Genesis 17:1–14, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Genesis 17:1–14
God Renames Abraham and Gives Circumcision
After thirteen unreported years, God appears to Abram, calls him to live faithfully in God's presence, expands the covenant promises, and renames him Abraham because nations and kings will come from him. Abraham and every male in his household must bear circumcision as the covenant's bodily sign; the command includes native-born and purchased males, while the text leaves serious questions about household power, infant agency, women, and the exact penalty of being 'cut off.'
Why this sits here
The thirteen-year jump prevents Ishmael's birth from quietly settling the covenant question. God now defines the promise more fully, changes Abram's public identity, attaches an embodied sign to the household, and prepares the explicit announcement that Sarah will bear Isaac. Promise is not left as private hope: it creates a named people, an obligation, and a contested bodily boundary.
The speech joins divine promise and human obligation. God identifies himself, commands covenant loyalty, promises fruitfulness, nations, kings, land, and an enduring God-people relationship, then assigns circumcision as the sign borne in male flesh throughout Abraham's household. The scene establishes identity and belonging without explaining every later theological, ethical, or medical question readers may bring to the practice.
How the passage moves
God appears to ninety-nine-year-old Abram as El Shaddai and commands him to walk before God and be blameless (17:1).
God promises to establish or give the covenant and multiply Abram exceedingly; Abram falls on his face as God speaks (17:2–3).
God makes Abram father of many nations, changes his name to Abraham, promises fruitfulness and kings, and confirms an enduring covenant relationship with his descendants (17:4–7).
God gives the land of Abraham's sojournings, all Canaan, as an enduring possession and promises to be God to his descendants (17:8).
Abraham and his descendants must keep the covenant by circumcising every male; the flesh of the foreskin becomes the sign (17:9–11).
The command applies on the eighth day and reaches both household-born and purchased males, so the sign crosses biological descent while operating through patriarchal household power (17:12–13).
The uncircumcised male is threatened with being cut off for breaking the covenant; exclusion is clear, but the precise agent and form of the penalty remain disputed (17:14).
Why this reading fits
Evidence 1
Abram's ages create a thirteen-year narrative gap between Ishmael's birth and this appearance. Genesis reports no events in that interval and does not permit a confident reconstruction of Abram's spiritual state during it.
Evidence 2
El Shaddai is traditionally rendered 'God Almighty.' Its exact etymology is uncertain; proposals connect it with mountain, breast or fertility, destruction, field, or sufficiency. In Genesis the title accompanies sovereign blessing, life, protection, and fruitfulness, so the title's narrative force is clearer than its derivation.
Evidence 3
'Walk before me' concerns living one's life in God's presence, and tamim means whole, blameless, or complete. The command calls for faithful integrity; it does not announce that Abraham has become sinless or incapable of later failure.
Evidence 4
Genesis 17 does not introduce covenant as if Genesis 15 never happened. It renews, confirms, and expands the relationship, now joining the promises to Abraham's obligation and a permanent household sign.
Evidence 5
Abram's prostration signals reverence and humility. The passage does not describe fainting, terror, a medical event, or the mechanics of the posture with enough precision to insist on one physical reconstruction.
Evidence 6
Abraham is linked by sound and narrative wordplay with 'father of a multitude.' The exact historical derivation of the personal name is not fully explained by the word hamon, so the story's theological interpretation of the name should not be confused with a complete linguistic etymology.
Evidence 7
Nations and kings coming from Abraham extend the promise beyond one child. The wording does not make every ruler righteous, promise personal political power to each believer, or authorize monarchy as the only faithful government.
Evidence 8
'Everlasting' translates olam, a term for enduring or age-long continuity whose scope must be read in literary and canonical context. Genesis presents the covenant, God-people relationship, land promise, and fleshly sign as enduring; later Jewish and Christian readings disagree about how those claims relate to changing covenant administration and Gentile inclusion.
Evidence 9
The land is called the land of Abraham's sojournings because he lives there as a resident alien. The promise does not function as a modern deed to any private claimant, erase the moral accountability associated with land in the wider Torah, or authorize violence against present peoples.
Evidence 10
Circumcision was practiced outside Israel and was not invented physically in Genesis 17. This text gives the practice a distinctive covenant meaning, requires it on the eighth day for future male infants, and extends it through Abraham's household.
Evidence 11
Verse 11 calls circumcision a sign of the covenant, while verses 10 and 13 can use 'covenant' for the required sign itself. The bodily mark does not replace God's promises or automatically guarantee faithful conduct.
Evidence 12
Household-born and purchased males are included even when they are not Abraham's biological descendants. This broadens who bears the sign, but it also exposes ancient slavery and patriarchal control: enslaved men and infants are commanded into the practice without consent being narrated.
Evidence 13
The male-body sign does not state that women are outside the covenant; Genesis immediately gives Sarah a new name and covenantal promises in verses 15–16. Still, the chosen sign and household command are male-centered, and that ancient asymmetry should be acknowledged rather than hidden.
Evidence 14
'Cut off from his people' at minimum describes severe exclusion, but whether it means communal expulsion, premature death, divine punishment, or another sanction is disputed. The wording does not identify a human execution procedure, and the infant command raises responsibility questions the verse does not fully resolve.
A phrase that matters
Circumcise
מוּל · mul
Genesis identifies this concrete bodily act—not a hidden metaphor—as the household covenant sign.
Sign
אוֹת · ot
Circumcision points to the covenant and must not be confused with the whole covenant relationship.
Cut off
כָּרַת · karat
The word makes refusal serious without specifying a modern enforcement procedure.
A needed correction
Reading Genesis 17:1–14 as a complete section rules out these interpretations:
Genesis 17:1 does not teach that 'blameless' means Abraham becomes sinless or incapable of future failure.
The name Abraham does not provide a code for numerology, personal rebranding, or guaranteed fame.
The promises of fruitfulness, nations, and kings do not guarantee wealth, political office, or biological children to every individual believer.
The land promise does not function as an unrestricted modern private deed or a command for any reader to seize land violently.
Circumcision does not automatically make every bearer faithful, righteous, or exempt from judgment.
The inclusion of purchased males does not teach that slavery is morally ideal or authorize modern ownership and coercion of human beings.
The command concerning male foreskins does not authorize female genital cutting, which this passage never mentions.
Genesis 17 is not medical advice and does not settle modern clinical debates about benefits, risks, consent, anesthesia, law, or professional standards.
The threatened cutting off in verse 14 does not provide a clear human execution procedure or permission for modern religious violence.
What remains true
God's gracious promises call for faithful, whole-life response and form a people whose identity reaches across generations. Visible signs and communal practices matter, but they do not replace inward faithfulness or excuse misuse of power. Readers must honor the passage's concrete Jewish covenant sign, acknowledge the bodies and unequal agency involved, and resist turning ancient land, household, or penalty language into modern coercion.
How this should shape us
How should this shape us?
Live with integrity before God rather than treating religious identity as a label detached from conduct.
How should this shape us?
Treat embodied religious practices with seriousness and humility: distinguish what a text commands in its covenant setting from what can be imposed on other people today.
How should this shape us?
Do not use divine promises, family authority, or inherited tradition to hide the agency and safety of infants, enslaved people, women, or anyone with less power; modern decisions involving bodies require appropriate legal and medical care.
How should this shape us?
Reject anti-Jewish readings that mock circumcision, and reject Christian readings that make Gentile freedom from the sign a license to erase Jewish covenant identity.
Teach it back
Explain how Genesis 17:1–14 moves from God's promises to Abraham's obligation. Include the name change, nations and kings, land and God-people relationship, circumcision as sign, household scope, the uncertainty around 'cut off,' and at least two conclusions the passage does not authorize today.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Read it sentence by sentenceEach line inside the larger movement
Evidence 1
Abram's ages create a thirteen-year narrative gap between Ishmael's birth and this appearance. Genesis reports no events in that interval and does not permit a confident reconstruction of Abram's spiritual state during it.
Evidence 2
El Shaddai is traditionally rendered 'God Almighty.' Its exact etymology is uncertain; proposals connect it with mountain, breast or fertility, destruction, field, or sufficiency. In Genesis the title accompanies sovereign blessing, life, protection, and fruitfulness, so the title's narrative force is clearer than its derivation.
Evidence 3
'Walk before me' concerns living one's life in God's presence, and tamim means whole, blameless, or complete. The command calls for faithful integrity; it does not announce that Abraham has become sinless or incapable of later failure.
Evidence 4
Genesis 17 does not introduce covenant as if Genesis 15 never happened. It renews, confirms, and expands the relationship, now joining the promises to Abraham's obligation and a permanent household sign.
Evidence 5
Abram's prostration signals reverence and humility. The passage does not describe fainting, terror, a medical event, or the mechanics of the posture with enough precision to insist on one physical reconstruction.
Evidence 6
Abraham is linked by sound and narrative wordplay with 'father of a multitude.' The exact historical derivation of the personal name is not fully explained by the word hamon, so the story's theological interpretation of the name should not be confused with a complete linguistic etymology.
Evidence 7
Nations and kings coming from Abraham extend the promise beyond one child. The wording does not make every ruler righteous, promise personal political power to each believer, or authorize monarchy as the only faithful government.
Evidence 8
'Everlasting' translates olam, a term for enduring or age-long continuity whose scope must be read in literary and canonical context. Genesis presents the covenant, God-people relationship, land promise, and fleshly sign as enduring; later Jewish and Christian readings disagree about how those claims relate to changing covenant administration and Gentile inclusion.
Evidence 9
The land is called the land of Abraham's sojournings because he lives there as a resident alien. The promise does not function as a modern deed to any private claimant, erase the moral accountability associated with land in the wider Torah, or authorize violence against present peoples.
Evidence 10
Circumcision was practiced outside Israel and was not invented physically in Genesis 17. This text gives the practice a distinctive covenant meaning, requires it on the eighth day for future male infants, and extends it through Abraham's household.
Evidence 11
Verse 11 calls circumcision a sign of the covenant, while verses 10 and 13 can use 'covenant' for the required sign itself. The bodily mark does not replace God's promises or automatically guarantee faithful conduct.
Evidence 12
Household-born and purchased males are included even when they are not Abraham's biological descendants. This broadens who bears the sign, but it also exposes ancient slavery and patriarchal control: enslaved men and infants are commanded into the practice without consent being narrated.
Evidence 13
The male-body sign does not state that women are outside the covenant; Genesis immediately gives Sarah a new name and covenantal promises in verses 15–16. Still, the chosen sign and household command are male-centered, and that ancient asymmetry should be acknowledged rather than hidden.
Evidence 14
'Cut off from his people' at minimum describes severe exclusion, but whether it means communal expulsion, premature death, divine punishment, or another sanction is disputed. The wording does not identify a human execution procedure, and the infant command raises responsibility questions the verse does not fully resolve.
Original-language wording and grammarTechnical detail appears only where it helps
El Shaddai
The traditional 'God Almighty'; the ancient name's exact derivation is disputed.
How certain? probableBlameless / whole
Whole, complete, sound, or blameless in faithful conduct.
How certain? strongCovenant
A binding relationship, promise, obligation, or—in this context—the sign that marks it.
How certain? strongAbraham / multitude
Abraham is explained through wordplay as father of a multitude.
How certain? strongEverlasting
Enduring, perpetual, or age-long.
How certain? probableCircumcise
Remove the flesh of the male foreskin.
How certain? strongSign
A visible mark, token, or sign.
How certain? strongCut off
Cut off or remove from a people; the precise sanction is disputed.
How certain? probableWhat the first readers would have understoodRelevant history and culture
What the first readers would have understood
Male circumcision was known in Egypt and elsewhere in the ancient Near East before and beyond Israel. Genesis does not claim to invent the physical practice; it assigns covenant meaning, household scope, and eighth-day timing.
How certain? strongWhat the first readers would have understood
Many non-Israelite practices appear to have marked puberty or adult status. The eighth-day command for future descendants distinguishes Israel's covenantal use from an adult initiation model.
How certain? probableWhat the first readers would have understood
Later Jewish interpreters supplied meanings—purification, bodily completion, restraint of desire, and identity—that Genesis 17 itself does not state. Those receptions are historically important but should not be read back as the passage's explicit explanation for choosing the foreskin.
How certain? very strongWhy translations sometimes differMaterial translation choices
Why translations sometimes differ
KJV 'Almighty' gives the traditional force of El Shaddai, but the title's exact origin remains uncertain.
How certain? probableWhy translations sometimes differ
KJV 'be thou perfect' means live with wholeness or blameless integrity; it does not command instant sinless perfection.
How certain? very strongWhy translations sometimes differ
KJV 'everlasting' represents olam, whose enduring force is clear even though its precise temporal and canonical scope must be interpreted.
How certain? probableWhy translations sometimes differ
KJV 'stranger' in verse 12 refers to a non-descendant or outsider within the household, not a casual visitor.
How certain? strongWhy translations sometimes differ
KJV 'bought with money' names purchased human beings in an enslaving household system; it should not be softened into ordinary employment.
How certain? very strongWhy translations sometimes differ
KJV 'cut off from his people' expresses grave removal or punishment, but the text does not settle whether the mechanism is communal exclusion, death, or direct divine action.
How certain? probableEarlier Scripture and inherited backgroundSupported quotations, allusions, and inherited ideas
Earlier Scripture and inherited background
Genesis 17:15–27 gives Sarah a new name and promise, blesses Ishmael, identifies Isaac's covenant line, and reports immediate circumcision of Abraham's household. Verses 1–14 should not be made to answer those later distinctions before the chapter does.
How certain? very strongEarlier Scripture and inherited background
Deuteronomy and Jeremiah use circumcision of the heart as a metaphor for inward covenant responsiveness. Those texts criticize reliance on an outward mark without faithful life; they do not say the physical Jewish sign was meaningless.
How certain? very strongEarlier Scripture and inherited background
Genesis 34 narrates the deceitful weaponization of circumcision against Shechem's city. That later abuse does not define Genesis 17's sign, but it proves covenant language can be manipulated for violence.
How certain? very strongHow this connects with the rest of ScriptureThe passage's own meaning remains primary
How this connects with the rest of Scripture
The Torah later includes physical circumcision in Israel's communal life while also requiring heart-level loyalty. Outward belonging and inward faithfulness cannot simply be collapsed into one another.
How certain? very strongHow this connects with the rest of Scripture
Acts 15, Romans, and Galatians reject requiring Gentile believers in Christ to receive circumcision as the basis of inclusion or justification. That Christian conclusion must not become contempt for Jewish circumcision or a claim that Genesis never meant the physical sign it names.
How certain? very strongHow this connects with the rest of Scripture
Paul's Abraham arguments distinguish promise, faith, law, and Gentile inclusion in specific disputes. Later canonical use develops Genesis but does not authorize readers to erase Abraham's descendants, Sarah, Jewish covenant identity, or the passage's original bodily command.
How certain? strongTextual variantsManuscript differences only when they affect meaning
Textual variants
The Masoretic Text underlying the KJV does not repeat 'on the eighth day' in verse 14. The Septuagint, Samaritan Pentateuch, and Jubilees preserve wording that does. Matthew Thiessen argues that the longer reading is earlier and affects how Ishmael's later circumcision relates to covenant descent; this remains a specialist text-critical proposal, not an uncontested correction to every modern Bible.
How certain? probableWhere careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Best judgment:
How certain? probableBest judgment:
How certain? probableBest judgment:
How certain? probableBest judgment:
How certain? probableTheology that emerges from this passageConclusions drawn after reading the complete section
Theological contribution
God's covenant promise creates a people and calls for an embodied, continuing response rather than remaining an abstract idea.
How certain? very strongTheological contribution
God's purpose embraces nations and future generations while attaching responsibility to Abraham and his household.
How certain? very strongTheological contribution
A covenant sign can mark real belonging without replacing trust, justice, obedience, or the God who gives the covenant.
How certain? strongCommon ways this passage gets misusedFair explanation, context check, and stronger reading
Genesis 17:1 does not require or promise immediate sinless perfection.
Genesis 17:5–6 does not guarantee personal fame, wealth, political rule, or biological descendants to every reader.
Genesis 17:8 does not authorize private land seizure, ethnic supremacy, or violence without moral accountability.
Genesis 17:10–13 does not teach that enslavement is good merely because enslaved males are included in the household sign.
Genesis 17 does not authorize female genital cutting or settle modern medical and legal questions about circumcision.
Genesis 17:14 does not state with certainty that a human court must execute an uncircumcised person.
Christian interpretation does not need to demean Jewish circumcision in order to explain why Gentile believers are not required to receive it.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Displayed wording, passage sequence, covenant promises, circumcision command, sanction, and canonical connections.
Genesis 17:1–14 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 15–18; 21; 34; Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4; Acts 15; Romans 4; Galatians 3–5
Supports: El Shaddai, walk, tamim, covenant verbs, Abraham-hamon wordplay, olam, sojournings, circumcision, sign, household categories, and cut-off wording.
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 17:1–14
Supports: El Shaddai proposals, walk and blameless syntax, covenant senses, prostration, Abraham wordplay, emphatic multiplication, sojournings, eighth-day idiom, covenant-sign metonymy, and cut-off uncertainty.
NET Bible, Genesis 17 and translator notes 1–35
Supports: Final-form placement, covenant renewal, promise development, Sarah and Isaac transition, and canonical storyline.
Genesis commentary, Abraham narrative discussion of Genesis 15–18
Supports: Genesis 15–17 relationship, land and offspring promises, circumcision's ancient context, infant timing, covenant obligation, and final-form narrative tension.
Open Yale Courses RLST 145, Lecture 6, Chapter 3 'The Covenant between God and Abraham'
Supports: Literary placement and commentary navigation only.
Genesis, official Cambridge contents and introduction; commentary locator for Genesis 17
Supports: Specialist Genesis 17 circumcision study, verse 14 textual argument, eighth-day timing, Ishmael, covenant descent, and the distinction between sign and genealogical covenant membership.
Contesting Conversion, chapter 1, 'Ishmael, Isaac, and Covenantal Circumcision in Genesis 17,' pp. 17–42; official Oxford abstract and metadata
Supports: Modern Jewish study of tamim, Genesis's silence about the sign's symbolism, and later Jewish reception treating the foreskin as defect or bodily incompleteness.
TheTorah.com, 'Circumcision: Is the Foreskin a Defect?', especially 'Walk Before Me and Be Tamim' and 'Opacity and Apologetics'
Supports: Ancient Near Eastern non-uniqueness, covenant-sign distinctiveness, Genesis's unexplained symbolism, later Jewish and Christian reception, and physical versus metaphorical circumcision.
TheTorah.com, 'Circumcision as Purification,' sections 'Israel's Relationship with God,' 'Foreskin and Purification,' and 'Spiritual Impurity vs. Ritual Impurity'
Supports: Abram meaning, Abraham-hamon wordplay, nations, and one Persian-period intertextual proposal presented as reconstruction rather than consensus.
TheTorah.com, 'Abraham's Migration and Name Change,' sections 'The Meaning of Abram' and 'Change to Abraham'
Supports: Jewish feminist attention to male bodies, male lineage, women's covenant participation, El Shaddai proposals, and the passage's patriarchal social structure.
The Torah: A Women's Commentary, Genesis 17:1–14, 'Covenant and Implications of Circumcision'
Supports: Modern Jewish covenant reading, contrast between rainbow and circumcision, household obligation, eighth-day timing, ancient circumcision context, and women's relationship to a male covenant sign.
ReformJudaism.org, 'The Making of a Covenant with Men and Women,' published October 21, 2016
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Displayed wording, passage sequence, covenant promises, circumcision command, sanction, and canonical connections.
Exact location: Genesis 17:1–14 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 15–18; 21; 34; Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4; Acts 15; Romans 4; Galatians 3–5
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: El Shaddai, walk, tamim, covenant verbs, Abraham-hamon wordplay, olam, sojournings, circumcision, sign, household categories, and cut-off wording.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 17:1–14
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: El Shaddai proposals, walk and blameless syntax, covenant senses, prostration, Abraham wordplay, emphatic multiplication, sojournings, eighth-day idiom, covenant-sign metonymy, and cut-off uncertainty.
Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 17 and translator notes 1–35
Open NET Genesis 17 ↗modern open whole book commentary
Genesis
T. Desmond Alexander
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023
Supports: Final-form placement, covenant renewal, promise development, Sarah and Isaac transition, and canonical storyline.
Exact location: Genesis commentary, Abraham narrative discussion of Genesis 15–18
Open source ↗modern critical open study guide
Genesis 16 and 22: Abraham and Isaac — Study Guide
Joel S. Baden and Yale Bible Study
Yale Divinity School, 2021 course; page inspected 2026
Supports: Genesis 15–17 relationship, land and offspring promises, circumcision's ancient context, infant timing, covenant obligation, and final-form narrative tension.
Exact location: Open Yale Courses RLST 145, Lecture 6, Chapter 3 'The Covenant between God and Abraham'
Open source ↗modern scholarly commentary publisher material
Genesis
Bill T. Arnold
Cambridge University Press, 2009
Supports: Literary placement and commentary navigation only.
Exact location: Genesis, official Cambridge contents and introduction; commentary locator for Genesis 17
Open source ↗peer reviewed specialist text critical and covenant study
Ishmael, Isaac, and Covenantal Circumcision in Genesis 17
Matthew Thiessen
Oxford University Press, in Contesting Conversion: Genealogy, Circumcision, and Identity in Ancient Judaism and Christianity, 2011
Supports: Specialist Genesis 17 circumcision study, verse 14 textual argument, eighth-day timing, Ishmael, covenant descent, and the distinction between sign and genealogical covenant membership.
Exact location: Contesting Conversion, chapter 1, 'Ishmael, Isaac, and Covenantal Circumcision in Genesis 17,' pp. 17–42; official Oxford abstract and metadata
Open source ↗current Jewish biblical and reception history study
Circumcision: Is the Foreskin a Defect?
David Bernat
TheTorah.com, 2017
Supports: Modern Jewish study of tamim, Genesis's silence about the sign's symbolism, and later Jewish reception treating the foreskin as defect or bodily incompleteness.
Exact location: TheTorah.com, 'Circumcision: Is the Foreskin a Defect?', especially 'Walk Before Me and Be Tamim' and 'Opacity and Apologetics'
Open source ↗current Jewish ancient practice and reception history study
Circumcision as Purification
David Bernat
TheTorah.com, 2015
Supports: Ancient Near Eastern non-uniqueness, covenant-sign distinctiveness, Genesis's unexplained symbolism, later Jewish and Christian reception, and physical versus metaphorical circumcision.
Exact location: TheTorah.com, 'Circumcision as Purification,' sections 'Israel's Relationship with God,' 'Foreskin and Purification,' and 'Spiritual Impurity vs. Ritual Impurity'
Open source ↗current Jewish literary intertextual and compositional study
Abraham's Migration and Name Change: A Story for the Babylonian Exiles
Hyun Chul Paul Kim
TheTorah.com, 2022
Supports: Abram meaning, Abraham-hamon wordplay, nations, and one Persian-period intertextual proposal presented as reconstruction rather than consensus.
Exact location: TheTorah.com, 'Abraham's Migration and Name Change,' sections 'The Meaning of Abram' and 'Change to Abraham'
Open source ↗modern Jewish feminist commentary and text study
The Torah: A Women's Commentary — Genesis 17: Covenant and Circumcision
Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Andrea L. Weiss, editors
URJ Press / Sefaria electronic edition, 2008
Supports: Jewish feminist attention to male bodies, male lineage, women's covenant participation, El Shaddai proposals, and the passage's patriarchal social structure.
Exact location: The Torah: A Women's Commentary, Genesis 17:1–14, 'Covenant and Implications of Circumcision'
Open source ↗modern Reform Jewish covenant and gender commentary
The Making of a Covenant with Men and Women
Ellen M. Umansky and Bruce Kadden
Union for Reform Judaism, 2016
Supports: Modern Jewish covenant reading, contrast between rainbow and circumcision, household obligation, eighth-day timing, ancient circumcision context, and women's relationship to a male covenant sign.
Exact location: ReformJudaism.org, 'The Making of a Covenant with Men and Women,' published October 21, 2016
Open source ↗