GEN 17

Genesis 17:12

WEB

He who is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring.

BSB

Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner—even those who are not your offspring.

KJV

And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

Matthew Henry

Verses 7–14

Genesis 17:7–14

Here is, I. The continuance of the covenant, intimated in three things: - 1. It is established; not to be altered nor revoked. It is fixed, it is ratified, it is made as firm as the divine power and truth can make it. 2. It is entailed; it is a covenant, not with Abraham only (then it would die with him), but with his seed after him, not only his seed after the flesh, but his spiritual seed. 3. It is everlasting in the evangelical sense and meaning of it. The covenant of grace is everlasting. It is from everlasting in the counsels of it, and to everlasting in the consequences of it; and the external administration of it is transmitted with the seal of it to the seed of believers, and the internal administration of it by the Spirit of Christ's seed in every age.

II. The contents of the covenant: it is a covenant of promises, exceedingly great and precious promises. Here are two which indeed are all-sufficient: - 1. That God would be their God, Gen 17:7, Gen 17:8. All the privileges of the covenant, all its joys and all its hopes, are summed up in this. A man needs desire no more than this to make him happy. What God is himself, that he will be to his people: his wisdom theirs, to guide and counsel them; his power theirs, to protect and support them; his goodness theirs, to supply and comfort them. What faithful worshippers can expect from the God they serve believers shall find in God as theirs. This is enough, yet not all. 2. That Canaan should be their everlasting possession, Gen 17:8. God had before promised this land to Abraham and his seed, Gen 15:18. But here, where it is promised for an everlasting possession, surely it must be looked upon as a type of heaven's happiness, that everlasting rest which remains for the people of God, Heb 4:9. This is that better country to which Abraham had an eye, and the grant of which was that which answered to the vast extent and compass of that promise, that God would be to them a God; so that, if God had not prepared and designed this, he would have been ashamed to be called their God, Heb 11:16. As the land of Canaan was secured to the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, so heaven is secured to all his spiritual seed, by a covenant, and for a possession, truly everlasting. The offer of this eternal life is made in the word, and confirmed by the sacraments, to all that are under the external administration of the covenant; and the earnest of it is given to all believers, Eph 1:14. Canaan is here said to be the land wherein Abraham was a stranger; and the heavenly Canaan is a land to which we are strangers, for it does not yet appear what we shall be.

III. The token of the covenant, and that is circumcision, for the sake of which the covenant is itself called the covenant of circumcision, Act 7:8. It is here said to be the covenant which Abraham and his seed must keep, as a copy or counterpart, Gen 17:9, Gen 17:10. It is called a sign and seal (Rom 4:11), for it was, 1. A confirmation to Abraham and his seed of those promises which were God's part of the covenant, assuring them that they should be fulfilled, that in due time Canaan would be theirs: and the continuance of this ordinance, after Canaan was theirs, intimates that these promises looked further to another Canaan, which they must still be in expectation of. See Heb 4:8. 2. An obligation upon Abraham and his seed to that duty which was their port of the covenant; not only to the duty of accepting the covenant and consenting to it, and putting away the corruption of the flesh (which were more immediately and primarily signified by circumcision), but, in general, to the observance of all God's commands, as they should at any time hereafter be intimated and made known to them; for circumcision made men debtors to do the whole law, Gal 5:3. Those who will have God to be to them a God must consent and resolve to be to him a people. Now, (1.) Circumcision was a bloody ordinance; for all things by the law were purged with blood, Heb 9:22. See Exo 24:8. But, the blood of Christ being shed, all bloody ordinances are now abolished; circumcision therefore gives way to baptism. (2.) It was peculiar to the males, though the women were also included in the covenant, for the man is the head of the woman. In our kingdom, the oath of allegiance is required only from men. Some think that the blood of the males only was shed in circumcision because respect was had in it to Jesus Christ and his blood. (3.) It was the flesh of the foreskin that was to be cut off, because it is by ordinary generation that sin is propagated, and with an eye to the promised seed, who was to come from the loins of Abraham. Christ having not yet offered himself to us, God would have man to enter into covenant by the offering of some part of his own body, and no part could be better spared. It is a secret part of the body; for the true circumcision is that of the heat: this honour God put upon an uncomely part, Co1 12:23, Co1 12:24. (4.) The ordinance was to be administered to children when they were eight days old, and not sooner, that they might gather some strength, to be able to undergo the pain of it, and that at least one sabbath might pass over them. (5.) The children of the strangers, of whom the master of the family was the true domestic owner, were to be circumcised (Gen 17:12, Gen 17:13), which looked favourable upon the Gentiles, who should in due time be brought into the family of Abraham, by faith. See Gal 3:14. (6.) The religious observance of this institution was required under a very severe penalty, Gen 17:14. The contempt of circumcision was a contempt of the covenant; if the parents did not circumcise their children, it was at their peril, as in the case of Moses, Exo 4:24, Exo 4:25. With respect to those that were not circumcised in their infancy, if, when they grew up, they did not themselves come under this ordinance, God would surely reckon with them. If they cut not off the flesh of their foreskin, God would cut them off from their people. It is a dangerous thing to make light of divine institutions, and to live in the neglect of them.

Cross-references: Gen 17:7 · Gen 17:8 · Gen 15:18 · Heb 4:9 · Heb 11:16 · Eph 1:14 · Acts 7:8 · Gen 17:9 · Gen 17:10 · Rom 4:11 · Heb 4:8 · Gal 5:3 · Heb 9:22 · Exod 24:8 · 1Cor 12:23 · 1Cor 12:24 · Gen 17:12 · Gen 17:13 · Gal 3:14 · Gen 17:14 · Exod 4:24 · Exod 4:25

Hebrew interlinear

לָכֶ֛םlakhemprep + suffix · pronominal · 2nd · masc · plur

H1121

בֵּןbên/bane/

n-m — son

Derivation: from 1129;

a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)

KJV: afflicted, age, (Ahoh-) (Ammon-) (Hachmon-) (Lev-) ite, (anoint-) ed one, appointed to, ( ) arrow, (Assyr-) (Babylon-) (Egypt-) (Grec-) ian, one born, bough, branch, breed, (young) bullock, (young) calf, × came up in, child, colt, × common, × corn, daughter, × of first, firstborn, foal, very fruitful, postage, × in, kid, lamb, ( ) man, meet, mighty, nephew, old, ( ) people, rebel, robber, × servant born, × soldier, son, spark, steward, stranger, × surely, them of, tumultuous one, valiant(-est), whelp, worthy, young (one), youth.

בֵּן

n.m — son

בֵּן 4870 n.m. son

1. son, male child, born of a woman

2. children (male and female)

3. youth, young men

4. the young of animals

5. of plant shoots

6. fig. of lifeless things, sparks, stars, arrows

7.

a. member of a guild, order or class

b. of animals son of (the) herd

8. ב׳ as n. relat. followed by word of quality, characteristic, etc.

9. n. relat. of age

בְּנוֹ

n.pr.m — his son

בְּנוֹ 1 Ch 24:26, 27 as n.pr.m. in AV, RV, but render: the sons of Jaaziah his son, & the sons of Merari by Jaaziah his son, cf. VB & Be Öt.

H8083

שְׁמֹנֶהshᵉmôneh/shem-o-neh'/

n — eight, eighth

Derivation: or שְׁמוֹנֶה; feminine שְׁמֹנָה; or שְׁמוֹנָה; apparently from 8082 through the idea of plumpness;

a cardinal number, eight (as if a surplus above the 'perfect' seven); also (as ordinal) eighth

KJV: eight(-een, -eenth), eighth.

שְׁמֹנֶה

n.m — eight

שְׁמֹנֶה, (less oft. שְׁמוֹנֶה), שְׁמֹנָה 109 n.m. et f. eight

H3117

יוֹםyôwm/yome/

n-m — day

Derivation: from an unused root meaning to be hot;

a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)

KJV: age, always, chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), elder, × end, evening, (for) ever(-lasting, -more), × full, life, as (so) long as (... live), (even) now, old, outlived, perpetually, presently, remaineth, × required, season, × since, space, then, (process of) time, as at other times, in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), × whole ( age), (full) year(-ly), younger.

יוֹם

n.m — day

יוֹם 2285 n.m. day

1. day, opp. night

2. Day as division of time

3. יוֹם י׳ day of Yahweh, chiefly as time of his coming in judgment, involving often blessedness for righteous

4. Pl. days of anyone

5. Days

6. יוֹם = time

7. Phrases

H4135

מוּלmûwl/mool/

v — cut, curtail, circumcise, blunt, destroy

Derivation: a primitive root;

to cut short, i.e. curtail (specifically the prepuce, i.e. to circumcise); by implication, to blunt; figuratively, to destroy

KJV: circumcise(-ing), selves), cut down (in pieces), destroy, × must needs.

מוּל

vb — circumcise

[מוּל] vb. circumcise

Qal circumcise

Niph. be circumcised

Hiph. in the name of י׳, yea I will make them to be circumcised

Hithp. be cut off, of arrows, i.e. made blunt.

מָלַל

vb — circumcise

[מָלַל] vb. circumcise

Qal Jos 5:2.

Niph. Gn 17:11

Hithpo. be cut off: ψ 58:8.

H3605

כֹּלkôl/kole/

n-m — whole, all, any, every

Derivation: or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל; from 3634;

properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)

KJV: (in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).

כֹּל

n.m — the whole

כֹּל once כּוֹל n.m. the whole, all

1. with foll. gen. (as usually) the whole of, to be rendered, however, often in our idiom, to avoid stiffness, any or every

2. Absolutely:

a. without the art., all things, all

b. with the art. הַכֹּל

(a). where the sense is limited by the context to things (or persons) just mentioned

(b). in a wider sense, all, whether of all mankind or of all living things, the universe, or of all the circumstances of life (chiefly late)

H2145

זָכָרzâkâr/zaw-kawr'/

n-m — remembered, male

Derivation: from 2142;

properly, remembered, i.e. a male (of man or animals, as being the most noteworthy sex)

KJV: × him, male, man(child, -kind).

זָכָר

n.m — male

זָכָר n.m. & adj. male

I. subst. male, offspring of men and animals

II. adj. sg. male (only human beings)

H1755

דּוֹרdôwr/dore/

n-m — revolution, age, dwelling

Derivation: or (shortened) דֹּר; from 1752;

properly, a revolution of time, i.e. an age or generation; also a dwelling

KJV: age, × evermore, generation, (n-) ever, posterity.

דּוֹר

n.m — period

דּוֹר, דֹּר n.m. period, generation, dwelling

1. period, age, generation, mostly poet.

2. of men living at a particular time (period, age), generation, as transitory

3. generation characterized by quality or condition, class of men

4. dwelling-place, habitation

H3211

יָלִידyâlîyd/yaw-leed'/

a — born

Derivation: from 3205;

born

KJV: (home-) born, child, son.

יָלִיד

adj — born

[יָלִיד] adj. born

H1004

בַּיִתbayith/bah'-yith/

n-m — a house

Derivation: probably from 1129 abbreviated;

a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.)

KJV: court, daughter, door, + dungeon, family, + forth of, × great as would contain, hangings, home(born), (winter) house(-hold), inside(-ward), palace, place, + prison, + steward, + tablet, temple, web, + within(-out).

בֵּית

prep — between

בֵּית fem. of בַּיִן, בֵּין prep. between

בַּ֫יִת

n.m — house

בַּ֫יִת 2034 n.m. house

1. house

2. place

3. receptacle

4. of house as containing a family

5. household, family (592 t.)

6. house, including household affairs

7. lit. housewards, hence metaph. inwards

8. מִבַּיִת

a. adv. on the inside

b. prep. within

H4736

מִקְנָהmiqnâh/mik-naw'/

n-f — buying, acquisition, property, sum

Derivation: feminine of 4735;

properly, a buying, i.e. acquisition; concretely, a piece of property (land or living); also the sum paid

KJV: (he that is) bought, possession, piece, purchase.

מִקְנָה

n.f — purchase

מִקְנָה n.f. purchase

1. purchase

2. purchase-price

3. possession (gained by purchase)

H3701

כֶּסֶףkeçeph/keh'-sef/

n-m — silver, pale, money

Derivation: from 3700;

silver (from its pale color); by implication, money

KJV: money, price, silver(-ling).

כֶּ֫סֶף

n.m — silver

כֶּ֫סֶף 402 n.m. silver, money

1. = silver ore, raw silver

2. silver as bright, shining

3. silver, as wealth

4. silver as spoil of war

5. silver as merchandise

6. silver as costly gift

7. silver as material

8. silver as measure of weight and value

9. among vbs. and phr.

H5236

נֵכָרnêkâr/nay-kawr'/

n-m — foreign, foreigner, heathendom

Derivation: ' from 5234;

foreign, or (concretely) a foreigner, or (abstractly) heathendom

KJV: alien, strange ( -er).

נֵכָר

n.[m.] — that which is foreign

נֵכָר n.[m.] that which is foreign, foreignness

H834

אֲשֶׁרʼăsher/ash-er'/

r — who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

Derivation: a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number);

who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.

KJV: × after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.

אֲשֶׁר

part. of relation — who

אֲשֶׁר part. of relation A sign of relation, bringing the clause introduced by it into relation with an antecedent clause.

בַאֲשֶׁר

adv — in which

בַאֲשֶׁר

a. in (that) which

b. adv. in (the place) where

c. conj. in that, inasmuch as

d. on account of whom?

כַּאֲשֶׁר

conj — according as

כַּאֲשֶׁר conj. according as, as, when

1. according to that which, according as, as

2. with a causal force, in so far as, since

3. with a temporal force, when

מֵאֲשֶׁר

adv — who

מֵאֲשֶׁר

a. from (or than) that which

b. adv. from (the place) where

c. conj. from (the fact) that …, since

H3808

לֹאlôʼ/lo/

adv — not, no

Derivation: or לוֹא; or לֹה; (Deuteronomy 3:11), a primitive particle;

not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles

KJV: × before, or else, ere, except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (× as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, surely, as truly as, of a truth, verily, for want, whether, without.

לֹא

adv — not

לֹא or לוֹא adv. not

H2233

זֶרַעzeraʻ/zeh'-rah/

n-m — seed, fruit, plant, sowing-time, posterity

Derivation: from 2232;

seed; figuratively, fruit, plant, sowing-time, posterity

KJV: × carnally, child, fruitful, seed(-time), sowing-time.

זֶ֫רַע

n.m — sowing

זֶ֫רַע n.m. sowing, seed, offspring

1. lit.:

a. a sowing

b. sowing as regularly recurring at its season

2. seed

3. seed = semen virile

4. seed = offspring

5. seed as marked by moral quality = persons (or community) of such a quality

H1931

הוּאhûwʼ/hoo/

p — he, she, it, self, same, this, that, as, are

Derivation: of which the feminine (beyond the Pentateuch) is הִיא; he a primitive word, the third person pronoun singular;

he (she or it); only expressed when emphatic or without a verb; also (intensively) self, or (especially with the article) the same; sometimes (as demonstrative) this or that; occasionally (instead of copula) as or are

KJV: he, as for her, him(-self), it, the same, she (herself), such, that (...it), these, they, this, those, which (is), who.

הוּא

m — he

הוּא m. הִיא f., pron. of the 3rd ps. sing. he, she, used also (in both genders) for the neuter it

1. an emph. he (she, it, they), sometimes equivalent to himself (herself, itself, themselves), or (esp. with the art.) that (those)

2. It resumes the subj. with emph.

3. Where, however, the pron. follows the pred., its position gives it the minimum of emphasis, and it expresses (or resumes) the subject as unobtrusively as possible

4. It anticipates (as it seems) the subject

5. As an emph. predicate, of God

6. In a neuter sense, that, it (of an action, occurrence, matte, etc.)

7. With the art.: so regularly when joined to a subst. defined itself by the art.

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