(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Ver. 17. Who quickeneth the dead] As he doth when he maketh a man a believer, Ephesians 1:19; he fetcheth heart of oak out of a hollow tree, and a spiritual man out of a wild ass colt. See both these metaphors, Job 11:12 .