Genesis17:9–27

Where the English smooths the original

• וְאַתָּ֖ה The clause opens with an emphatic וְאַתָּ֖ה (wə-’attāh, “and as for you”), thrust forward as the counter-pole to God’s “as for Me” of v. 4. The BSB’s “You must keep My covenant” keeps the imperative but loses the pronoun standing alone at the front. The Pulpit Commentary marks it: “literally, and thou, the other party to the covenant, the antithesis to I.”
• תִשְׁמֹ֑ר תִשְׁמֹ֑ר (tišmōr, root šāmar) is not merely “keep” as in retain but “hedge about, guard, observe” — Strong’s root note: “properly, to hedge about (as with thorns).” The Cambridge Bible glosses it “in the sense of ‘observe’: the reverse is to ‘break’ the covenant.” “Must keep” is right but flat.
• בְּרִיתִ֣י בְּרִיתִ֣י (bərîṯî, “My covenant”) carries the root note “a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh)” — a striking etymology here, where the covenant’s sign will itself be cut in the flesh. “My covenant” cannot carry that buried image.
• לְדֹרֹתָֽם לְדֹרֹתָֽם (lə-ḍōrōṯām) is “to/for their generations,” the noun dôr whose root note is “properly, a revolution of time.” The BSB’s “in the generations after you” is two phrases rendering one word plus the following ’aḥăreḵā; the Hebrew packs succession into a single term.

Where the English smooths the original

• בְּרִיתִ֞י The text calls the rite itself “My covenant” (בְּרִיתִ֞י), though the covenant proper is the promise. Poole names the figure: “Circumcision is here called the covenant by a usual metonomy, because it is the condition, sign, and seal of the covenant.” Gill is blunter — it is “so called in an improper sense, being only the sign of it.”
• הִמּ֥וֹל הִמּ֥וֹל (himmôl) is a Niphal infinitive absolute standing at the head of the clause — a grammatical hammer-blow of which the Pulpit Commentary says it stands “abruptly at the commencement of a sentence, having the force of a command.” The BSB’s smooth “must be circumcised” is correct in force but invisible in form.
• בֵּינִי֙ The Hebrew repeats bên (“between”) three times — between-Me, and-between-you, and-between your-seed (בֵּינִי … ū-ḇênêḵem … ū-ḇên). The threefold “between” enacts the very mutuality of a covenant; English collapses it to a single “with you and your descendants.”

Where the English smooths the original

• בְּשַׂ֣ר “The flesh of your foreskin” renders a Hebrew construct, but Poole notes the order is reversed by figure: “by a usual hypallage, the foreskin of your flesh.” And bāśār (בְשַׂ֖ר, “flesh”) is here a euphemism — Poole: “the word flesh is here put for the genital part.” The English keeps the literal words but reads them straight.
• לְא֣וֹת לְא֣וֹת (lə-’ōṯ, “for a sign”) — ’ōṯ’s root note is “a signal… as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, evidence.” The Cambridge Bible ties it to the earlier covenant token: “Cf. the rainbow which was the token of the covenant of Noah.” The BSB’s “a sign of the covenant” is exact; the resonance with the bow in the cloud is what the lexeme carries.
• וְהָיָה֙ The verb וְהָיָה֙ (wə-hāyāh, Qal “and it shall be”) governs the sign: the cut flesh becomes a token. The Pulpit Commentary gives the literal phrasing — “for a token of covenant” — a thing turning into a meaning, which “this will be a sign” renders fluently but less concretely.

Where the English smooths the original

• וּבֶן־ “When he is eight days old” renders the idiom וּבֶן־ šəmōnaṯ yāmîm, literally “a son of eight days.” The Pulpit Commentary keeps the Hebraism: “literally, and the son of eight days.” Hebrew counts age by sonship to a span of days; English must paraphrase the figure away.
• יְלִ֣יד יְלִ֣יד (yəlîḏ, “house-born one”) is a single noun for a slave born under the roof, not bought — a rare word (13 verses) that links this verse to Abram’s 318 “house-born” fighting men of Genesis 14:14. The BSB’s “those born in your household” spells out what one Hebrew term names.
• כֶּ֙סֶף֙ כֶּ֙סֶף֙ (kesep̱) is literally “silver,” the money-metal — “bought of silver,” not the abstract “purchased.” The concreteness matters: a person acquired by weighed silver is, by this command, brought inside the covenant sign.

Where the English smooths the original

• הִמּ֧וֹל Two forms of the same root stand together — הִמּ֥וֹל yimmôl (Niphal infinitive absolute + finite verb), an emphatic doubling. Gill renders it “in circumcising shall be circumcised… shall certainly be circumcised,” and the Pulpit Commentary places the doubled form, “with the finite verb occupying the place of emphasis at the beginning of the sentence.” The BSB’s plain “they must be circumcised” cannot show the Hebrew’s insistence.
• עוֹלָֽם עוֹלָֽם (‘ōlām, “everlasting”) is more elastic than the English absolute. Poole cautions: the word “oft used to express not only simple eternity, but any long continuance, for many ages, yea, sometimes for a man’s life.” “Everlasting covenant” is the standard rendering; whether it means unending or age-long is the very question K&D presses.
• בִּבְשַׂרְכֶ֖ם בִּבְשַׂרְכֶ֖ם (biḇśarḵem, “in your flesh”) makes the covenant bodily. K&D names it: circumcision “is called in Genesis 17:13, ‘the covenant in the flesh,’ so far as the nature of the covenant was manifested in the flesh.” The BSB keeps the phrase but the theological weight rests on that single prepositional b-.

Where the English smooths the original

• וְעָרֵ֣ל The verse opens with the adjective וְעָרֵ֣ל (‘ārêl, “uncircumcised”) standing absolutely — Poole: “the nominative is put absolutely, as is frequent in the Hebrew tongue.” The BSB’s conditional “if any male is not circumcised” smooths a blunt Hebrew nominative-of-shame: the uncircumcised one.
• וְנִכְרְתָ֛ה וְנִכְרְתָ֛ה (wə-niḵrəṯāh, “shall be cut off,” Niphal of kāraṯ) is the very verb used for making a covenant (to “cut” a covenant). The penalty echoes the act: he who will not be cut in the flesh is himself cut off from the people. The English “cut off” preserves the word; the grim wordplay with covenant-cutting is original.
• הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁ הַהַנֶּ֥פֶשׁ (han-nep̱eš, “the soul / person”) is the legal subject — “that soul shall be cut off.” nep̱eš is the whole living person, not a disembodied part; the BSB’s “he will be cut off” is accurate but loses the solemn idiom the law uses throughout (cf. Leviticus 7:20–21).

Where the English smooths the original

• שָׂרַ֣י The change is a single Hebrew letter. שָׂרַ֣י (Śāray) the older commentators take as “my princess” — Poole: “Sarai signifies my lady, or my princess, which confines her dominion to one family.” The BSB simply keeps both names; the theology is in the dropped suffix.
• שָׂרָ֖ה שָׂרָז (Śārāh) is read as “princess” without restriction — Poole: “a lady or princess, simply and absolutely without restriction.” The Cambridge Bible corrects the old gloss on the first name: “It cannot mean, as used to be asserted, ‘my princess.’” That the change of name parallels Abram→Abraham is the point English cannot show.
• תִקְרָ֥א The command is literally “you shall not call (תִקְרָ֥א, root qārā’) her name Sarai” — the naming verb, the same root by which Adam named the creatures. Renaming is an act of dominion and of covenant inclusion; “do not call her Sarai” keeps the verb but reads as mere instruction.

Where the English smooths the original

• וּבֵרַכְתִּ֣י The blessing is doubled — וּבֵרַכְתִּ֣י … ū-ḇêraḵtîhā (“and I will bless her… I will bless her”), the verb bāraḵ in the intensive Piel both times. The repetition is emphatic, not redundant; Gill: “repeated for the confirmation of it, and for the greater strengthening Abraham’s faith.” The BSB keeps both, but the Piel intensity is original.
• וְהָֽיְתָ֣ה וְהָֽיְתָ֣ה lə-ḡôyim reads literally “and she shall become nations.” Ellicott corrects the smoother English: “she shall become (grow into) nations.” The barren woman does not merely mother a nation; she becomes nations — a verb of transformation the BSB renders as the static “be the mother of nations.”
• מַלְכֵ֥י מַלְכֵ֥י ‘ammîm — “kings of peoples” — places royalty in the line of the ninety-year-old wife. Gill names the trajectory: “as David, Solomon, and others, and especially the King Messiah.” “Kings of peoples will descend from her” is faithful; the messianic horizon is what the phrase opens onto.

Where the English smooths the original

• וַיִּצְחָ֑ק וַיִּצְחָ֑ק (wayyiṣḥāq, “and he laughed,” root ṣāḥaq) is the seed of the name Isaac (Yiṣḥāq) — “a play upon the name ‘Isaac’ and its meaning of ‘laughter,’” as the Cambridge Bible puts it. Whether the laugh is doubt or joy is the great crux — Benson: “a laughter of delight, not of distrust”; the BSB simply says “he laughed,” leaving the heart unread.
• בְּלִבּ֗וֹ He laughed and spoke בְּלִבּ֗וֹ (bə-libbô, “in his heart”) — inwardly, not aloud. The Cambridge Bible builds an argument on it, noting that God’s reply (in v. 19) “is made to the utterance of Abraham’s heart” (Genesis 17:17) and not of his lips (Genesis 17:18). “To himself” is right; the contrast with v. 18’s spoken prayer is load-bearing.
• הַלְּבֶ֤ן Literally “shall it be born to the son of a hundred years” (הַלְּבֶ֤ן, the age-idiom ben mē’āh). The Pulpit Commentary keeps it: “literally, to the son of an hundred years old.” The BSB’s “to a man who is a hundred years old” unpacks the Hebrew way of stating age.

Where the English smooths the original

• ל֥וּ The prayer opens with ל֥וּ (lû), a particle of wistful wishing — “O that, if only.” It is not a request put plainly but a sigh of longing. Maclaren reads the temper sharply: “He is petulant, he resists his blessing, he fancies that his own plan is quite as good as the divine plan.” The BSB’s exclamatory “O that Ishmael might live” catches the form; the disputed heart behind it is the question.
• יִחְיֶ֥ה יִחְיֶ֥ה (yiḥyeh, “might live,” root ḥāyāh) means more than survival. Barnes: he asks “‘life’ for his beloved son — that is, a share in the divine favor… a life of holiness and communion with God.” “Might live under Your blessing” (BSB) supplies “blessing”; the Hebrew says only “live before You.”
• לְפָנֶֽיךָ לְפָנֶֽיךָ (lə-p̱āneḵā, “before Your face”) is covenant language — Poole links it to “walking before God” of v. 1, the opposite of being “hid from Your face” (Genesis 4:14). The BSB’s “under Your blessing” interprets the idiom; the Hebrew is spatial and relational — to live in God’s presence.

Where the English smooths the original

• אֲבָל֙ אֲבָל (’ăḇāl, “indeed, nay but”) stands first in the Hebrew, a flat contradiction of Abraham’s deflection toward Ishmael. Ellicott: “In the Hebrew this word comes first, and is intended to remove all doubt or desire for any other turn of affairs… ‘For a certainty Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son.’” The BSB’s “will indeed” is right; the word’s emphatic front position is the force.
• יֹלֶ֤דֶת יֹלֶ֤דֶת (yōleḏeṯ) is a present participle — “Sarah is bearing,” the future spoken as already in motion. The BSB’s “will indeed bear” turns the vivid participle into a plain future; the Hebrew sees it as good as done.
• יִצְחָ֑ק The named son, יִצְחָ֑ק (Yiṣḥāq, “he laughs”), seals the laugh of v. 17 into the covenant child. Poole: “Isaac signifies laughter, not from Sarah’s laughter, which as yet had not happened, but from Abraham’s past laughter.” The English keeps the name; only the Hebrew shows it is the laugh.

Where the English smooths the original

• שְׁמַעְתִּיךָ֒ שְׁמַעְתִיךָ֒ (šəma‘tîḵā, “I have heard you,” root šāma‘) answers the name Ishmael (God hears) with its own verb. Cambridge: “‘I have heard thee’ contains a reference to the meaning of the name ‘Ishmael’ = ‘God hears.’” The BSB keeps the verb; the name-play is buried for English readers.
• בִּמְאֹ֣ד The Hebrew doubles mə’ōḏ — בִּמְאֹ֣ד mə’ōḏ, literally “in muchness, muchness,” a superlative by repetition. The BSB’s single “greatly” renders both; the Hebrew piles the word on itself for sheer abundance.
• נְשִׂיאִם֙ נְשִׂיאִםי (nəśî’im, “princes / chieftains”) — twelve of them, matched against Israel’s twelve tribes. Gill: “twelve princes shall he beget; whose names are given, Genesis 25:13; and their number there exactly agrees with this prophecy.” The BSB’s “rulers” is fine; the deliberate twelve-against-twelve is the structure.

Where the English smooths the original

• וְאֶת־ The verse opens with an emphatic fronted object marker וְאֶת־ (wə-’eṯ, “but as for…”) throwing “My covenant” to the front against the Ishmael of v. 20. The BSB’s “But I will establish My covenant” catches the contrast; the Hebrew syntax slams the covenant down first, before the verb.
• לַמּוֹעֵ֣ד לַמּוֹעֵ֣ד (lam-mô‘ēḏ, “at the appointed time”) is a fixed, divinely-set mô‘ēḏ — the same word used for the festal “appointed times.” The BSB’s “at this time” renders it; the Hebrew specifies a set term. Gill: “the set time a woman goes with child,” i.e. nine months.
• הָאַחֶֽרֶת הָאַחֶֽרֶת (hā-’aḥereṯ, “the other/next”) marks the year to come. The covenant is not vaguely future but dated to a particular returning season. “Next year” is exact; the Hebrew’s pointedness underwrites the certainty.

Where the English smooths the original

• וַיְכַ֖ל וַיְכַ֖ל (way-ḵal, root kālāh, “to finish, complete”) closes the divine speech as a finished act — the same root used when God “finished” His work in Genesis 2:2. The BSB’s “When He had finished speaking” is exact; the verb marks a deliberate ending, not a trailing off.
• וַיַּ֣עַל וַיַּ֣עַל (way-ya‘al, “and He went up,” root ‘ālāh) describes God’s ascent from a visible encounter. Poole: “To heaven in a visible manner, as it seems he conversed with him in some visible shape.” Cambridge: it “means that God returned to His dwelling-place.” “Went up from him” is plain; the implied theophany is what the verb assumes.

Where the English smooths the original

• בְּעֶ֙צֶם֙ “On that very day” is literally בְּעֶ֙צֶם֙ (bə-‘eṣem hay-yôm), “in the bone of the day.” Ellicott: “Heb., In the bone of this day.” The idiom means the day’s very substance, its core — Abraham obeyed not eventually but in the day’s own marrow. The BSB’s “that very day” captures the sense, not the picture.
• וַיָּ֜מָל וַיָּ֜מָל (way-yāmāl, Qal of mûl) — “and he circumcised them,” Abraham himself the agent. Gill: “he began it himself, and circumcised several; and having taught some of his servants… they might assist him.” The BSB’s passive-leaning “he circumcised them” is right; the Hebrew underscores the patriarch’s own hand.
• כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר (ka-’ăšer dibber, “just as… had spoken”) closes the act with a clause of exact correspondence — obedience measured against the command word-for-word. Henry: “he did as God said unto him, and did not ask why or wherefore.” The English “just as God had told him” is faithful; the Hebrew makes the obedience a mirror of the word.

Where the English smooths the original

• בֶּן־ “Ninety-nine years old” is again the Hebrew age-idiom בֶּן־ tiš‘îm wā-ṯêša‘ šānāh, “a son of ninety years and nine.” The Pulpit Commentary keeps it: “literally, a son of ninety years and nine.” Age in Hebrew is sonship to a number of years.
• בְּהִמֹּל֖וֹ בְּהִמֹּל֖וֹ (bə-himmōlô) is a Niphal infinitive construct with suffix — “in his being circumcised,” a compressed temporal clause. The BSB unfolds it as “when he was circumcised.” The Hebrew folds the whole event into one infinitive.

Where the English smooths the original

• שְׁלֹ֥שׁ Thirteen is שְׁלֹ֥שׁ ‘eśrêh, “three [and] ten,” and Ishmael’s age is noted for a reason. Ellicott: “Hence the Mohammedans defer circumcision to the thirteenth year.” The number is data, not decoration: it founds an Ishmaelite custom.
• בְּהִ֨מֹּל֔וֹ The same Niphal infinitive בְּהִ֨מֹּל֔וֹ (“in his being circumcised”) used of Abraham in v. 24 now describes the son — father and son joined by one grammatical form, one day, one sign. The BSB’s clipped “was thirteen” drops the repeated circumcision-clause the Hebrew carries here.

Where the English smooths the original

• בְּעֶ֙צֶם֙ Once more “the selfsame day” is בְּעֶ֙צֶם֙ (bə-‘eṣem hay-yôm), “in the bone of this day.” Ellicott: “Heb., In the bone of this day, and so in Genesis 17:23.” The repeated idiom hammers the simultaneity — master and son under the knife in the day’s own substance.
• נִמּ֖וֹל נִמּ֖וֹל (nimmôl, Niphal perfect) — “was circumcised,” the deed now stated as accomplished fact. Gill: “This is repeated, that it might be taken notice of that both were circumcised according to the command of God, and on the very day in which it was given.” English reports it; the Hebrew solemnizes it by repetition.

Where the English smooths the original

• אַנְשֵׁ֤י אַנְשֵׁ֤י (’anšê, “the men of his house”) gathers the whole male household — Gill: “All the males, whether children or adult.” The BSB’s “all the men… both servants born… and those purchased” unfolds the categories the single construct phrase governs.
• נִמֹּ֖לוּ The unit closes on נִמֹּ֖לוּ (nimmōlû, Niphal perfect plural) — “they were circumcised with him.” The final word ’ittô (“with him”) binds the household to Abraham’s own obedience. Gill notes they came “by their will, and with their consent; not forced to it.” The English keeps “with him”; the Hebrew ends the whole covenant-of-circumcision pericope on that fellowship.