Genesis 17:14

14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Genesis 17:14 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
English Standard Version (ESV)
14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."
New Living Translation (NLT)
14 Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.”
The Message Bible (MSG)
14 An uncircumcised male, one who has not had the foreskin of his penis cut off, will be cut off from his people - he has broken my covenant."
American Standard Version (ASV)
14 And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
14 Any uncircumcised male must be excluded from his people because he has rejected my promise."
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
14 If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
14 "Any male who has not been circumcised will be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant."

Genesis 17:14 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 17:14

And the uncircumcised man child, whose flesh of his foreskin
is not circumcised
Whose circumcision was neglected by his father, or by his mother, or by the civil magistrate, or by himself; for each of these, according to the Jewish canons, were obliged to see this performed;

``the commandment lies upon a father to circumcise his son, and upon a master to circumcise his servants born in his house, or bought with money F13:''

and it is elsewhere said F14,

``if a father does not circumcise his son, the sanhedrim are bound to circumcise him; and if they do not circumcise him, he is obliged when he is grown up to circumcise himself; and if he does not circumcise himself, he is guilty of cutting off,''

as it here follows:

that soul shall be cut off from his people;
which Jarchi interprets of his being childless, and dying before his time; and which, according to some in Aben Ezra, is, when a man dies before he is fifty two years of age; and some erroneous persons, as the same writer calls them, thought that if a child died, and was not circumcised, it had no part in the world to come. The simplest and plainest meaning of the phrase seems to be, that such should be cut off, and deprived of all civil and religious privileges with the Israelites in the land of Canaan, and be reckoned as Heathens. Concerning this matter, Maimonides F15 thus writes;

``a father or a mother that transgress, and circumcise not, make void the affirmative commandment, but are not guilty of cutting off; for no cutting off depends but upon the uncircumcised person himself; and the sanhedrim are commanded to circumcise a son or a servant in its time, that they may not leave an uncircumcised person in Israel, nor among their servants; if the thing is hid from the sanhedrim, and they do not circumcise him, when he is grown up, he is bound to circumcise himself; and every day that passes over him, after he is grown up, and he does not circumcise himself, lo, he maketh the commandment to cease; but he is not guilty of cutting off until he dies, and he is a presumptuous uncircumcised person;''

and so, according to him, this must respect his punishment after death in another world:

he hath broken my covenant;
made it null and void, neglecting the token of it, circumcision.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 Maimon. ut supra, (Hilchot Milah) c. 1. sect. 1.
F14 Schulchan Aruch, ib. c. 361. sect. 1.
F15 Maimon. Hilchot. Milah, c. 1. sect. 1, 2.

Genesis 17:14 In-Context

12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring.
13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.
14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.
16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Cross References 3

  • 1. ver 23
  • 2. Exodus 4:24-26; Exodus 12:15,19; Exodus 30:33; Leviticus 7:20,25; Leviticus 17:4; Leviticus 18:29; Leviticus 19:8; Leviticus 20:17; Numbers 9:13; Numbers 15:30; Numbers 19:13; Deuteronomy 17:12; Joshua 5:2-8; Job 38:15; Psalms 37:28
  • 3. Ezekiel 44:7
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