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Genesis 17:10
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- CondensedParallel Translations
This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.
This is my agreement with you and all your descendants, which you must obey: Every male among you must be circumcised.
This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.
This [is] my covenant, which ye shall keep between me and you, and thy seed after thee; Every male-child among you shall be circumcised.
This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised.
This is my couenaunt, which ye schulen kepe bitwixe me and you, and thi seed after thee; ech male kynde of you schal be circumcidid,
this [is] My covenant which ye keep between Me and you, and thy seed after thee: Every male of you [is] to be circumcised;
This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.
As the sign that you are keeping this promise, you must circumcise every man and boy in your family.
Here is my covenant, which you are to keep, between me and you, along with your descendants after you: every male among you is to be circumcised.
This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised.
And this is the agreement which you are to keep with me, you and your seed after you: every male among you is to undergo circumcision.
This is my couenaunt which ye shall kepe betweene me & you, and thy seede after thee: euery man chylde among you shalbe circumcised.
This is my covenant which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee—that every male among you be circumcised.
This is my agreement that all of you must obey. This is the agreement between me and you and all your descendants. Every male must be circumcised.
This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised.
This is my couenant, which yee shall keepe betweene me and you, and thy seed after thee: euery man child among you shall be circumcised.
This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
This is My agreement between Me and you and your children after you, which you must obey: Every man among you must have this religious act done.
This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
This, is my covenant which ye shall keep, betwixt me and you, and thy seed after thee, - To circumcise to you every male:
This is my couenant which ye shall keepe betweene me & you, & thy seede after thee, Let euery man childe among you be circumcised:
This is my covenant, which you shall keep between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
You and your descendants must all agree to circumcise every male among you.
This is my covenant which you shall observe between me and you, and thy seed after thee: All the male kind of you shall be circumcised.
This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
And this is the covenant which thou shalt fully keep between me and you, and between thy seed after thee for their generations; every male of you shall be circumcised.
This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; every male among you shall be circumcised.
This is my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, which you are to keep: Every one of your males must be circumcised.
This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised.
This is my covenant which you shall keep, between me and you, and also with your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised.
This is my couenaunt which ye shal kepe betwene me and you, and thy sede after ye thorow out their posterites. Euery manchilde that is amonge you, shalbe circumcyded:
"This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.
This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised;
This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised.
"This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.
This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Every: Genesis 17:11, Genesis 34:15, Exodus 4:25, Exodus 12:48, Deuteronomy 10:16, Deuteronomy 30:6, Joshua 5:2, Joshua 5:4, Jeremiah 4:4, Jeremiah 9:25, Jeremiah 9:26, Acts 7:8, Romans 2:28, Romans 2:29, Romans 3:1, Romans 3:25, Romans 3:28, Romans 3:30, Romans 4:9-11, 1 Corinthians 7:18, 1 Corinthians 7:19, Galatians 3:28, Galatians 5:3-6, Galatians 6:12, Ephesians 2:11, Philippians 3:3, Colossians 2:11, Colossians 2:12
Reciprocal: Genesis 17:23 - circumcised Genesis 21:4 - General Psalms 103:18 - To such Mark 10:14 - Suffer Luke 1:13 - thy prayer John 7:22 - circumcision Acts 3:25 - the covenant Acts 15:1 - after Romans 4:10 - not in circumcision Romans 4:11 - the sign Romans 9:4 - covenants
Cross-References
Then Abram fell on his face [in worship], and God spoke with him, saying,
"I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.
Further, God said to Abraham, "As for you [your part of the agreement], you shall keep and faithfully obey [the terms of] My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
"And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be the sign (symbol, memorial) of the covenant between Me and you.
"Every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, [including] a servant whether born in the house or one who is purchased with [your] money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.
And Abraham said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael [my firstborn] might live before You!"
But God said, "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed, and you shall name him Isaac (laughter); and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him.
And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised.
On the very same day Abraham was circumcised, as well as Ishmael his son.
"But we will consent to you only on this condition: if you will become like us, in that every male among you consents to be circumcised,
Gill's Notes on the Bible
This [is] my covenant,.... The token of it, for the promise itself was given before, which is more properly the covenant; circumcision is so called in an improper sense, being only the sign of it:
which ye shall keep between me and you, and thy seed after thee; which was to be observed by Abraham, and the males in his house then with him, as Ishmael, and those that were born in his house, or bought with his money, and by his posterity in succeeding ages, and it is what follows:
every man child among you shall be circumcised; this was the first institution of circumcision, and it was an institution of God, and not of man. Indeed Herodotus says m, that
"the Colchi, Egyptians, and Ethiopians only of all men circumcised from the beginning; and the Phoenicians and Syrians, which are in Palestine, learnt it of the Egyptians, as they themselves confess.''
So Diodorus Siculus n speaks of circumcision as an Egyptian rite, and says there are some who make the nation of the Colchi, and of the Jews, to come from the Egyptians: hence he observes, that with these nations there is an ancient tradition to circumcise their newborn infants, which rite was derived from the Egyptians: but as the original of the Jewish nation is mistaken, so likewise the original this rite. And they may as well be thought to be mistaken in the one as in the other. Those in Palestine that were circumcised were the Jews only, as Josephus o observes; but they did not learn this rite from the Egyptians, nor do they ever confess it, but on the contrary suggest, that the Egyptians learnt it from them in the times of Joseph; for their principal lexicographer says p, the Egyptians were circumcised in the times of Joseph, and when Joseph died they drew over the foreskin of the flesh. The Colchi indeed, who were a colony of the Egyptians, might learn it from them; and so the Ethiopians, who were their neighbours likewise, and agreed with them in many things. Artapanus q, an Heathen writer, says, indeed, that the Ethiopians, though enemies, had such a regard for Moses, that they learned from him the rite of circumcision; and not only they, but all the priests, that is, in Egypt; and indeed the Egyptian priests only, and not the people, were circumcised. It is not very difficult to account for it, how other nations besides the Jews should receive circumcision, which was first enjoined Abraham and his seed; the Ishmaelites had it from Ishmael the son of Abraham; from them the old Arabs; from the Arabs, the Saracens; and from the Saracens, the Turks to this day: other Arabian nations, as the Midianites, and others, had it from the sons of Abraham by Keturah; and perhaps the Egyptians and Ethiopians from them, if the former had it not from the Israelites; and the Edomites had it from Edom or Esau, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham; so that all originally had it from Abraham, and he by a divine command. It is not so much to be wondered at, that Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, men either imposed upon by the Egyptian priests, as the former, or wrote in favour of that nation, as the latter, and wholly ignorant of divine revelation, should assert what they have done; but that Christian writers, who have the advantage of divine revelation, and have read the history of the Bible, such as Marsham, Spencer, and Le Clerc, should incline to the same sentiment, is amazing; and especially when our blessed Lord has expressly said in John 7:22, that circumcision is "of the fathers", Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, first given to them, and practised by them. Even Theodotus s, an Heathen writer, agrees with this sacred testimony of Moses, when speaking of the circumcision of Shechem, in the times of Jacob, he traces this rite to its original, and observes, that when Abraham was brought out of his own country, he was ordered "from heaven" to circumcise every man in his house. It may indeed seem strange how it should obtain in the islands of the West Indies, as in Jucatana, Sancta Crux, and others, where the Spaniards found in the beginning of the sixteenth century those isles inhabited by idolaters, who were circumcised t.
m Euterpe sive, l. 2. c. 104. n Bibliothec. l. 4. p. 24. & l. 3. p. 165. o Contr Apion. l. 1. c. 22. p Raal Aruch in Rad. מל fol. 91. 1. q Apud Euseb. Evangel Praepar. l. 9. c. 27. p. 433. s Apud Euseb. ut supra, (Evangel Praepar. l. 9.) c. 22. p. 428. t Vid. P. Martyr. Decad. 3. lib. 10. & de Insul. Ind. Occident.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- The Sealing of the Covenant
1. שׁדי shaday, Shaddai, “Irresistible, able to destroy, and by inference to make, Almighty.” שׁדד shādad “be strong, destroy.” This name is found six times in Genesis, and thirty-one times in Job.
5. אברהם 'abrâhām, Abraham, from אברם 'abrām “high-father,” and הם hām the radical part of המין hāmôn a “multitude,” is obtained by a euphonic abbreviation אברהם 'abrâhām, “father of a multitude.” The root רהם rhm is a variation of רום rvm; affording, however, a link of connection in sound and sense with the root המה hāmâh “hum, be tumultuous,” from which comes המון hāmôn a “multitude.” The confluence of the biliterals רם rm and הם hm yields the triliteral רהם rhm occurring in Arabic, though not elsewhere in our written Hebrew. The law of formation here noticed is interesting and real, though רהם rhm may not have been an actual result of it.
11. נמלתם nemaltem formed from נמל nāmal, “circumcised.” מוּל mûl “cut, circumcise.”
15. שׂרה śārâh Sarah, “princess.”
19. יצהק yı̂tschāq Jitschaq, “laughing.”
The present form of the covenant is not identical with the former. That referred chiefly to the land; this chiefly to the seed. That dwelt much on temporal things; this rises to spiritual things. That specifies only Abram; this mentions both Abram and Sarai. At the former period God formally entered into covenant with Abram ברית כרת kārat berı̂yt, Genesis 15:18); at present he takes the first step in the fufillment of the covenant ברית נתן nātan berı̂yt, seals it with a token and a perpetual ordinance, and gives Abram and Sarai new names in token of a new nature. There was an interval of fourteen years at least between the ratification of the covenant and the preparation for the fulfillment of its conditions, during which Abraham’s faith had time to unfold.
Genesis 17:1-8
The covenant in its spiritual aspect. “The Lord,” the Author of existence and performance. “God Almighty,” El Shaddai. “El,” the Lasting, Eternal, Absolute. “Shaddai,” the Irresistible, Unchangeable, Destructive Isaiah 13:6; Joel 1:15. This term indicates on the one hand his judicial, punitive power, and points to his holiness; and on the other hand, his alterative, reconstructive power, and points to his providence. The complex name, therefore, describes God as the Holy Spirit, who works in the development of things, especially in the punishment and eradication of sin and its works, and in the regeneration and defense of holiness. It refers to potence, and potence combined with promise affords ground for faith.
Walk before me and be perfect. - In the institution of the covenant we had “fear not” - an encouragement to the daunted or the doubting. In its confirmation we have a command, a rule of life, prescribed. This is in keeping with the circumstances of Abraham. For, first, he has now faith in the Lord, which is the fruit of the new man in him prevailing over the old, and is therefore competent to obey; and, next, the Lord in whom he believes is God Almighty, the all-efficient Spirit, who worketh both to will and to do in the destroying of sin and building up of holiness. “Walk” - act in the most comprehensive sense of the term; “before me,” and not behind, as one conscious of doing what is, not displeasing, but pleasing to me; “and be perfect,” not sincere merely, unless in the primitive sense of duty, but complete, upright, holy, not only in walk, which is provided for in the previous clause, but in heart, the spring of action.
Genesis 17:2
My covenant - which I have already purposed and formally closed. “I will grant,” carry into effect, the provisions of it. “Multiply thee.” The seed is here identified with the head or parent seat of life. The seed now comes forward as the prominent benefit of the covenant.
Genesis 17:3-6
Abram fell on his face. - This is the lowliest form of reverence, in which the worshipper leans on his knees and elbows, and his forehead approaches the ground. Prostration is still customary in the East. Abram has attained to loftier notions of God. “God talked with him.” Yahweh, El Shaddai, is here called God. The Supreme appears as the Author of existence, the Irresistible and Everlasting, in this stage of the covenant relation.
Genesis 17:4
As for me. - The one party to the covenant is here made prominent, as in Genesis 17:9 the other party is brought out with like emphasis. The exalted Being who has entered into it imparts a grandeur, solemnity, and excellence to the covenant. “Father of many nations.” The promise of seed is here expanded and particularized. A multitude of nations and kings are to trace their descent from Abram. This is true in a literal sense. The twelve tribes of Israel and many Arab tribes, the twelve princes of Ishmael, Keturah’s descendants, and the dukes of Edom sprang from him. But it is to be more magnificently realized in a spiritual sense. “Nations” is a term usually applied, not to the chosen people, but to the other great branches of the human race. This points to the original promise, that in him should all the families of the earth be blessed. “Abraham.” The father of many nations is to be called by a new name, as he has come to have a new nature, and been elevated to a new dignity. The high father has become the father of the multitude of the faithful.
Genesis 17:7
Next, the spiritual part of the covenant comes into view. “To be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” Here we find God, in the progress of human development, for the third time laying the foundations of a covenant of grace with man. He dealt with Adam and with Noah, and now be deals with Abraham. “A perpetual covenant.” This covenant will not fail, since God has originated it, notwithstanding the moral instability of man. Though we cannot as yet see the possibility of fulfilling the condition on man’s side, yet we may be assured that what God purposes will somehow be accomplished. The seed of Abraham will eventually embrace the whole human family in fellowship with God.
Genesis 17:8
Thirdly, the temporal and the spiritual are brought together. The land of promise is made sure to the heir of promise, “for a perpetual possession,” and God engages to “be their God.” The phrase “perpetual possession” has here two elements of meaning - first, that the possession, in its coming form of a certain land, shall last as long as the co-existing relations of things are continued; and, secondly, that the said possession in all the variety of its ever grander phases will last absolutely forever. Each form will be perfectly adequate to each stage of a progressive humanity. But in all its forms and at every stage it will be their chief glory that God is their God.
Genesis 17:9-14
The sign of the covenant. “And thou.” The other party to the covenant now learns his obligation. “Every male of you shall be circumcised.” Circumcision, as the rainbow, might have been in existence before it was adopted as the token of a covenant. The sign of the covenant with Noah was a purely natural phenomenon, and therefore entirely independent of man. That of the Abrahamic covenant was an artificial process, and therefore, though prescribed by God, was dependent on the voluntary agency of man. The former marked the sovereignty of God in ratifying the covenant and insuring its fulfillment, notwithstanding the mutability of man; the latter indicates the responsibility of man, the trust he places in the word of promise, and the assent he gives to the terms of the divine mercy. As the former covenant conveys a common natural blessing to all mankind and contemplates a common spiritual blessing, so the latter conveys a special spiritual blessing and contemplates its universal acceptance. The rainbow was the appropriate natural emblem of preservation from a flood; and the removal of the foreskin was the fit symbol of that removal of the old man and renewal of nature, which qualified Abraham to be the parent of a holy seed. And as the former sign foreshadows an incorruptible inheritance, so the latter prepares the way for a holy seed, by which the holiness and the heritage will at length be universally extended.
It is worthy of remark that in circumcision, after Abraham himself, the parent is the voluntary imponent, and the child merely the passive recipient of the sign of the covenant. Hereby is taught the lesson of parental responsibility and parental hope. This is the first formal step in a godly education, in which the parent acknowledges his obligation to perform all the rest. It is also, on the command of God, the formal admission of the believing parents’ offspring into the privileges of the covenant, and therefore cheers the heart of the parent in entering upon the parental task. This admission cannot be reversed but by the deliberate rebellion of the child.
Still further, the sign of the covenant is to be applied to every male in the household of Abraham. This indicates that the servant or serf stands in the relation of a child to his master or owner, who is therefore accountable for the soul of his serf, as for that of his son. It points out the applicability of the covenant to others, as well as the children of Abraham, and therefore its capability of universal extension when the fulness of time should come. It also intimates the very plain but very often forgotten truth, that our obligation to obey God is not cancelled by our unwillingness. The serf is bound to have his child circumcised as long as God requires it, though he may be unwilling to comply with the divine commandments.
Genesis 17:12-14
The time of circumcision is the eighth day. Seven is the number of perfection. Seven days are therefore regarded as a type of perfectage and individuality. At this stage, accordingly, the sign of sanctification is made on the child, betokening the consecration of the heart to God, when its rational powers have come into noticeable activity. To be “cut off from his people” is to be excluded from any part in the covenant, and treated simply as a Gentile or alien, some of whom seem to have dwelt among the Israelites. It was sometimes accompanied with the sentence of death Exodus 31:14; and this shows that it did not of itself imply such a doom. Excommunication, however, for the omission of circumcision, would be extremely rare, as no parent would intentionally neglect the sacred interest of his child. Yet the omission of this rite has not been unprecedented, as the children of Israel did not generally circumcise their children in the wilderness Joshua 5:5.
Genesis 17:15-22
Sarai is now formally taken into the covenant, as she is to be the mother of the promised seed. Her name is therefore changed to Sarah, “princess.” Aptly is she so named, for she is to bear the child of promise, to become nations, and be the mother of kings. “Abraham fell upon his face and laughed.” From the reverential attitude assumed by Abraham we infer that his laughter sprang from joyful and grateful surprise. “Said in his heart.” The following questions of wonder are not addressed to God; they merely agitate the breast of the astonished patriarch. Hence, his irrepressible smile arises not from any doubt of the fulfillment of the promise, but from surprise at the unexpected mode in which it is to be fulfilled. Laughing in Scripture expresses joy in the countenance, as dancing does in the whole body.
Genesis 17:18-20
Abraham seems up to this time to have regarded Ishmael as the promised seed. Hence, a feeling of anxiety instantly penetrates his breast. It finds utterance in the prayer, “Oh that Ishmael might live before thee.” He asks “life” for his beloved son - that is, a share in the divine favor; and that “before God” - that is, a life of holiness and communion with God. But God asseverates his purpose of giving him a son by Sarah. This son is to be called Isaac - he that laughs or he shall laugh, in reference to the various emotions of surprise and delight with which his parents regarded his birth. Abram’s prayer for Ishmael, however, is not unanswered. He is to be fruitful, beget twelve princes, and become a great nation. But Isaac is to be the heir of promise. At the present season next year he is to be born. The communication being completed, “God went” up from Abram.
Genesis 17:23-27
In the self-same day. - In this passage we have the prompt and punctual fulfillment of the command concerning circumcision detailed with all the minuteness due to its importance. Ishmael was thirteen years of age when he was circumcised. Josephus relates that the Arabs accordingly delay circumcision until the thirteenth year (Ant. I. 12. 2).
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 17:10. Every man - child - shall be circumcised. — Those who wish to invalidate the evidence of the Divine origin of the Mosaic law, roundly assert that the Israelites received the rite of circumcision from the Egyptians. Their apostle in this business is Herodotus, who, lib. ii., p. 116, Edit. Steph. 1592, says: "The Colchians, Egyptians, and Ethiopians, are the only nations in the world who have used circumcision απ αρχης, from the remotest period; and the Phoenicians and Syrians who inhabit Palestine acknowledge they received this from the Egyptians." Herodotus cannot mean Jews by Phoenicians and Syrians; if he does he is incorrect, for no Jew ever did or ever could acknowledge this, with the history of Abraham in his hand. If Herodotus had written before the days of Abraham, or at least before the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt, and informed us that circumcision had been practised among them απ αρχης, from the beginning, there would then exist a possibility that the Israelites while sojourning among them had learned and adopted this rite. But when we know that Herodotus flourished only 484 years before the Christian era, and that Jacob and his family sojourned in Egypt more than 1800 years before Christ, and that all the descendants of Abraham most conscientiously observed circumcision, and do so to this day, then the presumption is that the Egyptians received it from the Israelites, but that it was impossible the latter could have received it from the former, as they had practised it so long before their ancestors had sojourned in Egypt.
