Genesis 17:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

NIV: This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

NASB: This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.

CSB: This is my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, which you are to keep: Every one of your males must be circumcised.

NLT: This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must 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.

NKJV: This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised;

After declaring the covenant He is making with Abraham and all of Abraham's descendants, God now describes what He requires from Abraham and his offspring to keep this covenant: Every male will have to be circumcised. The following verses get more specific in describing why, how, and when the practice should be kept.

Abraham was not the first person on earth to practice circumcision, but the way God implements this ritual is unique. Circumcision involves the removal of the foreskin, a circular flap of skin covering the end of the penis. The symbolism of this act relates to crucial aspects of Jewish and Christian theology. The foreskin is a natural-born part of the person, but needs to be deliberately shed (under circumcision) in order for the people of Israel to honor God. This is symbolic of the need to set aside sin and other in-born urges in favor of God's will. The removal involves a circular shape: circles are frequently used as symbols of permanence and eternity, and this covenant is said to be everlasting. Also, the means of human reproduction, male sperm, would literally pass "through" this circle, symbolizing the influence of God on the very existence of His people.

Genesis 17:1–14 describes God's appearance to a 99-year-old Abram. Again God confirms His expansive covenant promises: to make Abram a father of nations and to give to him and his offspring the land of Canaan. At this time, God even changes Abram's name to Abraham to mark the occasion. This time, though, the repetition of the promise comes with God's requirements for Abraham: walk with me, be blameless, and circumcise yourself and every male of your household from now through every generation in the future.

God appears to Abram once more in Genesis 17, but this instance is very different from prior meetings. God reconfirms His promises to make Abram a father of nations and to give to him and his descendants the land of Canaan. This time, though, God changes Abram's name to Abraham and gives him a requirement to circumcise himself and every male in his household forever. He also changes Sarai's name to Sarah. God announces that Abraham and Sarah will have a son, after all. His 13-year old son Ishmael will be blessed, but this new son, Isaac, to be born within the year, will be the one to whom God's covenant promises will pass.

Genesis 17 records the details of God's appearance to Abram, now 99. Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael to Sarah's servant Hagar, God arrives to change Abram's name to Abraham, to confirm the covenant promises, and to command Abraham. He is to circumcise every male in his household as a sign of the covenant. Then the big news: within a year, Abraham's wife—now renamed Sarah—would bear Abraham a son. This long-awaited son would be the one through whom God would keep all of His promises to Abraham.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.