And God said unto Abraham, thou shalt keep my covenant therefore ,.... Observe the sign or token of it, circumcision, in the manner after related: thou, and thy seed after thee, in their generations ; in successive ages until the Messiah come, the end of the law for righteousness. read more
This is my covenant ,.... The token of it, for the promise itself was given before, which is more properly the covenant; circumcision is so called in an improper sense, being only the sign of it: which ye shall keep between me and you, and thy seed after thee ; which was to be observed by Abraham, and the males in his house then with him, as Ishmael, and those that were born in his house, or bought with his money, and by his posterity in succeeding ages, and it is what follows: ... read more
And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin ,.... Or "the foreskin of your flesh" F21 את בשר ערלתכם "praeputium carnis vestrae", Drusius, Piscator. ; by an hypallage F22 According to E. W. Bullinger, "hypallage" "relates to an interchange of construction whereby an adjective or other word, which `logically' belongs to one connection, is grammatically united with another, so that what is said or attributed to one things ought to be said or attributed to another". ,... read more
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you ,.... A son or infant of eight days old; it might not be circumcised before, but for some reasons might be deferred longer. The reasons why this rite was ordered to be performed in infancy, according to Maimonides F4 Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 49. p. 506. , were, because if it had been deferred to riper age it might have been neglected, and never performed; and because at such an age the pain is not so sensibly felt, by... read more
He that is born in thine house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised ,.... Or "in circumcising shall be circumcised" F12 המול ימול "circumcidendo circumcidetur", Pagninus, Montanus &c.; , shall certainly be circumcised; this is repeated to denote the necessity of it, and what care should be taken that this be done, because there was to be no uncircumcised male among them, Genesis 17:10 ; nor any conversation and communion to be had among them,... read more
And the uncircumcised man child, whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised ,.... Whose circumcision was neglected by his father, or by his mother, or by the civil magistrate, or by himself; for each of these, according to the Jewish canons, were obliged to see this performed;"the commandment lies upon a father to circumcise his son, and upon a master to circumcise his servants born in his house, or bought with money F13 Maimon. ut supra, (Hilchot Milah) c. 1. sect. 1. :'and it is... read more
Every man - child - shall be circumcised - Those who wish to invalidate the evidence of the Divine origin of the Mosaic law, roundly assert that the Israelites received the rite of circumcision from the Egyptians. Their apostle in this business is Herodotus, who, lib. ii., p. 116, Edit. Steph. 1592, says: "The Colchians, Egyptians, and Ethiopians, are the only nations in the world who have used circumcision απ ' αρχης , from the remotest period; and the Phoenicians and Syrians who... read more
And it shall be a token - לאות leoth , for a sign of spiritual things; for the circumcision made in the flesh was designed to signify the purification of the heart from all unrighteousness, as God particularly showed in the law itself. See Deuteronomy 10:16 ; see also Romans 2:25-29 ; Colossians 2:11 . And it was a seal of that righteousness or justification that comes by faith, Romans 4:11 . That some of the Jews had a just notion of its spiritual intention, is plain from many... read more
He 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 more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 17:7-14
Here is, I. The continuance of the covenant, intimated in three things:?1. It is established; not to be altered nor revoked. It is fixed, it is ratified, it is made as firm as the divine power and truth can make it. 2. It is entailed; it is a covenant, not with Abraham only (then it would die with him), but with his seed after him, not only his seed after the flesh, but his spiritual seed. 3. It is everlasting in the evangelical sense and meaning of it. The covenant of grace is everlasting. It... read more