Genesis 17:23
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 selfsame day, as God had said unto him.
On the very day God commanded it Abraham circumcised Ishmael his son and every male of his household, both those born in his house and those bought with his money, doing exactly as God had said. His prompt action on that selfsame day shows that true faith acts at once upon the word of God. The rite he performed was instituted as the outward token, seal and mark of the everlasting covenant with Abraham and his descendants, marking the setting apart of his family as God's church. That covenant was made with Abraham before he was circumcised and belongs not to the literal seed but to the spiritual seed, giving salvation and equal title to the promises to all who share Abraham's faith, whether Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised. It promised that Abraham should be heir of the world not through law but through righteousness of faith, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed by grace, and Abraham lived as a pilgrim and stranger looking for a city with foundations and a better heavenly country.
Setting and Language
The verse stands in the account of God's call to Abram and his sojourn and trials of faith under God's overruling providence, dated within B.C. 2247 to B.C. 1872. Abraham did not come to fullness of faith at once but learned the lesson over and over, which presses whether readers are children of Abraham. It belongs to the Genesis 15:18 and Genesis 16, 17, and 21 history that must be read to understand the covenant question, with Galatians 4:21-30, especially verse 24, where these histories are called the two covenants. Genesis 17 repeats the first and larger promise first given in Genesis 13, distinct from the other promise in Genesis 15:13-21 that fixes the boundary to designate earthly Canaan and makes the time of possession clear, even in the fourth generation.
The chapter renews the promise that Abraham's offspring would continue and be favored and reveals that Sarah would bear the promised child. Though Abraham and Sarah found this unlikely and Sarah laughed, God's word came true and Isaac was born to them in their old age as the child of promise. Within that family history Ishmael was born through Hagar after Abraham tried to secure the promised heir by his own plan, while Isaac came through Sarah by God's promise and power. In this account Ishmael represents bondage, in contrast with Isaac, who represents freedom through the promise. God could call Abraham the father of many nations before he had a son because what God has purposed is certain to come to pass, so God spoke of what was not yet present as though it already existed.
The verse uses a term meaning young man for members of Abraham's household who are also called servants, showing the terms were used for both servants and free persons. Those born in the house and those bought with money included hired labor for a limited period, ransom, or contract establishing service and allegiance, so being bought did not make them slaves. Servants were regarded as people, not chattels. Compared with Exodus 4:24-26, the verse is used to support the possibility that Genesis was written after that event.
Covenant Sign Meaning
Circumcision was instituted as the outward token, seal, and mark of the covenant solemnly established with Abraham and his descendants as an everlasting covenant, and its observance on that very day marked the establishment of the church in Abraham’s family. That covenant carries the promises to Abraham as the acquired name, to Isaac as the child of promise, and to Israel as the prevailer by faith, and it refers not to the literal seed but to the spiritual seed. Because God made that covenant with Abraham before he was circumcised, it teaches salvation and equal title to the promises for all who are of the faith of Abraham, whether Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised.
The verse belongs to the promise that Abraham should be heir of the world, given not through law but through righteousness of faith, for if they of the law were heirs faith is made void, therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to that of the law but to that also of the faith of Abraham. Abraham understood what it included and lived as a pilgrim and stranger on earth, waiting for the inheritance of the new earth, looking for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God, seeking a better heavenly country which God hath prepared. In the passage circumcision is the covenant’s token and assurance that God will fulfill His promise of the land, an earnest of the promised inheritance.
Circumcision began in Abraham’s family as a sign that Israel was set apart to God and that God’s righteousness was upon them, and it was meant to point to the need for cleanliness of heart. The covenant of promise made to Abraham, the father of the faithful, made his natural seed the chosen people of God and heirs of the kingdom. God’s covenant with Abraham stands among the covenants gathered into the everlasting covenant in Christ, whose promise is life, salvation, and the kingdom. Genesis 17 contains the promises to Abraham which are the blessings of the gospel, and the law is the basis of the Abrahamic covenant, so that a Gentile who keeps this law secures a covenant interest in those promises, his uncircumcision being counted for circumcision and making him a Jew inwardly.
The word covenant as used in the account of the covenant God made with Abraham can refer to different things and does not by itself mean a law. Circumcision had been commanded to Abraham and his household and was retained by his family, so it was already an established ordinance among them long before Moses gave it to Israel, and its later association with Moses did not mean Moses originated it. Circumcision was not exclusively for the Jews, because Ishmael was circumcised as well as Isaac, and Esau as well as Jacob, and some Eastern nations still practice it. As a religious rite held by the Jews it became nothing when Christ came, while the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day, is never said to be nothing. The institution of circumcision as a perpetual and everlasting command has expired, and its perpetual language is no stronger than commanded to a thousand generations, proving continuing obligation no more than the same language proves the continuance of the Aaronic priesthood, the Passover and its feast, and the showbread. The account has been used to claim Abraham foresaw Jesus through a hidden meaning in the numbers associated with his household, with ten and eight said to signify Jesus and three hundred the cross, but this is an artificial and absurd interpretation, not the verse’s plain meaning.
Prompt Obedience Applied
Abraham took Ishmael his son and every male among the men of his house, both all born in his house and all bought with money, and circumcised them in the selfsame day as God had said to him, carrying out the command to circumcise exactly as commanded. The doing was on the very day of the commanding, with Ishmael named with the household and the household named as born in the house and bought with money. His action on the very day he was commanded shows that faith acts promptly on God's word, obeying without delay.
The account made circumcision so prominent that later neglect of it by Moses would have been improbable. The failure of the Israelites to practice circumcision during the forty years in the wilderness is distinguished from the culpable neglect met in Exodus 4:24-26. They were not reproved for that wilderness omission, so their omission is presented as approved by God, while the neglect in Exodus stands under judgment, and compared with Exodus 4:24-26 this supports the possibility that Genesis was written after that event.
In the Christian dispensation conversion to God answers to this rite, as the inward cleanliness of heart to which the outward act pointed.