Discovery BoxGenesis 17:4-14 
Context17:4 “As for me, 1 this 2 is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 No longer will your name be 3 Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham 4 because I will make you 5 the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you 6 extremely 7 fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. 8 17:7 I will confirm 9 my covenant as a perpetual 10 covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 11 17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing 12 – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent 13 possession. I will be their God.”
17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep 14 the covenantal requirement 15 I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 17:10 This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: 16 Every male among you must be circumcised. 17 17:11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder 18 of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old 19 must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 17:13 They must indeed be circumcised, 20 whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant 21 will be visible in your flesh as a permanent 22 reminder. 17:14 Any uncircumcised male 23 who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off 24 from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.” 25
1 tn Heb “I.”
2 tn Heb “is” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).
3 tn Heb “will your name be called.”
4 sn Your name will be Abraham. The renaming of Abram was a sign of confirmation to the patriarch. Every time the name was used it would be a reminder of God’s promise. “Abram” means “exalted father,” probably referring to Abram’s father Terah. The name looks to the past; Abram came from noble lineage. The name “Abraham” is a dialectical variant of the name Abram. But its significance is in the wordplay with אַב־הֲמוֹן (’av-hamon, “the father of a multitude,” which sounds like אַבְרָהָם, ’avraham, “Abraham”). The new name would be a reminder of God’s intention to make Abraham the father of a multitude. For a general discussion of renaming, see O. Eissfeldt, “Renaming in the Old Testament,” Words and Meanings, 70-83.
5 tn The perfect verbal form is used here in a rhetorical manner to emphasize God’s intention.
6 tn This verb starts a series of perfect verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive to express God’s intentions.
7 tn Heb “exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
8 tn Heb “and I will make you into nations, and kings will come out from you.”
9 tn The verb קוּם (qum, “to arise, to stand up”) in the Hiphil verbal stem means “to confirm, to give effect to, to carry out” (i.e., a covenant or oath; see BDB 878-79 s.v. קוּם).
10 tn Or “as an eternal.”
11 tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”
12 tn The verbal root is גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to reside temporarily,” i.e., as a resident alien). It is the land in which Abram resides, but does not yet possess as his very own.
13 tn Or “as an eternal.”
14 tn The imperfect tense could be translated “you shall keep” as a binding command; but the obligatory nuance (“must”) captures the binding sense better.
15 tn Heb “my covenant.” The Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) can refer to (1) the agreement itself between two parties (see v. 7), (2) the promise made by one party to another (see vv. 2-3, 7), (3) an obligation placed by one party on another, or (4) a reminder of the agreement. In vv. 9-10 the word refers to a covenantal obligation which God gives to Abraham and his descendants.
16 tn Heb “This is my covenant that you must keep between me and you and your descendants after you.”
17 sn For a discussion of male circumcision as the sign of the covenant in this passage see M. V. Fox, “The Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision in the Light of the Priestly ‘ot Etiologies,” RB 81 (1974): 557-96.
18 tn Or “sign.”
19 tn Heb “the son of eight days.”
20 tn The emphatic construction employs the Niphal imperfect tense (collective singular) and the Niphal infinitive.
21 tn Heb “my covenant.” Here in v. 13 the Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) refers to the outward, visible sign, or reminder, of the covenant. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.
22 tn Or “an eternal.”
23 tn The disjunctive clause calls attention to the “uncircumcised male” and what will happen to him.
24 tn Heb “that person will be cut off.” The words “that person” have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
sn The meaning of “cut off” has been discussed at great length. An entire tractate in the Mishnah is devoted to this subject (tractate Keritot). Being ostracized from the community is involved at the least, but it is not certain whether this refers to the death penalty.
25 tn Heb “he has broken my covenant.” The noun בְּרִית (bÿrit) here refers to the obligation required by God in conjunction with the covenantal agreement. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.
