Bible Strands
Leviticus 12:3
And on the eighth day the flesh of the boy’s foreskin is to be circumcised.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God commands Moses to instruct the Israelites regarding a woman who has given birth to a son, establishing the ritual timeline for the infant.
The words — הַשְּׁמִינִי (ha-she-mi-ni) specifies the exact eighth day, and עָרְלָתוֹ (a-re-la-to) literally names the boy’s own foreskin.
The thread — The eight-day marker appears in Luke 2:21 when the period passes for Jesus’ naming, and in Luke 1:59 when John is circumcised. John 7:22 records the broader practice of performing circumcision on the Sabbath.
Why it lands — The text establishes a fixed chronological boundary for a physical ritual before outlining the mother’s subsequent purification period.
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 in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
Cross-references
- Luke 2:21 When the eight days before His circumcision had passed, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He was conceived.
- Luke 1:59 On the eighth day, when they came to circumcise the child, they were going to name him after his father Zechariah.
- John 7:22 But because Moses gave you circumcision, you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath (not that it is from Moses, but from the patriarchs.)
- Genesis 17:11 You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
- Philippians 3:5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;
- Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- 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.
- Galatians 3:17 What I mean is this: The law that came 430 years later does not revoke the covenant previously established by God, so as to nullify the promise.
- Galatians 5:3 Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
- Colossians 2:11 In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.