Abraham
The name "Abraham" means "father of many nations," a name given by God to signify the covenant promise that he would be the progenitor of a multitude of nations. This name change from "Abram" to "Abraham" is significant in the biblical narrative, marking a transformation in his identity and role in God's redemptive plan. Abraham is a central figure in the Judeo-Christian tradition, often referred to as the "father of faith," and his actions here set a precedent for obedience and covenantal faithfulness.

and his son Ishmael
Ishmael, whose name means "God hears," is Abraham's first son, born to Hagar, Sarah's maidservant. In the broader scriptural context, Ishmael represents the fulfillment of God's promise to make Abraham a father, albeit not through Sarah. The inclusion of Ishmael in the covenantal sign of circumcision indicates God's blessing and acknowledgment of Ishmael as part of Abraham's household, even though the covenantal promise would continue through Isaac.

were circumcised
Circumcision, from the Hebrew "mul," is a physical sign of the covenant between God and Abraham's descendants. It is a rite that signifies purification, dedication, and belonging to God's chosen people. Archaeologically, circumcision was practiced in various ancient cultures, but in the biblical context, it holds a unique spiritual significance as a mark of the covenant. This act of circumcision is a profound expression of faith and obedience, symbolizing the cutting away of the old life and the commitment to a new life in God.

(1) According to Herodotus (2. 104) circumcision was observed as a custom of primitive antiquity among the Colchiaus, Ethiopians, and Egyptians, by the last of whom it was communicated to the Syrians of Palestine and the Phoenicians. It is, however, uncertain Whether among the Egyptians the practice was universal, as Philo and Herodotus assert, or limited to the priesthood, as Origen believed; and equally doubtful whether the Egyptians themselves may not have adopted it from the Hebrews in the time of Joseph, instead of from the Ethiopians, as appears to be the judgment of Kalisch. Against the idea that circumcision was a national and universal observance among the Egyptians in the time of Abraham, it has been urged that the male servants of the patriarch, some of whom were Egyptians (Genesis 12:16), were not circumcised till Abraham was commanded to perform the rite; that Ishmael, the son of an Egyptian mother, remained uncircumcised till the same time; and that the daughter of Pharaoh recognized Moses as a Hebrew child, which, it is supposed, she could not have done had circumcision been generally practiced among her own people. On the other hand, it is contended that the absence of details as to how the rite should be performed seems to imply that already circumcision was familiar to Abraham; and by some modern Egyptologists it is asserted that an examination of ancient mummies and sculptures, in which circumcision is a distinctive mark between the Egyptians and their enemies, shows that the ceremony must have been in use not among the priests only, but throughout the nation generally so early as the time of the fourth dynasty, i.e. , or considerably earlier than the time of Abraham. Still

(2) though it should be held as indubitably established that circumcision was a prevalent custom among the Egyptians in the time of Abraham, it would not follow that the Hebrews adopted it from them. On the contrary, the Biblical narrative expressly mentions that its observance by the patriarch and- his household was due to a Divine command, and was connected with a religious significance which was altogether foreign to the Egyptians and others by whom that rite was practiced. Among the reasons for its adoption by the heathen nations of antiquity have been assigned, among the Ethiopians, a prophylactic design to ward off certain painful, and often incurable, disorders; among the Egyptians, a regard to cleanliness; and perhaps among the priesthood of the latter country a semi-religious idea (the deification of the generative powers) was associated with a practice which was commonly regarded as enhancing productivity; but the import of the ceremony as enjoined upon the father of the faithful was as widely as possible removed from every one of these ideas, being connected with spiritual conceptions of which the heathen world was entirely ignorant. That a heathen custom should have been adopted by Jehovah and elevated to the rank and connected with the spiritual significance of a religious sign will not occur as a difficulty to those who remember that the rainbow, a well-known natural phenomenon, was selected as the sign for Noah's covenant, and that Christian baptism is a similar transformation of a previously existing ceremony by which Gentile proselytes were admitted to the Hebrew Church.

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