But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
Parallel translations
- WEB The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.”
- KJV And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
- NKJV And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
- NASB But as for an uncircumcised male, one who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
- NLT Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the 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
An uncircumcised male was to be cut off from his people for breaking the covenant. Neglecting the sign meant rejecting the covenant itself.
Overview
God warns that refusing the covenant sign brings exclusion from the covenant community. The seriousness shows that the sign was no mere formality but a confession of belonging to God. Rejecting it amounted to covenant-breaking. This solemn warning underscores the importance of faith expressed in obedience, while the gospel offers the deeper circumcision of the heart that truly unites us to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Exod 4:24–26Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.
- Exod 12:19For seven days there must be no leaven found in your houses. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a foreigner or native of the land, must be cut off from the congregation of Israel.
- Num 15:30–31But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That person shall be cut off from among his people.
- Lev 19:8Whoever eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned what is holy to the LORD. That person must be cut off from his people.
- Lev 18:29Therefore anyone who commits any of these abominations must be cut off from among his people.
- Jer 11:10They have returned to the sins of their forefathers who refused to obey My words. They have followed other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their fathers.
- Lev 7:25If anyone eats the fat of an animal from which an offering made by fire may be presented to the LORD, the one who eats it must be cut off from his people.
- Lev 7:20–21But if anyone who is unclean eats meat from the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, that person must be cut off from his people.
- Exod 30:38Anyone who makes something like it to enjoy its fragrance shall be cut off from his people.”
- Isa 24:5The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant.
- Ps 55:20My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant.
- Lev 7:27If anyone eats blood, that person must be cut off from his people.’”
- Exod 30:33Anyone who mixes perfume like it or puts it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’”
- Exod 12:15For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.
- 1 Cor 11:27Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
- Jer 31:32It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.
- 1 Cor 11:29For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
- Isa 33:8The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. The treaty has been broken, the witnesses are despised, and human life is disregarded.
- Josh 5:2–12At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel once again.”
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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 17:14 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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