Genesis 17:1
And after he began to be ninety and nine years old, the Lord appeared to him: and said unto him: I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be perfect.
Open Genesis 17:1 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Postquam vero nonaginta et novem annorum esse cœperat, apparuit ei Dominus, dixitque ad eum : Ego Deus omnipotens : ambula coram me, et esto perfectus.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- Ἐγένετο δὲ Ἀβρὰμ ἐτῶν ἐνενήκοντα ἐννέα, καὶ ὤφθη Κύριος τῷ Ἀβρὰμ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεός σου· εὐαρέστει ἐναντίον ἐμοῦ, καὶ γίνου ἄμεμπτος·
- Hebrew (WLC)
- וַיְהִ֣י אַבְרָ֔ם בֶּן תִּשְׁעִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְתֵ֣שַׁע שָׁנִ֑ים וַיֵּרָ֨א יְהוָ֜ה אֶל אַבְרָ֗ם וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ אֲנִי אֵ֣ל שַׁדַּ֔י הִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ לְפָנַ֖י וֶהְיֵ֥ה תָמִֽים
Haydock's commentary
Walk, &c. by assiduous meditation and advancement in virtue. This apparition was to inform Abram, that the promised seed should be born of Sarai. (Haydock)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
Clement of Alexandria The Instructor, Chapter VII. Who the Instructor Is, and Respecting His Instruction
Again, when He speaks in His own person, He confesses Himself to be the Instructor: “I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.” Who, then, has the power of leading in and out? Is it not the Instructor? This was He who appeared to Abraham, and said to him, “I am thy God, be accepted before Me;” and in a way most befitting an instructor, forms him into a faithful child, saying, “And be blameless; and I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed.” There is the communication of the Instructor’s friendship. And He most manifestly appears as Jacob’s instructor. He says accordingly to him, “Lo, I am with thee, to keep thee in all the way in which thou shalt go; and I will bring thee back into this land: for I will not leave thee till I do what I have told thee.” He is said, too, to have wrestled with Him. …
St Augustine On the Holy Trinity, The Essence of God Never Appeared in Itself. Divine Appearances to the Fathers Wrought by the Ministry of Angels. An Objection Drawn from the Mode of Speech Removed. That the Appearing of God to Abraham Himself, Just as that to Moses, Was Wrought by Angels. The Same Thing is Proved by the Law Being Given to Moses by Angels. What Has Been Said in This Book, and What Remains to Be Said in the Next
25. Can there be any one who will say that the Lord appeared to Moses by an angel, but to Abraham by Himself? Let us not answer this question from Stephen, but from the book itself, whence Stephen took his narrative. For, pray, because it is written, “And the Lord God said unto Abraham;” and a little after, “And the Lord God appeared unto Abraham;” were these things, for this reason, not done by angels? Whereas it is said in like manner in another place, “And the Lord appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;” and yet it is added immediately, “And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him:” of whom we have already spoken. …
St Jerome Against the Pelagians, Book III
C. Why then in Holy Scripture are we stimulated to aim at perfect righteousness? For example:“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,” and“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.” And God says to Abraham,“I am thy God, be thou pleasing in My sight, and be thou without spot, or blame, and I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.” If that is impossible which Scripture testifies, it was useless to command it to be done.