Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Genesis 17:9 - 17:14

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Genesis 17:9 - 17:14


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Circumcision Instituted

v. 9. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep My covenant, therefore, thou and thy seed after thee in their generations.
The promise of goodness and mercy on the part of God imposes an obligation on man to keep the provisions of His covenant.

v. 10. This is My covenant, which ye shall keep between Me and you and thy seed after thee: Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
So circumcision, the operation by which the foreskin of the flesh is removed, is not a mere hygienic measure, but a religious rite, a part of God's covenant, a sacrament of His mercy.

v. 11. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt Me and you.

v. 12. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

v. 13. He that is born in thy house, and he that in bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

v. 14. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut oft from his people; he hath broken My covenant.
Thus circumcision was a sacrament, a means of grace, in the Old Testament, a rite through which the Lord transmitted the blessings of His covenant to the children of Abraham. Its provisions were simple, the act itself being plainly indicated, the purpose being the sign of the covenant, the time being eight days, or the eighth day after birth, the extent making it include not only male children, but also slaves, both those born in the master's home and those bought elsewhere, and the inviolability of the act being such as to cause every male that had not submitted to this provision of the covenant to be cutoff by an act of divine judgment or by an early death. The significance of the sacrament consisted in this, that the descendants of Abraham were to circumcise the foreskin of their hearts, be a holy people unto the Lord, Deu_10:16. But above all, circumcision was the seal of the righteousness of faith, Rom_4:11, and a type of Holy Baptism, the corresponding sacrament of the New Testament. Through the water of Baptism, as an external sign, the righteousness of God, the forgiveness of sins, is sealed unto us.