Neither shall your name any more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made you.
All Commentaries on Genesis 17:5 Go To Genesis 17
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
God changes Abraham’s name, adding one letter. Instead of Abram he is called Abraham, that is, instead of useless father—such is the interpretation of the name—he is called sublime father, chosen father; or, alternatively, from being simply father he becomes father of a son. He was useless because he did not know God. He was made the chosen one after he had come to know God. He was father when he had had offspring through the slave girl, but he was not father of a son, because he was not truly his son who had not been born of a legitimate marriage. When Sarah gave birth, he became father of a son. .
