Bible Strands
Genesis 17:24
So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative records the fulfillment of God’s covenant command given to Abram in Genesis 17:1, noting the specific moment Abraham executed the rite after circumcising his household in Genesis 17:23.
The words — תִּשְׁעִ֥ים (tish.'Im) translates literally as ninety, and בְּ/הִמֹּל֖/וֹ (be./hi.mo.L/o) means when was circumcised he. These terms anchor the event to Abraham’s exact age and the physical act of removing the flesh of his foreskin.
The thread — The age marker connects to Genesis 17:1 where God first appears at ninety-nine, Genesis 12:4 where Abram departs at seventy-five, and Romans 4:11 where circumcision is identified as the seal of righteousness received by faith.
Why it lands — The text records a factual compliance to a divine command at a specific chronological point. It requires the reader to acknowledge that covenant obedience is tied to concrete action and historical reality, not abstract belief.
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 Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Cross-references
- Romans 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
- Genesis 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
- Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
- Genesis 17:17 Abraham 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?”
- Romans 4:19 Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb.