Genesis 17:10-11

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 17:10

Genesis 17:10. The token of the covenant is circumcision, for the sake of which, the covenant is itself called the covenant of circumcision, Acts 7:8. It is here said to be the covenant which Abraham and his seed must keep, as a copy or counterpart. It is called a sign and seal, (Romans 4:11,) for it was, 1st, A confirmation to Abraham and his seed of those promises which were God’s part of the covenant, assuring them that, in due time, Canaan should be theirs: and the continuance of... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Genesis 17:1-27

The covenant sealed (17:1-27)As Abram and Sarai grew older, God told them again that he would be faithful to his promises. He revealed himself to them in a new name of power (God Almighty) and gave them each new names (Abraham and Sarah) to emphasize that he would make them parents of a multitude (17:1-6,15-16). The Almighty had made a covenant to be God to Abraham and his descendants, and he would give them Canaan to be their homeland (7-8).To reassure Abraham that he would keep his covenant... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Genesis 17:9-10

"And God said unto Abraham, And as for thee, thou shalt keep my covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised.""And as for thee ..." This reaches back to Genesis 17:4, where God stated his part of the covenant. Here he began to recount the obligations that pertained to Abraham and his posterity."Every male among you ... shall be circumcised ..."... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Genesis 17:11-14

"And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he that is born in thy house, or bought with money of any foreigner that is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 17:11

Genesis 17:11. A token of the covenant, &c.— Here circumcision is called a token, as before it was called the covenant; so the Paschal Lamb is called the Passover of the Lord, Exo 11:10 of which it was only a memorial: so the bread and wine are called the Body and Blood of Christ, of which they are only memorials, Matthew 26:26. &c. It is evident that circumcision was instituted solely as a token of that covenant which God entered into with Abraham, not as any peculiar mark of... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 17:10

10. Every man child among you shall be circumcised—This was the sign in the Old Testament Church as baptism is in the New, and hence the covenant is called "covenant of circumcision" (Acts 7:8; Romans 4:11). The terms of the covenant were these: on the one hand Abraham and his seed were to observe the right of circumcision; and on the other, God promised, in the event of such observance, to give them Canaan for a perpetual possession, to be a God to him and his posterity, and that in him and... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 17:9-14

God wanted Abraham to circumcise his male servants as well as his children. The reason was that the Abrahamic Covenant would affect all who had a relationship with Abraham. Consequently they needed to bear the sign of that covenant. The person who refused circumcision was "cut off" from his people (Genesis 17:14) because by refusing it he was repudiating God’s promises to Abraham."This expression undoubtedly involves a wordplay on cut. He that is not himself cut (i.e., circumcised) will be cut... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 17:1-27

The Covenant of CircumcisionThis chapter is from the Priestly document, of which it shows marked characteristics: see preface to Genesis 15.1. Ninety years old and nine] Ishmael was now thirteen years old, and Abraham probably expected no other heir. But his faith was to be put to a further test. The Almighty God] Heb. el Shaddai: the name of power shows the ability to perform what was promised. Walk before me, and be thou perfeet] i.e. always conscious of My presence, and living a pious,... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 17:10

(10) Shall be circumcised.—It is stated by Herodotus (Book ii. 104) that the Egyptians were circumcised, and that the Syrians in Palestine confessed that they learned this practice from the Egyptians. Origen, however, seems to limit circumcision to the priesthood (Epist. ad Rom., § ii. 13); and the statement of Herodotus is not only very loose, but his date is too far posterior to the time of Abram for us to be able to place implicit confidence in it. If we turn to the evidence of Egyptian... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Genesis 17:1-27

God the Giver Genesis 17:8 'I will give.' That is the text. It is found in Genesis, and therefore in the right place; it is heard in the Apocalypse, and therefore the great Amen cannot be far off. Let us see how the river runs, and walk by it, as it were, hand in hand with God. I. The Lord had to incarnate Himself in little phrases and small toy meanings in order to get at man's imagination, so He says in Genesis XVII, 8, 'I will give unto thee... land'. Do not put a full-stop after 'land'.... read more

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