New English Translation
Genesis 17:12
12Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants.
Genesis 17:12 in other versions
- King James Version (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.
- New International Version (NIV)For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring.
- English Standard Version (ESV)He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,
- New King James Version (NKJV)He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant.
Context of Genesis 17:12
10This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: Every male among you must be circumcised. 11You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder of the covenant between me and you. Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 13They must indeed be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant will be visible in your flesh as a permanent reminder. 14Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.”
Read all of Genesis 17Genesis 17:12 word by word
וּבֶן־שְׁמֹנַ֣ת יָמִ֗ים יִמּ֥וֹל לָכֶ֛ם כָּל־זָכָ֖ר לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶ֑ם יְלִ֣יד בָּ֔יִת וּמִקְנַת־כֶּ֙סֶף֙ מִכֹּ֣ל בֶּן־נֵכָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֛ר לֹ֥א מִֽזַּרְעֲךָ֖ הֽוּא׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And he that is eightשְׁמֹנֶהshemôneh shemôneh shemônâh shemônâh · eightH8083
- daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- oldבֵּןbên · son: agedH1121
- shall be circumcisedמוּלmûl · to circumciseH4135
- among you, every man childזָכָרzâkâr · maleH2145
- in your generationsדּוֹרdôr dôr · generationH1755
- he that is bornיָלִידyâlîyd · bornH3211
- in the houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: householdH1004
- or boughtמִקְנָהmiqnâh · purchaseH4736
- with moneyכֶּ֫סֶףkeseph · silver: moneyH3701
- of any strangerנֵכָרnêkâr · foreignH5236
- not of thy seedזֶ֫רַעzera‛ · seed: childrenH2233
Cross-references for Genesis 17:12
- Genesis 21:4When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do.
- Leviticus 12:3On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin must be circumcised.
- Luke 1:59On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they wanted to name him Zechariah after his father.
- Luke 2:21At the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
- John 7:22However, because Moses gave you the practice of circumcision (not that it came from Moses, but from the forefathers), you circumcise a male child on the Sabbath.
- Acts 7:8Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him when he was eight days old, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
- Romans 2:28For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh,
- Philippians 3:5I was circumcised on the eighth day, from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. I lived according to the law as a Pharisee.
- Genesis 17:23Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) and circumcised them on that very same day, just as God had told him to do.
- Exodus 12:48“When a foreigner lives with you and wants to observe the Passover to the Lord, all his males must be circumcised, and then he may approach and observe it, and he will be like one who is born in the land – but no uncircumcised person may eat of it.
Commentaries on Genesis 17:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12He that is eight days old - Because previously to this they were considered unclean, Leviticus 12:2, Leviticus 12:3, and circumcision was ever understood as a consecration of the person to God. Neither calf, lamb, nor kid, was offered to God till it was eight days old for the same reason, Leviticus 22:27.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-27Verses 1-27 - 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…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-14Verses 7-14 The covenant of grace is from everlasting in the counsels of it, and to everlasting in the consequences of it. The token of the covenant was circumcision. It is here said to be the covenant which Abraham and his seed must keep. Those who will have the Lord to be to them a God, must resolve to be to him a people. Not only Abraham and Isaac, and his posterity by Isaac, were to be circumcised, but also Ishmael and the bond-servants. It sealed not…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9-14God gave circumcision as a confirming sign that reminded all households of loyalty to the covenant.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-271. Abram ... ninety years old and nine--thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael [Ge 16:16]. During that interval he had enjoyed the comforts of communion with God but had been favored with no special revelation as formerly, probably on account of his hasty and blameable marriage with Hagar. the Lord appeared--some visible manifestation of the divine presence, probably the Shekinah or radiant glory of overpowering effulgence. I am the Almighty God--the…Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 17:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries