The Covenant of Circumcision

God commands Abraham and his descendants to keep the covenant through circumcision, a sign carried in the flesh of every male in the household. The command reaches sons and servants alike, and neglecting it means being cut off from the people.

G⁹od also said to Abraham, “You must keep My covenant— you and your descendants in the generations after you. ¹⁰This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised. ¹¹You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹²Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner — even those who are not your offspring. ¹³Whether they are born in your household or purchased, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh will be an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

God renames Sarai as Sarah and promises a son through her, though Abraham laughs at their age and pleads for Ishmael. God answers by blessing Ishmael but reserving the covenant for Isaac, whom Sarah will bear the next year.

¹⁵Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah. ¹⁶And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.” ¹⁷Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?” ¹⁸And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!” ¹⁹But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. ²⁰As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. ²¹But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.” ²²When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

On that same day Abraham circumcises Ishmael and every male in his household, exactly as God commanded. The closing verses mark Abraham's and Ishmael's ages and stress that the whole household shares the act.

²³On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money— every male among the members of Abraham’s household— and he circumcised them, just as God had told him. ²⁴So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, ²⁵and his son Ishmael was thirteen; ²⁶Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day. ²⁷And all the men of Abraham’s household— both servants born in his household and those purchased from foreigners— were circumcised with him.