What Does Genesis 17:11 Mean in the King James?
And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The covenant’s mark is made by removal: its visible sign is the taking away of a covering from the flesh.
THE MEANING
Here, covenant is carried in the body: the mark is a bodily sign of the bond between God and the people addressed. The same Hebrew word family also names an unreceptive heart, ear, or lips, so the physical act opens an image of removing what keeps a person closed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the idea that covenant is only an invisible thought: here, the bond has a bodily sign.
THE ROOT
עָרְלָה
ʿārlāh
GROWS FROM
ערל
To be uncircumcised; עָרְלָה names the foreskin, the covering removed by circumcision.
“foreskin” in this verse is ʿārlāh. This same word family reaches beyond the flesh to lips, heart, and ear. The bodily sign therefore carries an image of removing what leaves a person unable to receive or respond.
ALSO GROWS
ʿaral sefatayim: uncircumcised lips
עֲרַל שְׂפָתָיִם
Exodus uses the same image for lips, extending the root from a bodily covering to difficulty speaking and being heard.
orlat levavchem: the foreskin of your heart
עָרְלַת לְבַבְכֶם
Deuteronomy applies the same word to the heart, making removal an image of clearing what closes it.
ʿarēlāh oznām: their ear is uncircumcised
עֲרֵלָה אָזְנָם
Jeremiah uses the root for an ear unable to receive, completing its movement from flesh to hearing.
THE PATTERN
Scripture carries circumcision from a visible mark in the flesh into an image of removing what closes the heart, ear, or lips.
And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.THE THREAD
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.Genesis uses עָרְלָה (ʿārlāh, “foreskin”) for the flesh; Deuteronomy uses the same root, ערל (ʿ-r-l, “uncircumcised; foreskin”), for the heart. The shared word lets the bodily sign disclose an image of removing what keeps the heart closed.
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