Genesis 17:11

_AND YE SHALL CIRCUMCISE THE FLESH OF YOUR FORESKIN; AND IT SHALL BE A TOKEN OF THE COVENANT BETWIXT ME AND YOU._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

11._Ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin _Very strange and unaccountable would this command at first sight appear. The subject treated of, is the sacred covenant, in which righteousness, salvation, and happiness are promised; whereby the seed of Abraham is distinguished from other nations, in order that it may be holy and blessed; and who can say that it is reasonable for the sign of so great a mystery to consist in circumcision? (408) But as it was necessary for Abraham to become a fool, in order to prove himself obedient to God; so whosoever is wise, will both soberly and reverently receive what God seems to us foolishly to have commanded. And yet we must inquire, whether any analogy is here apparent between the visible sign, and the thing signified. For the signs which God has appointed to assist our infirmity, should be accommodated to the measure of our capacity, or they w...

7-14 The covenant of grace is from everlasting in the counsels of it, and to everlasting in the consequences of it. The token of the covenant was circumcision. It is here said to be the covenant which Abraham and his seed must keep. Those who will have the Lord to be to them a God, must resolve to be to him a people. Not only Abraham and Isaac, and his posterity by Isaac, were to be circumcised, but also Ishmael and the bond-servants. It sealed not only the covenant of the land of Canaan to Isaac's posterity, but of heaven, through Christ, to the whole church of God. The outward sign is for the visible church; the inward seal of the Spirit is peculiar to those whom God knows to be believers, and he alone can know them. The religious observance of this institution was required, under a very severe penalty. It is dangerous to make light of Divine institutions, and to live in the neglect o...

Verse Genesis 17:11. _AND IT SHALL BE A TOKEN_] לאות _leoth_, for a sign of spiritual things; for the circumcision made in the flesh was designed to signify the purification of the heart from all unrighteousness, as God particularly showed in the law itself. See Deuteronomy 10:16; see also Romans 2:25; Colossians 2:11. And it was _a seal of_ that _righteousness_ or justification that comes by _faith_, Romans 4:11. That some of the Jews had a just notion of its _spiritual_ intention, is plain from many passages i...

- The Sealing of the Covenant 1. שׁדי _shaday_, Shaddai, “Irresistible, able to destroy, and by inference to make, Almighty.” שׁדד _shādad_ “be strong, destroy.” This name is found six times in Genesis, and thirty-one times in Job. 5. אברהם _'abrâhām_, Abraham, from אברם _'abrām_ “high-father,” and הם _hām_ the radical part of המין _hāmôn_ a “multitude,” is obtained by a euphonic abbreviation אברהם _'abrâhām_, “father of a multitude.” The root רהם _rhm_ is a variat

EXPOSITION GENESIS 17:1 AND WHEN ABRAM WAS NINETY YEARS OLD AND NINE—consequently an interval of thirteen years had elapsed since the birth of Ishmael; the long delay on the part of God being probably designed as chastisement for Abram's second nuptials (Calvin), and at least corresponding with Abram's undue haste (Lange)—THE LORD APPEARED TO ABRAM—lest he should regard Ishmael's birth as a complete fulfillment of the promise (Menochius), and be satisfied with Hagar's child as the expected seed (Calvin)—AND SAID TO HIM, I AM THE ALMIGHTY GOD—_El Shaddai_, found six times in Genesis and thirty-one times in Job, composed of _El_, God, and _Shaddai_;_ _not a _nomen compositum _(from שֶׁ = אֲשֶׁר and דַּי) signifying _qui sufficiens est _(Aquinas, Symmachus, Theodoret

AND YE SHALL CIRCUMCISE THE FLESH OF YOUR FORESKIN,.... Or "the foreskin of your flesh" u; by an hypallage v, the manner in which this was performed may be seen in the Jewish writers w, as well as the cure of the wound made, is particularly described by Leo Modena x, and which when performed, they used to provide a dish full of sand to put the foreskin into; which was done, as Buxtorf y relates, to show that their seed should be as the sand of the sea, and to call to mind what Balaam said of them, Numbers 23:10; and with respect to the old serpent that deceived man, whose food is the dust of the earth, Genesis 3:14: the instrument with which this operation was performed, according to the Jewish canons, was as follows z, "they may circumcise with anything, with a flint, or with glass, and with an

CHAPTER 17 THE FIFTH COMMUNICATION AND THE COVENANT REPEATED _ 1. The communication and Abram worships (Genesis 17:1)_ 2. The enlarged promise (Genesis 17:4) 3. The covenant sign (Genesis 17:9) 4. Sarah's seed promised (Genesis 17:15) 5. The laughter of Abraham (Genesis 17:17) 6. Abraham's plea for Ishmael (Genesis 17:18) 7. Abraham's obedience ...

GENESIS 12:1 TO GENESIS 25:18. THE STORY OF ABRAHAM. In this section the three main sources, J. E, P are present. Gunkel has given strong reasons for holding that J is here made up of two main sources, one connecting Abraham with Hebron, the other with Beersheba and the Negeb. The former associates Abraham with Lot. (For details, see ICC.) On the interpretation to be placed on the figures of Abraham and the patriarchs, see the Introduction. The interest, which has hitherto been diffused over the fortunes of mankind in general, is now concentrated on Abraham and his posterity, the principle of election narrowing it down to Isaac, Ishmael being left aside, and then to Jacob, Esau being excluded....

Circumcision the Token of the Covenant 9. _thou shalt keep_ "Keep" in the sense of "observe": the reverse is to "break" (Genesis 17:14) the covenant. Notice the sing, "thou," and the plur. "ye shall keep" in Genesis 17:10; cf. the interchange of plur. and sing. in Genesis 17:11....