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.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
- BSB Whether they are born in your household or purchased, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh will be an everlasting covenant.
- NKJV He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
- NASB A slave who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall certainly be circumcised; so My covenant shall be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant.
- NLT All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant.
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
Both home-born and purchased servants must be circumcised, marking an everlasting covenant in their flesh. The sign was obligatory and enduring.
Overview
God reiterates that all males in the household bear the covenant sign, underscoring its perpetual and inclusive nature. The covenant is described as everlasting, rooted in God's unchanging faithfulness. While the physical sign belonged to the old covenant era, the everlasting covenant of grace it pointed to is fulfilled and sealed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Exod 12:44But every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.
- Gen 37:36And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.
- Neh 5:8And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.
- Gen 37:27Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.
- Matt 18:25But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
- Gen 39:1And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
- Exod 21:4If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.
- Gen 15:3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
- Exod 21:16And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
- Gen 14:14And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
- Neh 5:5Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.
- Exod 21:2If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
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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 17:13 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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