And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, obeying on the very day the command was given and circumcising the males of his household with him. Circumcision was instituted as the outward sign, token, seal and earnest of God's covenant with him and his descendants, solemnly ratifying the promises that he would be father of many nations and that God would be God to him and his seed. The covenant here is promise, not compact like that with Abimelech nor conditional like that made with Israel at Sinai upon the Ten Commandments, but one of the covenants embraced in the new, everlasting covenant in Christ whose promise is life, salvation and the kingdom. Because God made it with Abraham before he was circumcised, it belongs not to the literal seed only but to the spiritual seed, giving equal title to all who share Abraham's faith whether Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised. That promise repeats the first and larger promise of Genesis 13, that Abraham and his seed should be heir of the world through the righteousness of faith, including the restored kingdom of the new earth, which Abraham understood while living as pilgrim and stranger looking for a city with foundations whose builder is God.
Circumcision's Setting and Sign
Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, and he obeyed on the very day the command was given by circumcising the males of his household. The rite belongs to the ordinance of circumcision given to Abraham and his family, which originated with the patriarchs and was retained by Abraham's descendants long before Moses, so that Moses could be said to have given circumcision to Israel. The account would have so strongly impressed circumcision on Moses' mind that his later neglect of the requirement in Exodus 4:24-26 would be improbable if he had written Genesis before coming to deliver Israel from bondage. It is cited in connection with later neglect of circumcision, including during Israel's wilderness journey.
Circumcision was instituted as the outward sign, token, seal and earnest of God's covenant with Abraham and his descendants, solemnly ratifying and sealing the promises that he would become father of many nations and that God would be God to him and his seed. As the covenant's token and earnest it gave assurance that God would fulfill His promise of the land to Abraham. As the sign given to Abraham's family it marked Israel as set apart to God with God's righteousness upon them, and it pointed to the need for cleanliness of heart. Its continuing purpose as a sign of assurance remains, and its counterpart is the heart's circumcision, the Spirit's seal and earnest of the inheritance.
Circumcision was not for the Jews alone and not exclusively for the Jews, for Ishmael was circumcised as well as Isaac and Esau as well as Jacob, and some Eastern nations still practice it, though as a religious rite it was held by the Jews. When Christ came circumcision became nothing, while the Sabbath is called the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, is the seventh day of the week, is never once in the Bible called Jewish or said to belong to the Jews, and is never once said to be nothing. Although circumcision was commanded as perpetual and everlasting, that binding period has expired, so perpetual and everlasting do not mean never-ending obligation and are no stronger than commanded to a thousand generations. The broader household rite has been given an allegorical interpretation treating it as a sign pointing to Jesus and the cross, based on the number 318.
Covenant Promise and Faith
Genesis 17 belongs to the family history of Abraham where the subject of the two covenants begins, so the covenant question is settled only by reading it together with Genesis 15 and Genesis 16 and Genesis 21:1-21, read repeatedly, leading to Galatians 4:21-30. That history distinguishes the old covenant made with Israel when taken from Egypt and ratified at Sinai from the Ten Commandments, which were the basis to which that covenant related. Any true study of the two covenants must begin there.
The word covenant in this account means promise, distinct from the compact Abraham made with Abimelech and from the conditional covenant later made with Israel. This covenant of promise is one of several covenants included in the new, everlasting covenant in Christ, whose promise is life and salvation and the kingdom through Jesus Christ. The old covenant at Sinai, by contrast, was made when Israel was taken from Egypt and related to the Ten Commandments as its basis.
The covenant here repeats the first and larger promise first given in Genesis 13, and it is different from the other promise in Genesis 15:13-21 that fixes the boundary of earthly Canaan and sets its possession in the fourth generation. It means that Abraham and his seed would be heir of the world through the righteousness of faith, including the restored kingdom of the new earth and an inheritance extending to the whole world. Abraham understood this and joyfully waited for it while living as pilgrim and stranger on earth, looking for a city which hath foundations whose Builder and Maker is God.
Because God made that covenant with Abraham before he was circumcised, it refers not to the literal seed but to the spiritual seed, giving the names of covenant to Abraham, child of promise to Isaac, and prevailer by faith to Israel with a deeper and broader meaning than the surface promise concerning seed. It teaches salvation and equal title to the promises of Abraham for all who share the faith of Abraham, whether Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised. The promise that he should be heir of the world was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith, for if only those of the law were heirs faith is made void and the promise of none effect; therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace, to make the promise sure to all the seed, both to that of the law and to that of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
The promises to Abraham are the blessings of the gospel, with the moral law as their basis. Keeping that law carries a righteousness that makes a Gentile a Jew inwardly and counts his uncircumcision for circumcision, securing to him a covenant interest in the promises to Abraham. Breaking that law neutralizes circumcision and destroys its efficacy as a sign of righteousness. By this covenant of promise to Abraham, the father of the faithful, the Jews as the seed of Abraham became the chosen people of God. Being the natural children of Abraham led them to believe they were heirs of the kingdom, but that supposition was mistaken, since wicked works disqualify from claiming the promises God made to the children of Abraham.
The circumcision of Abraham at ninety-nine stands among the events in which God renewed the promise to him and revealed that Sarah would bear the promised son. In this same account God called Abraham father of many nations before he had a son. This illustrates how God speaks of what exists only in His purpose as though it already existed, because it will surely come to pass.
The verse belongs to the progressive steps of God's dealing with Abraham from his call to the time when he came fully to trust God and sent his tried servant to obtain a wife for Isaac. It falls within the history of the chosen family through which the Seed would come, to be read keeping ever in mind the Promised Seed. It helps reveal the characters of Abram and Lot and the influence of worldly associations upon a good man, showing God's providential favor to him who chooses unselfishly, His warnings before punishment, His repeated lessons in the school of faith, and His providential care and interest among the children of men.
Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, obeying on the very day the command was given and circumcising the males of his household with him. Circumcision was instituted as the outward sign, token, seal and earnest of God's covenant with him and his descendants, solemnly ratifying the promises that he would be father of many nations and that God would be God to him and his seed. The covenant here is promise, not compact like that with Abimelech nor conditional like that made with Israel at Sinai upon the Ten Commandments, but one of the covenants embraced in the new, everlasting covenant in Christ whose promise is life, salvation and the kingdom. Because God made it with Abraham before he was circumcised, it belongs not to the literal seed only but to the spiritual seed, giving equal title to all who share Abraham's faith whether Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised. That promise repeats the first and larger promise of Genesis 13, that Abraham and his seed should be heir of the world through the righteousness of faith, including the restored kingdom of the new earth, which Abraham understood while living as pilgrim and stranger looking for a city with foundations whose builder is God.
Circumcision's Setting and Sign
Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, and he obeyed on the very day the command was given by circumcising the males of his household. The rite belongs to the ordinance of circumcision given to Abraham and his family, which originated with the patriarchs and was retained by Abraham's descendants long before Moses, so that Moses could be said to have given circumcision to Israel. The account would have so strongly impressed circumcision on Moses' mind that his later neglect of the requirement in Exodus 4:24-26 would be improbable if he had written Genesis before coming to deliver Israel from bondage. It is cited in connection with later neglect of circumcision, including during Israel's wilderness journey.
Circumcision was instituted as the outward sign, token, seal and earnest of God's covenant with Abraham and his descendants, solemnly ratifying and sealing the promises that he would become father of many nations and that God would be God to him and his seed. As the covenant's token and earnest it gave assurance that God would fulfill His promise of the land to Abraham. As the sign given to Abraham's family it marked Israel as set apart to God with God's righteousness upon them, and it pointed to the need for cleanliness of heart. Its continuing purpose as a sign of assurance remains, and its counterpart is the heart's circumcision, the Spirit's seal and earnest of the inheritance.
Circumcision was not for the Jews alone and not exclusively for the Jews, for Ishmael was circumcised as well as Isaac and Esau as well as Jacob, and some Eastern nations still practice it, though as a religious rite it was held by the Jews. When Christ came circumcision became nothing, while the Sabbath is called the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, is the seventh day of the week, is never once in the Bible called Jewish or said to belong to the Jews, and is never once said to be nothing. Although circumcision was commanded as perpetual and everlasting, that binding period has expired, so perpetual and everlasting do not mean never-ending obligation and are no stronger than commanded to a thousand generations. The broader household rite has been given an allegorical interpretation treating it as a sign pointing to Jesus and the cross, based on the number 318.
Covenant Promise and Faith
Genesis 17 belongs to the family history of Abraham where the subject of the two covenants begins, so the covenant question is settled only by reading it together with Genesis 15 and Genesis 16 and Genesis 21:1-21, read repeatedly, leading to Galatians 4:21-30. That history distinguishes the old covenant made with Israel when taken from Egypt and ratified at Sinai from the Ten Commandments, which were the basis to which that covenant related. Any true study of the two covenants must begin there.
The word covenant in this account means promise, distinct from the compact Abraham made with Abimelech and from the conditional covenant later made with Israel. This covenant of promise is one of several covenants included in the new, everlasting covenant in Christ, whose promise is life and salvation and the kingdom through Jesus Christ. The old covenant at Sinai, by contrast, was made when Israel was taken from Egypt and related to the Ten Commandments as its basis.
The covenant here repeats the first and larger promise first given in Genesis 13, and it is different from the other promise in Genesis 15:13-21 that fixes the boundary of earthly Canaan and sets its possession in the fourth generation. It means that Abraham and his seed would be heir of the world through the righteousness of faith, including the restored kingdom of the new earth and an inheritance extending to the whole world. Abraham understood this and joyfully waited for it while living as pilgrim and stranger on earth, looking for a city which hath foundations whose Builder and Maker is God.
Because God made that covenant with Abraham before he was circumcised, it refers not to the literal seed but to the spiritual seed, giving the names of covenant to Abraham, child of promise to Isaac, and prevailer by faith to Israel with a deeper and broader meaning than the surface promise concerning seed. It teaches salvation and equal title to the promises of Abraham for all who share the faith of Abraham, whether Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised. The promise that he should be heir of the world was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith, for if only those of the law were heirs faith is made void and the promise of none effect; therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace, to make the promise sure to all the seed, both to that of the law and to that of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
The promises to Abraham are the blessings of the gospel, with the moral law as their basis. Keeping that law carries a righteousness that makes a Gentile a Jew inwardly and counts his uncircumcision for circumcision, securing to him a covenant interest in the promises to Abraham. Breaking that law neutralizes circumcision and destroys its efficacy as a sign of righteousness. By this covenant of promise to Abraham, the father of the faithful, the Jews as the seed of Abraham became the chosen people of God. Being the natural children of Abraham led them to believe they were heirs of the kingdom, but that supposition was mistaken, since wicked works disqualify from claiming the promises God made to the children of Abraham.
The circumcision of Abraham at ninety-nine stands among the events in which God renewed the promise to him and revealed that Sarah would bear the promised son. In this same account God called Abraham father of many nations before he had a son. This illustrates how God speaks of what exists only in His purpose as though it already existed, because it will surely come to pass.
The verse belongs to the progressive steps of God's dealing with Abraham from his call to the time when he came fully to trust God and sent his tried servant to obtain a wife for Isaac. It falls within the history of the chosen family through which the Seed would come, to be read keeping ever in mind the Promised Seed. It helps reveal the characters of Abram and Lot and the influence of worldly associations upon a good man, showing God's providential favor to him who chooses unselfishly, His warnings before punishment, His repeated lessons in the school of faith, and His providential care and interest among the children of men.