Genesis 17:25

_AND ABRAHAM TOOK ISHMAEL HIS SON, AND ALL THAT WERE BORN IN HIS HOUSE, AND ALL THAT WERE BOUGHT WITH HIS MONEY, EVERY MALE AMONG THE MEN OF ABRAHAM'S HOUSE; AND CIRCUMCISED THE FLESH OF THEIR FORESKIN IN THE SELFSAME DAY, AS GOD HAD SAID UNTO HIM._ Abraham took Ishmael his son, ... Here is an instance of prompt obedience to the divine command. It was in accordance with the patriarch's pious character and course of procedure; but he had an additional motive for ready compliance in the happy announcement which had been made to him (Genesis 17:16). It is important to observe the time when the patriarch was instructed to practice this peculiar rite, which had a relation to the birth of the Saviour, who was to appear "in the likeness of sinful flesh," and be made sin for us. Being appointed as the seal of the covenant made with Abraham, which had a direct reference to the Mes

23-27 Abraham and all his family were circumcised; so receiving the token of the covenant, and distinguishing themselves from other families that had no part nor lot in the matter. It was an implicit obedience; he did as God said unto him, and did not ask why or wherefore. He did it because God bade him. It was a speedy obedience; in the self-same day. Sincere obedience makes no delay. Not only the doctrines of revelation, but the seals of God's covenant, remind us that we are guilty, polluted sinners. They show us our need of the blood of atonement; they point to the promised Saviour, and teach us to exercise faith in him. They show us that without regeneration, and sanctification by his Spirit, and the mortification of our corrupt and carnal inclinations, we cannot be in covenant with God. But let us remember that the true circumcision is that of the heart, by the Spirit, Romans 2:28;...

- 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

AND ISHMAEL HIS SON [WAS] THIRTEEN YEARS OLD WHEN HE WAS CIRCUMCISED IN THE FLESH OF HIS FORESKIN.. Hence the Arabians, as Josephus w relates, circumcise their children when at thirteen years of age, because Ishmael, the founder of their nation, was circumcised at that age; and Origen x asserts the same; and with which agrees what an Arabic writer says y of the Arabians before Mahomet, that they used to circumcise at a certain age, between the tenth and fifteenth years of their age. So Rauwolff says z, there are some, chiefly among the Arabians, that imitate their patriarch Ishmael. As for the Mahometans, though they circumcise, they do not always do it in the thirteenth year, as some write; for it is performed by them sometimes in the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, or sixteenth, and sometimes in the sixth or seventh year a. The Egyptians, according to Ambrose b, circumcised their ch...

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....

THIRTEEN. Symbolic; and in contrast with Isaac on eighth day. See App-10, Ishmaelites and Arabians still circumcise in the 13th year....

Abraham circumcises his Household 23. _And Abraham took_, &c. This verse repeats the directions contained in Genesis 17:11. _in the selfsame day_ As in Genesis 17:26: see note on Genesis 7:13. The expression is characteristic of P. The performance of this rite upon all the males of Abraham's household, consisting of several hundred (cf. Genesis 14:14), in one day is hardly to be understood literally. The narrative is more concerned with the thought of the symbolism of a ritual precept, than with its literal practicability. The operation for full-grown males is a serious one, and not unattended with risk, cf. 34.

5. _Abraham's Obedience_, Genesis 17:22-27 _22 And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham. 23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin, in the self-same day, as God had said unto him. 24 And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 In the self-same day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son; 27 And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him._ The prompt obedience of Abraham is shown by his circumcising himself and all male members of his household without delay ...

THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION This chapter is from the Priestly document, of which it shows marked characteristics: see preface to Genesis 15....