai (שָׂרָי) to Sarah (שָׂרָה)
God gives this portion of His name to the first of His people. Their names/identity come from His, as though He has set His own mark on them.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.
Genesis 17:1 (NIV)
The phrase “and be blameless” fails to capture the weight of this phrase in Hebrew. Some render it “and be perfect,” which is closer, but it can drift towards an incorrect meaning of “without sin.”
That is not the meaning at all. It means “be whole-hearted.”
It is connected to “Love the LORD your God with all your heart.
The rabbis point out that it’s even more than that. It’s tied to living out being the image-bearers of God, not as a passive state of existance, but as an intentional act of divine movement into the world.
Being an image-bearer doesn’t merely mean looking like God in appearance, but in action. God is Light, and we are the little lights. We’re told to shine in this dark world.
But this can only be done with our whole hearts devoted to God, cut separately for His purpose.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.
Genesis 17:1 (NIV)
Prior to Genesis 17, God has been identified by His Name, which speaks to perpetual presence: I AM. ALWAYS.
But when God seals his covenant with Abram in Genesis 17, the earth must have shaken.
I am EL SHADDAI. I am GOD ALMIGHTY!
And Abram threw himself on his face.
The rabbis say the most profound thing about these two names of God.
The correct interpretation of the divine names is as follows: Shaddai is an adjective describing God’s power over creation. The Tetragrammaton, God’s revered and awesome name, stands in contrast to it. The world exists by virtue of these two names.
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 17:1:1
1. Exceedingly old people being told they’ll have babies: That’s rather weird.
2. God institutes a covenant through circumcision: That’s even weirder.
3. Abram gets his name changed to Abraham, and he is instructed to start calling his wife by a different name as well. That’s just completely bonkers.
Could you imagine if your spouse did that?!
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
Genesis 16:13-14
Translators and our concordances provide us with the plain and literal meanings of things, which is useful.
In Genesis 16, “Beer Lahai Roi” can be understood as the “well of the Living One seeing me.” The text basically explains itself in the passage.
But the Rabbis point out something else interesting here.
“Beer” (or Be-ayr) is well, or pit, or spring of water.
“Hai/Chai” means “living one,” like souls or living beings.
“Roi” means to see, but also the way a prophet sees. Just not eyeball vision, but like… having a vision.
So we get this “well of the living one who sees.”
Here it is in Hebrew: בְּאֵר, followed by חַי, and then רֹאֶה combined into this one compound word: בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי
Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!
1 Samuel 25:6 (NIV)
Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra says the phrase “beer l’chai” is like the phrase “ko l’chai,” which we read in 1 Samuel 25. It’s a cheer of blessing, which means “To life!” or “So may you live!”
If you’ve studied Hebrew or listen to Jewish people, you may have heard the phrase “lechaim” (or “L’Chaim”) which contains the same phrase as a cheer: “To life!” It’s the same thing.
That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
Genesis 16:14 (NIV)
So in this verse, ibn Ezra directs us to this phrase: “It is still there.”
The well was so called because the Ishmaelites held annual festivities at this well. It is still in existence and is called the well of zamum.
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 16:14b
In his commentary, he writes that even at his time (ibn Ezra lived from 1089 to 1167), it was common knowledge that the sons of Ishmael once held festivities there as an annual tradition.
He reasons that the phrase “l’chai roi” was a cheer of blessing, meaning “to seeing life NEXT YEAR!”
So the name of the well can also be understood as a promise to Hagar that Ismael will be born next year: it’s in the next year that you’ll see the promised life. L’chai Roi.
BEER-LAHAI. Beer lahai means the well of him who will be alive next year.
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 16:14a
The astute student of Scripture should get goosebumps here.
But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”
Genesis 17:21 (NIV)
In our typical speed-run through scripture, we read that God later tells Abram that Ishmael is not the son of the covenant, but “by this time next year,” the covenant with Isaac will be established.
But this “life by next year” was already given to Hagar.
This doesn’t take away from Isaac or Abram and the covenant God makes with them. But what it does is firmly establish that God cares deeply for the oppressed: those who suffer will get God’s attention first. God will not abandon those who cry out to him due to their afflication.
In due time.
L’chaim.