What Does Genesis 21:4 Mean in the King James?
And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.
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 reaches Isaac as a bodily sign on the eighth day, before he can choose it or earn it.
THE MEANING
Abraham gives the command a bodily form: Isaac receives the mark on the eighth day. His name carries laughter, while the act marks him as part of the covenant before he can speak or choose for himself.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Belonging does not begin with a child’s ability to understand, choose, or prove himself; here, the sign comes first.
THE ROOT
וַיָּמָל
vayamal
GROWS FROM
מוּל
To circumcise; to remove the foreskin.
“circumcised” in this verse is vayamal. The Hebrew verb keeps the physical act in view: Isaac receives a bodily sign, not merely a name or label. Its timing places that sign before his own understanding or choice.
ALSO GROWS
milah: Circumcision.
מִילָה
This noun names the bodily act that the verse says Abraham performs.
nimol: Be circumcised.
נִמּוֹל
This form shows the same root from the recipient’s side: Isaac is the one who receives the mark.
יִצְחָק
Yitsḥaq
GROWS FROM
צחק
To laugh.
Isaac’s name carries laughter into the verse. The child marked by the covenant is also the one whose name holds laughter, binding promise and embodied belonging in one figure.
ALSO GROWS
tsachaq: To laugh.
צָחַק
This verb carries the action held in Isaac’s name.
tsechoq: Laughter.
צְחוֹק
This noun makes explicit the laughter that Isaac’s name preserves.
THE PATTERN
Covenant belonging is made visible through a bodily sign received before a child can choose it.
And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.THE THREAD
And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.Both verses use מוּל (mul, “circumcise”) for the bodily act. Genesis 17:11 names it as a covenant token; Genesis 21:4 shows that token placed on Isaac.
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