And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you.
- BSB You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
- NKJV and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
- NASB And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.
- NLT You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Circumcision in the flesh was to be the token of the covenant. The physical sign visibly sealed the covenant promise.
Overview
God specifies that the cutting of the foreskin would serve as the covenant's sign and seal. Paul calls Abraham's circumcision a seal of the righteousness he had by faith, showing the sign pointed to an inward reality. The outward mark testified to God's gracious covenant and the call to a consecrated life and heart.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Rom 4:11And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
- Deut 10:16Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
- Acts 7:8And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.
- Exod 4:25Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.
- Exod 12:48And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
- 1 Sam 18:25–27And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
- 2 Sam 3:14And David sent messengers to Ishbosheth Saul’s son, saying, Deliver me my wife Michal, which I espoused to me for an hundred foreskins of the Philistines.
- Josh 5:3And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 17:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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