Genesis 17:10
in Genesis 17This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Genesis 17
Commentary
8 notes on this verseNow, (1.) Circumcision was a bloody ordinance; for all things by the law were purged with blood, Heb. ix. 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.
This site's exposition
You must keep My covenant
on Genesis 17:9-11
The sign is cut into the flesh of the foreskin. Abraham was counted righteous by faith in 15:6, years before he was circumcised, and Paul builds Romans 4 on that order. Ambrose reads the mark in the body as a pointer to the reality it stands for.
This site's exposition
Every male among you must be circumcised
Every male was to keep this sign, and Wesley notes that it gives the covenant its later name, the covenant of circumcision at Acts 7:8. Matthew Henry reads circumcision as giving way to baptism once Christ had shed His blood. Women were included, Henry adds.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
God said again to Abraham: And you shall therefore keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations; this is my covenant which you shall keep between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised; …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The token of the covenant, is circumcision, for the sake of which the covenant is itself called the covenant of circumcision, Acts vii, 8. It is here said to be the covenant which Abraham and his seed must keep, as a copy or counterpart, it is called a sign and seal, Rom. iv, 11, for it was.
This is my covenant,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Every man child among you shall be circumcised--This was the sign in the Old Testament Church as baptism is in the New, and hence the covenant is called "covenant of circumcision" (Ac 7:8;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
[EVERY MALE AMONG YOU SHALL BE CIRCUMCISED.] Himmol (shall be circumcised) is to be read as if it had a lamed prefixed to it.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
U-nemaltem (and ye shall be circumcised) is similar to u-shemartem (and ye shall keep). 13 U-shemartem is a kal.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זֹ֣את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| בְּרִיתִ֞י | beriti | [is] covenant my | H1285 → | 284 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| תִּשְׁמְר֗וּ | tishmeru | you will keep | H8104 → | 468 times |
| בֵּינִי֙ | beini | between me | H996 → | 407 times |
| וּבֵ֣ינֵיכֶ֔ם | uveineikhem | and between you | H996 → | 407 times |
| וּבֵ֥ין | uvein | and between | H996 → | 407 times |
| זַרְעֲךָ֖ | zarakha | offspring your | H2233 → | 229 times |
| אַחֲרֶ֑יךָ | ʾachareikha | after you | H310 → | 715 times |
| הִמּ֥וֹל | himol | they will be circumcised | H4135 → | 37 times |
| לָכֶ֖ם | lakhem | of you | ||
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זָכָֽר׃ | zakhar | male | H2145 → | 82 times |
זֹ֣אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
בְּרִיתִ֞י[is] covenant my
beritiH1285 →284 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
תִּשְׁמְר֗וּyou will keep
tishmeruH8104 →468 times
בֵּינִי֙between me
beiniH996 →407 times
וּבֵ֣ינֵיכֶ֔םand between you
uveineikhemH996 →407 times
וּבֵ֥יןand between
uveinH996 →407 times
זַרְעֲךָ֖offspring your
zarakhaH2233 →229 times
אַחֲרֶ֑יךָafter you
ʾachareikhaH310 →715 times
הִמּ֥וֹלthey will be circumcised
himolH4135 →37 times
לָכֶ֖םof you
lakhem
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
זָכָֽר׃male
zakharH2145 →82 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joshua 5:2At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel once again.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 10:16
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.
- Deuteronomy 30:6
The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
- Exodus 4:25
But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched it to Moses’ feet. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said.
- Colossians 2:11
In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.
- Genesis 17:10–14
This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.
- Deuteronomy 10:16
Through
Acts 7:8Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve…
it leads to
- Genesis 17:9–14
God also said to Abraham, “You must keep My covenant—you and your descendants in the generations after you.
- Genesis 35:23–26
The sons of Leah were Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
- Romans 4:10
In what context was it credited? Was it after his circumcision, or before? It was not after, but before.
- Genesis 17:9–14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies17
On this verse
On this chapter
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On Abraham; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.