a man in general (singly or collectively) · noun, common masculine plural construct
house
בֵיתוֹ֙vei.To
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
born
יְלִ֣ידye.Lid
H3211
born · noun, common masculine singular construct
house
בָּ֔יִתBa.yit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular absolute
bought
וּמִקְנַתu.mik.nat-
H4736
properly · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
money
כֶּ֖סֶףKe.sef
H3701
silver (from its pale color) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
stranger
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
circumcised
נִמֹּ֖לוּni.Mo.lu
H4135
to cut short · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person common plural
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).
Cross-references
Genesis 18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and ju…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
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…
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…
And all the men of his house,.... All the males, whether children or adult:
born in the house, or bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him; by their will, and with their consent; not forced to it, as Aben Ezra rightly observes; and these being before trained up by him in religious exercises, were more easily prevailed upon by him to follow his example; this also is repeated, that it might be served, and be an example to follow in after generations.
The Church Fathers
Learn fully then, children of love, concerning all things, for Abraham, who first circumcised, did so looking forward in the spirit to Jesus and had received the doctrines of the three letters. For it says, "Abraham circumcised from his household eighteen men and three hundred." What then was the knowledge that was given to him? Notice that he first mentions the eighteen, and after a pause the three hundred. The eighteen is I (= 10) and H (= 8)—you have Jesus—and because the cross was destined to have grace in the T he says "and three hundred." So he indicates Jesus in the two letters and the cross in the other. He knows this who placed the gift of his teaching in our hearts.
Consider, on the other hand, I ask you, dearly beloved, God's loving kindness and his unspeakable kindness to us. In that case pain and distress resulted from the action and no benefit came from circumcision, except simply making people recognizable through this sign and separating them from the other peoples. Our circumcision, on the contrary—I mean the grace of baptism—involves a painless medicine and is the means of countless good things for us, filling us with the grace of the Spirit. It has no limited span as in that other case, but rather in early years, in middle age and in the very height of old age can a person receive this circumcision—not the work of human hands—which involves not simply endurance but laying aside sin's burden and finding pardon for the faults of all time.… The loving God saw the extraordinary degree of our limitations and the fact that we are suffering from incurable diseases and need a lot of care as well as his ineffable love. [Thus] he is in his provision for our salvation granted us the renewal that comes from the bath of rebirth, so that by setting aside the former person—that is, evil deeds—and putting on the new we may advance along the way of virtue.
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
Money · Silver used as — Silver used as
Servant · .Rights of those born to a master — .Rights of those born to a master
Servants · Slaves or bond: By purchase — Slaves or bond: By purchase
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).
John Calvin on Genesis 17:23–end
And Abraham took Ishmael Moses now commends the obedience of Abraham because he circumcised the whole of his family as he had been commanded. For he must, of necessity, have been entirely devoted to God, since he did not hesitate to inflict upon himself a wound attended with acute pain, and not without danger of life. To this may be added the circumstance of the time; namely, that he does not defer the work to another day, but immediately obeys the Divine mandate. There is, however, no doubt, that he had to contend with various perplexing thoughts. Not to mention innumerable others, this might come into his mind, As for me, who have been so long harassed with many adverse affairs, and tossed…
When God had finished His address and ascended again, Abraham immediately fulfilled the covenant duty enjoined upon him, by circumcision himself on that very day, along with all the male members of his house. Because Ishmael was 13 years old when he was circumcised, the Arabs even now defer circumcision to a much later period than the Jews, generally till between the ages of 5 and 13, and frequently even till the 13th year.
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 17:23-27
Having received God’s word about Isaac, Abraham immediately complied with God’s instructions. He implemented the rite of circumcision as an act of faith; it signified their participation in the covenant (cp. Rom 4:11-12; Gal 5:2-6, 11; 6:15; Phil 3:2-3; Col 2:11-12; 1 Pet 3:21).
Rashi on Genesis 17:25
בהמולו את בשר ערלתו WHEN HE HAD THE FLESH OF HIS FORESKIN CIRCUMCISED — With Avraham, [the word], et is not stated [as it is here with Yishmael], because the only thing he was missing was the cutting of the flesh, as [his foreskin] was already flattened through sexual relations. But Yishmael - who was only a child - was required to cut his foreskin and open [and push back] the circumcision. Hence about him, et is stated. (Genesis Rabbah 47:8)
