Leviticus 12:3
in Leviticus 12And on the eighth day the flesh of the boy’s foreskin is to be circumcised.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
KJV
And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
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This verse in Leviticus 12
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Or the foreskin of his flesh, that is, of the man child born according to the law, Gen 17:12 and this seems to furnish out a reason why a male child was not circumcised before the eighth day, and why it was then, because before that its mother was in her separation and uncleanness, and then was freed from it; and so the Targum of Jonathan.
This site's exposition
the LORD spake unto Moses, saying
on Leviticus 12:1-4
Chapter 11 was spoken to Moses and Aaron together, and this one is spoken to Moses alone. The mother's seven days of uncleanness and her three and thirty days of purifying make forty in total. The one instruction here addressed to anyone but her is the circumcision of her son at verse 3, and John Gill ties that eighth day to the morning after her first seven end. Luke 2:21 records the eighth day kept for Jesus.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
It was certainly not for nothing that the commandment was given for the child "to be circumcised on the eighth day"; it can only have been because the rock, the stone with which we are circumcised, was Christ. It was "with knives of rock" or stone that the people were circumcised;"now the rock was Christ." So why on the eighth day? Because in seven-day weeks the first is the same as the eighth; once you've completed the seven days, you are back at the first. The seventh is finished, the Lord is buried; we are back at the first, the Lord is raised up. The Lord's resurrection, you see, promised us an eternal day and consecrated for us the Lord's day. It's called the Lord's because it properly belongs to the Lord, because on it the Lord rose again. The rock has been restored to us; let those be circumcised who wish to say, "For we are the circumcision."
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
During these days she was separated from her husband and friends, and those that necessarily attended her were ceremonially unclean, which was one reason why the males were not circumcised till the eighth day, because they participated in the mother's pollution during the days of her separation.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
And in the eighth day - Before this time the child could scarcely be considered as having strength sufficient to bear the operation; after this time it was not necessary to delay it, as the child was not considered to be in covenant with God, and consequently not under the especial protection of the Divine providence and grace, till this rite had been performed. On circumcision see Clarke’s note on Gen 17:
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Rashi commented: “ If a woman have conceived seed, and born [ a male ].
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
AND SHE SHALL THEN ‘TEISHEIV’ 17 Literally: “sit” or “dwell.” (REMAIN) IN THE BLOOD OF PURIFICATION THREE AND THIRTY DAYS. “The term yeshivah [literally: sitting ] signifies here ‘remaining,’ just like in the verses: ‘vateishvu’ ( and ye stayed ) in Kadesh; 18 Deuteronomy:46.
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. 5 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
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבַיּ֖וֹם | uvaiyom | and on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַשְּׁמִינִ֑י | hashemini | <the> eighth | H8066 → | 28 times |
| יִמּ֖וֹל | yimol | it will be circumcised | H4135 → | |
| בְּשַׂ֥ר | besar | [the] flesh of | H1320 → | 270 times |
| עָרְלָתֽוֹ׃ | arelato | foreskin his | H6190 → |
וּבַיּ֖וֹםand on the day
uvaiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַשְּׁמִינִ֑י<the> eighth
hasheminiH8066 →28 times
יִמּ֖וֹלit will be circumcised
yimolH4135 →
בְּשַׂ֥ר[the] flesh of
besarH1320 →270 times
עָרְלָתֽוֹ׃foreskin his
arelatoH6190 →
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
Luke 2:21When the eight days until His circumcision had passed, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived.
it leads to
- Genesis 17:12
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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 1:31
Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.
- Luke 1:59
On the eighth day, when they came to circumcise the child, they were going to name him after his father Zechariah.
- Matthew 1:21
She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
- Galatians 4:4–5
But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
- Genesis 17:12
Through
Philippians 3:5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 11:22
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
- Romans 11:1
I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
- Acts 23:6
Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. It is because of my hope in…
- 2 Corinthians 11:22
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 169.3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.