You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between 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.
- KJV And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt 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.
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 4:11He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they might be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might also be accounted to them.
- Deut 10:16Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.
- Acts 7:8He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
- Exod 4:25Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”
- Exod 12:48When a stranger shall live as a foreigner with you, and will keep the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one who is born in the land: but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.
- 1 Sam 18:25–27Saul said, “Tell David, ‘The king desires no dowry except one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies.’” Now Saul thought he would make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
- 2 Sam 3:14David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Deliver me my wife Michal, whom I was given to marry for one hundred foreskins of the Philistines.”
- Josh 5:3Joshua made himself flint knives, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.