Genesis 17 · Verse 11

Genesis 17:11

And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
Genesis 17:11, King James Version

Genesis 17:11 in other translations

BSBYou are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
WEBYou shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you.
ASVAnd ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt me and you.
YLTand ye have circumcised the flesh of your foreskin, and it hath become a token of a covenant between Me and you.
DARBYAnd ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and that shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
BBEIn the flesh of your private parts you are to undergo it, as a mark of the agreement between me and you.
WebsterAnd ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.

What does Genesis 17:11 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 11 And it shall be a token - לאות leoth, for a sign of spiritual things; for the circumcision made in the flesh was designed to signify the purification of the heart from all unrighteousness, as God particularly showed in the law itself. See Deu 10:16; see also Rom 2:25-29;Col 2:11. And it was a seal of that righteousness or justification that comes by faith, Rom 4:11. That some of the Jews had a just notion of its spiritual intention, is plain from many passages in the Chaldee paraphrases and in the Jewish writers. I borrow one passage from the book Zohar, quoted by Ainsworth: "At what time a man is sealed with this holy seal, (of circumcision), thenceforth he seeth the holy blessed God properly, and the holy soul is united to him. If he be not worthy, and keepeth not this sign, what is written? By the breath of God they perish, (Job 4:9), because this seal of the holy blessed God was not kept. But if he be worthy, and keep it, the Holy Ghost is not separated from him."

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 17:7-14

The covenant of grace is from everlasting in the counsels of it, and to everlasting in the consequences of it. The token of the covenant was circumcision. It is here said to be the covenant which Abraham and his seed must keep. Those who will have the Lord to be to them a God, must resolve to be to him a people. Not only Abraham and Isaac, and his posterity by Isaac, were to be circumcised, but also Ishmael and the…

Read the full comment on Genesis 17:7-14 →

Genesis 17:11 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וּנְמַלְתֶּ֕םu.ne.mal.Temand you will be circumcisedH4135
אֵ֖ת'et<obj.>H853
בְּשַׂ֣רbe.Sar[the] flesh ofH1320
עָרְלַתְכֶ֑ם'a.re.lat.Khemforeskin yourH6190
וְהָיָה֙ve.ha.Yahand it will becomeH1961
לְא֣וֹתle.'ot<into> a sign ofH226
בְּרִ֔יתbe.Rit[the] covenantH1285
בֵּינִ֖יbei.Nibetween meH996
וּבֵינֵיכֶֽם\׃u.vei.nei.Khemand between youH996

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 17:11

  • Romans 4:11

    And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:

  • Acts 7:8

    And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.

  • Deuteronomy 10:16

    Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

  • Exodus 4:25

    Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.

  • Joshua 5:3

    And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.

  • 1 Samuel 18:25-27

    And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son in law: and the days were not expired. Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king’s son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.

  • 2 Samuel 3:14

    And David sent messengers to Ish–bosheth Saul’s son, saying, Deliver me my wife Michal, which I espoused to me for an hundred foreskins of the Philistines.

  • Exodus 12:48

    And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the flesh.
Ex 4:25; Jos 5:3; 1Sa 18:25-27; 2Sa 3:14
a token.
Ac 7:8; Ro 4:11

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 17:10

    This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

  • Genesis 17:11

    And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.

  • Genesis 17:12

    And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

Read all of Genesis 17

Genesis 17:11 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Circuncidaréis, pues, la carne de vuestro prepucio, y será por señal del pacto entre mí y vosotros.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et vous circoncirez la chair de votre prépuce, et ce sera un signe d’alliance entre moi et vous.
German
Elberfelder 1871		und ihr sollt das Fleisch eurer Vorhaut beschneiden. Und das soll das Zeichen des Bundes sein zwischen mir und euch.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		et circumcidetis carnem præputii vestri, ut sit in signum fœderis inter me et vos.