New Living Translation
Genesis 17:12
12From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased.
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 the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. 11You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. 13All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. 14Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.”
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 21:4Eight days after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded.
- Leviticus 12:3On the eighth day the boy’s foreskin must be circumcised.
- Luke 1:59When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father.
- Luke 2:21Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived.
- John 7:22But you work on the Sabbath, too, when you obey Moses’ law of circumcision. (Actually, this tradition of circumcision began with the patriarchs, long before the law of Moses.)
- Acts 7:8“God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.
- Romans 2:28For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision.
- Philippians 3:5I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.
- Genesis 17:23On that very day Abraham took his son, Ishmael, and every male in his household, including those born there and those he had bought. Then he circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins, just as God had told him.
- Exodus 12:48“If there are foreigners living among you who want to celebrate the Lord’s Passover, let all their males be circumcised. Only then may they celebrate the Passover with you like any native-born Israelite. But no uncircumcised male may ever eat the Passover meal.
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
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