Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
Name shall be Abraham. In eastern countries the name given in infancy is sometimes in the course of life altered: a change of name is an advertisement of some new circumstance in the history, rank, or religion of the individual who bears it. The change is made variously-by the old name being entirely dropped for the new, or by conjoining the new with the old, or sometimes only a few letters are inserted, so that the altered form may express the difference in the owner's state or prospects. It is surprising how soon a new name is known, and its import spread through the country. In dealing with Abraham and Sarai, God was pleased to adapt His procedure to the ideas and customs of the country and age. There was no way, according to prevailing notions, in which the divine promise would be so well remembered, and the splendid prospects of the patriarch become more widely known than by giving him and his wife new names, significant of their high destiny. Instead of Abram = Ab or Abba, father, and ram, high, 'a high father,' he was to be called Abraham = Ab-rab-hamon, father of a great multitude; and this has been verified, whether he is considered as the ancestor of the Jews, Arabs, etc., or as the Father of the Faithful.