Bible Strands
Genesis 17:14
But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Abraham, instituting circumcision as the mandatory physical sign for every male in his household to mark the everlasting covenant.
The words — The Hebrew עָרֵל ('are) and יִמּוֹל (yimol) describe the uncircumcised condition and the future act of circumcision, specifically targeting the flesh of the foreskin.
The thread — The penalty of being cut off from the people appears in Numbers 15:30 for defiant blasphemy and in Exodus 12:19 for eating leavened food during the prescribed feast.
Why it lands — The text establishes physical compliance as the non-negotiable boundary of covenant membership, stating directly that omission of the rite constitutes a breach that results in communal exclusion.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
Cross-references
- Exodus 4:24 Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.
- Exodus 12:19 For seven days there must be no leaven found in your houses. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a foreigner or native of the land, must be cut off from the congregation of Israel.
- Numbers 15:30 But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That person shall be cut off from among his people.
- Exodus 12:15 For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.
- Exodus 30:33 Anyone who mixes perfume like it or puts it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’”
- Exodus 30:38 Anyone who makes something like it to enjoy its fragrance shall be cut off from his people.”
- Leviticus 7:20 But if anyone who is unclean eats meat from the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, that person must be cut off from his people.
- Leviticus 7:25 If anyone eats the fat of an animal from which a food offering may be presented to the LORD, the one who eats it must be cut off from his people.
- Leviticus 7:27 If anyone eats blood, that person must be cut off from his people.’”
- Leviticus 18:29 Therefore anyone who commits any of these abominations must be cut off from among his people.