Genesis 17:25

And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Ishmael	וְיִשְׁמָעֵ֣אל ve.yish.ma.'El	H3458	Jishmael · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
son	בְּנ֔וֹ be.No	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
thirteen	עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה 'es.Reh	H6240	ten (only in combination) · cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
years	שָׁנָ֑ה sha.Nah	H8141	a year (as a revolution of time) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
old	בֶּן ben-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
circumcised	בְּהִ֨מֹּל֔וֹ be.Hi.mo.Lo	H4135	to cut short · preposition + verb, niphal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
flesh	בְּשַׂ֥ר be.Sar	H1320	flesh (from its freshness) · noun, common masculine singular construct
foreskin	עָרְלָתֽוֹ a.re.la.To	H6190	the prepuce · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 17:23–end

We have here Abraham's obedience to the law of circumcision. He himself 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. 1. It was an implicit obedience: He did as God had said to him, and did not ask why or wherefore. God's will was not only a law to him, but a reason; he did it because God told him. 2. It was a speedy obedience: In the self-same day, Gen 17:23, Gen 17:26. Sincere obedience is not dilatory, Psa 119:60. While the command is yet sounding in our ears, and the sense of duty is fresh, it is good to apply ourselves to it immediately, lest we deceive ourselves by p…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 17:19

The blessings of the covenant are reserved for Isaac, but common blessings were abundantly promised to Ishmael; and though the visible Church did not descend from his family, yet personally he might, and it is to be hoped did, enjoy its benefits. Next: Genesis Chapter 18

Adam Clarke on Genesis 17:23

And Abraham took Ishmael, etc. - Had not Abraham, his son, (who was of age to judge for himself), and all the family, been fully convinced that this thing was of God, they could not have submitted to it. A rite so painful, so repugnant to every feeling of delicacy, and every way revolting to nature, could never have sprung up in the imagination of man. To this day the Jews practice it as a Divine ordinance; and all the Arabians do the same. As a distinction between them and other people it never could have been designed, because it was a sign that was never to appear. The individual alone knew that he bore in his flesh this sign of the covenant, and he bore it by the order of God, and he kne…

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John Gill on Genesis 17:25

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 w…

The Church Fathers

Even the fact that Ishmael was circumcised in his thirteenth year is for an obvious reason, because one who is beginning to be sexually active should trim the ardor of his passion, so as to abstain from illicit unions and limit himself to a legitimate union only.
— Ambrose of Milan, On Abraham

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Abraham — Father of a multitude, son of Terah, named (Gen. 11:27) before his older brothers Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises. Till the age of seventy, Abram sojourned among his kindred…
Circumcision — Cutting around. This rite, practised before, as some think, by divers races, was appointed by God to be the special badge of his chosen people, an abiding sign of their consecration to him. It was…
Covenant — A contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word berith is always thus translated. Berith is derived from a root which means “to cut,” and hence a covenant is a…
Abraham · Circumcision of — Circumcision of
Circumcision · .Abraham — .Abraham
Ishmael · .Circumcised — .Circumcised

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 17:25

Word by word — the Hebrew

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 17:23–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 17:19

Adam Clarke on Genesis 17:23

John Gill on Genesis 17:25

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 17:25

Word by word — the Hebrew

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 17:23–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 17:19

Adam Clarke on Genesis 17:23

John Gill on Genesis 17:25

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 17:23–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 17:22–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 17:23-27

Rashi on Genesis 17:25