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.”
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.
- BSB But if any male is not circumcised, he will 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 4:24–26On the way at a lodging place, Yahweh met Moses and wanted to kill him.
- Exod 12:19There shall be no yeast found in your houses for seven days, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a foreigner, or one who is born in the land.
- Num 15:30–31“‘But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, the same blasphemes Yahweh. That soul shall be cut off from among his people.
- Lev 19:8but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh, and that soul shall be cut off from his people.
- Lev 18:29“‘For whoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people.
- Jer 11:10They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words; and they are gone after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.
- Lev 7:25For whoever eats the fat of the animal, of which men offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh, even the soul who eats it shall be cut off from his people.
- Lev 7:20–21but the soul who eats of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that belongs to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from his people.
- Exod 30:38Whoever shall make any like that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people.”
- Isa 24:5The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.
- Ps 55:20He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant.
- Lev 7:27Whoever it is who eats any blood, that soul shall be cut off from his people.’”
- Exod 30:33Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.’”
- Exod 12:15“‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
- 1 Cor 11:27Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
- Jer 31:32not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says Yahweh.
- 1 Cor 11:29For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body.
- Isa 33:8The highways are desolate. The traveling man ceases. The covenant is broken. He has despised the cities. He doesn’t respect man.
- Josh 5:2–12At that time, Yahweh said to Joshua, “Make flint knives, and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.”
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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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