Genesis 17:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

NIV: Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

NASB: But as for an uncircumcised male, one who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.'

CSB: If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

NLT: Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.'

KJV: And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

NKJV: And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

In the previous verses, God revealed a requirement of His covenant relationship with Abraham and with all the promised generations to follow. Every male, related in any way to Abraham, even every male servant, must be circumcised. New male children must be circumcised at eight days old. Now God emphasizes that this sign of the covenant between God and His people through Abraham is absolutely necessary. Any uncircumcised male is out of the covenant. Period. If he will not be cut in the foreskin of his flesh, he will be cut off from his people. God's people through Abraham must be circumcised or they will not be God's people.

Though circumcision has now become a routine practice in many parts of the world for completely non-religious reasons, it's important to note that this requirement of circumcision is not given in the New Testament to those who come into God's family through faith in Christ. It is not specifically forbidden, but Paul emphasized that salvation under the new covenant was through faith in Christ and not through covenant circumcision (Galatians 5:1–6). Instead, Paul wrote in Romans 2:29 of the need for a "circumcision of the heart" by the Holy Spirit, to be set apart for God inwardly and not merely outwardly.

Having said that, circumcision was absolutely required by God as an act of faith and obedience for His people through Abraham.

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.