Wherefore, our Father hath not spoken of our seed alone, but also of all the House of Israel,

pointing to the covenant which should be fulfilled in the latter days, which covenant the Lord made to

our Father Abraham, saying, in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

Verse Nephi, chapter 15, verse 18.

Hey listeners, this is Jasmine from Book of Mormon Central, and today's podcast addresses the

question, why did Abraham and Soraya receive new names and tokens? In Genesis 17, the Lord appeared

to Abraham and ratified or certified what we speak of as the Abrahamic covenant. In the preceding chapters of Genesis,

God outlined the terms and blessings of this covenant, and in this chapter, he presented the

signs of the covenant. In the ancient world, part of making a covenant involved verifying and

memorializing that covenant with a sign or symbol. In Genesis 17,

God memorialized this covenant with Abraham and Sarah by giving them each a new name and a token.

The Lord said, Behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

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.

As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.

The Lord did drastically alter the meaning of Abraham's and Sarah's names.

Both Abram and Abraham are related to the Hebrew roots meaning father and exalted. It's possible

that Abraham is related to the Hebrew word of meaning father and Hamon meaning multitude. Both Sarai

and Sarah are related to the Hebrew root meaning princess.

However, the act of their receiving a new name symbolized their drastically new identity and relationship with God.

It now signaled their allegiance and new kinship with God. It represented them becoming something new.

The power of naming can be seen in the creation story in Genesis chapter 1. To God, creation was

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