Genesis 17: Covenant of Circumcision

Genesis 17 deals with the Covenant of circumcision. This chapter plays quite a pivotal role in the Abraham narratives. For in this chapter, our central character, Abraham, becomes Abraham. His name is changed, as will Sarah's name be changed to Sarah. Furthermore, it's a chapter, of course, which, um, has the commandment of circumcision. It's the only example where, in the Abraham narrative, we find a commandment that remains for generations. So, from these two points, we have a special chapter that, like we said, plays a pivotal role in the larger Abraham narrative.

But the issue of a chapter dealing with a covenant immediately raises a surprise in the sight of the reader, for we just recently read about a covenant between God and Abraham, and that was in chapter 15. Let's remind ourselves with the screen we'll share. We saw in chapter 15 the Covenant of the Pieces, and how did that chapter end? "On that day, the Lord cut a covenant with Abraham and said, 'To your descendants I give this land.'" There was a covenant already made, and this covenant included the promise of the land and included, uh, in the beginning of that chapter, promise of many offspring. These, these two components are central also to the Covenant of Circumcision, where we will see also a promise of offspring, many offspring, and also a mention of the promise of the land.

So, the obvious question that arises right from the beginning is, why do we have another covenant? Why are there two covenants between God and Abraham? And you can imagine that biblical criticism already had quite a bit to say on this question. But before dealing, uh, with the question of the relationship between chapter 17, the Covenant of Circumcision, with chapter 15, the Covenant of the Pieces, first, we'll focus on our chapter, chapter 17, and understand it in of itself, and then, uh, move forward to the question of its relationship with the previous covenant.

So, on an overview of chapter 17, we're talking about a chapter that, um, basically revolves around speeches by God. Quite a few speeches, broken up into different, uh, uh, sections where God communicates, um, to Abraham the covenant, um, with short, with short responses on the part of Abraham. And, um, as has been shown by commentators, there's a nice chastic structure, a nice overview structure to the whole chapter, where we have the opening, God revealing himself, and, and Abraham responding. And then we have the promise of, um, fertility, um, to Abraham. The next step, uh, we have a change of name, which once again, um, involves the promise of, uh, the covenant and offspring. And we have a response by Abraham. And then we move on to, um, another, uh, speech by God, as we, as we will see, after the name change, which is the focus of the chapter, and that is the commandment revolving circumcision. Then we have another speech, this time the change of S, Sarah's name, Sarah, and the promise of her having offspring who will be kings, just like the offspring of Abraham shall be kings. And then finally, we have a, uh, closing speech, uh, which promises, uh, for fertility and the covenant to the son who will be born from Sarai. So we see like an, a chastic structure with the closure compared to the opening, and the speeches of promise of fertility and, and, and offspring who will be kings, and the reactions of Abraham in both instances, with a focus in the middle on the actual commandment relating to circumcision. Um, so we'll start our reading. We'll point out different interesting, uh, issues that arise in our analysis of the text, and then move forward in trying to understand the relationship of this covenant to the previous one.

So we begin. "When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him." First of all, the mention of the age, which is not unique, but is, uh, is very important apparently in this chapter because it appears both in the opening verse and also in the closing verses of the chapter when Abraham actually performs the circumcision. Once again, he was 99 years old. So we have to understand why the mention of this age, why is it so important to be mentioned twice in the chapter? And the number itself, you know, is, is somewhat surprising because, uh, we're obviously at an important, um, stage here. So we might have expected a rounder number. We're just off by a year. Why not, um, is there any significance to the 99 years old? So we'll leave that for the time being hanging.

But the Lord appeared to him. This, the revelation, just like in chapter 15, there was in a vision. Here the Lord appears to him, and here we have also the, uh, the appearance of God with a new name. And said, "I am El Shai. Walk before me faithfully and be blameless." So God appears with a new name, which is very interesting. And the name itself, um, has been contemplated by scholars. El Shai, is Shai part of the actual name, or is it a description of God? Whichever option we take, um, there have been different explanations to the actual word Shai. What does it mean? El Shai, um, where it seems likely that that this name reflects God's power of giving. He provides all that is necessary. Some even connected it to the word Shad, breast, like God who provides life to all. So we have a new name, uh, here for God, and this is interesting because with a new name for Abraham, both sides of the covenant are represented with a new name. And it's very important, of course, when we have a covenant that the, uh, participants are introduced by name, so we know exactly between whom the covenant is being made.

So God appears with his new name, El Shai, and he also commands, he commands Abraham, "Walk before me faithfully and be blameless." In the Hebrew, "walk before me blameless" or "complete." Two components to this command. First, the command to walk. Of course, the motif of walking is quite central to the whole Abraham narrative. It begins, of course, with the command of "go," the command of God to depart from Ur of the Chaldeans and go to the land that I will show you, and Abraham walks. He was also commanded later to walk in the, um, story of the Binding of Isaac. And here we see the general commandment, "Walk before me." What does that mean to walk before God? It's also a term we found with regard to Noah. Noah, Noah was described as a righteous person, right, to walk before God, right? So walking before God seems to imply faithfulness to God, commitment to God, right, on the religious aspect, the connection to the Lord. And in addition, Abraham is commanded, "and be blameless" or "complete" (tamim). Um, the issue of "be," here translated "blamelessness," um, is usually connected, as we see in the Book of Psalms, for example, with righteousness, being, being upright, being righteous. And if that's the case, then we have a two-sided command: walk before me, in other words, um, be committed and faithful to God, and also be upright and righteous, the moral component. So we have here a combination of a religious and moral component, which encapsulate, I think, the essence of, um, the whole mission of Abraham, right, to walk in the ways of God and to be upright and moral simultaneously.

Following this command, where God initiates and reveals himself before, uh, Abraham, and commands him, he continues in verse two, "Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers." So here we have, um, the promise of many offspring. This is the first, um, speech of God, initiated by God with a new name and a command to, uh, Abraham. Abraham responds. "Abraham fell face down." And God said to him, "And now we begin the second speech. As for me, this is my covenant with you. You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abraham, your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. To be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you, and I will be their God."

So here is the second long speech, which involves, for starters, a change of name. Right after Abraham fell face down, God once again mentions the covenant, um, and that involves also the change of name. "You will be a father of many nations," which involves the promise of fruitfulness, and then therefore, you will no longer be called Abram, but Abraham. So let's try to understand the significance of a name change, specifically here. In Hebrew, we have the addition of one letter, the letter Heh, 'h', represented here by the 'H' instead of Abraham, Abram. And there is clearly a wordplay in the Hebrew. Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. You can't pick it up in the English, but the Hebrew translates, "ofon," that also the word "hamon," many, begins with that Heh, the 'H', "hamon." So you will no longer be Abram, one who is, uh, high up, but rather a father of many "hamonim," many nations. This may just be a wordplay on the name, but the actual significance of an additional letter. Some have proposed why specifically this letter, um, beyond the explanation of the name. Um, the letter Heh is of course central to the name of God. So it may also reflect the closeness of Abraham now with his God, um, in coming into a covenantal relationship with God. But the essence of a name change obviously involves a new beginning. A person is given a name when he's born, right? So new start. Change of name here may imply a new start, and might involve also a, a disconnecting from his previous history, from where he came from, and starting a new as Abraham in this covenantal relationship. Even though his name is not totally changed, but just added, uh, a letter, um, this letter may imply a dramatic change in his relationship with God. Now, in, in the context of a covenant, and of course, it is God who is changing the name. And that, in of itself, giving a name involves a or represents your ownership. For example, we have Adam giving names to all the animals, showing his dominion over the animal kingdom when he was created. And another example, of course, is Pharaoh gave Joseph a totally new name because now he belongs to the house, house of Pharaoh. So God, by giving a name here, also shows his closeness and, um, and covenantal relationship with Abraham. Abraham now is part of the house of God, belongs to God. And there's the promise that "kings will come from you." In other words, you will not only be many, but you will have leaders and nations that will issue from you. And this is a covenant which will be an everlasting covenant, not only for Abraham, but also for his descendants for generations, a covenant that involves God's being the God of the people of Abraham, the descendants of Abraham. And here, once again, we see the promise of the land, not only, um, the promise of fruitfulness, of fertility, but also the promise of the land of Canaan, which will be given to him, um, to his offspring, to his descendants.

We move on to the next, um, speech of God. "Then God said to Abraham, 'As for you, you must keep my covenant.'" Now, here's the central speech, the Covenant of Circumcision. "You and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendant after you. The covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you for the for the generations to come. Every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner. Those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. 'My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.'"

So here we have the central speech of God, um, describing his covenant, the, um, command for circumcision. Now, for one, circumcision is not a novelty at this point in history. We know and we have evidence, um, primarily from Egypt and from other civilizations that practiced circumcision. So this is a covenant from God, a command to Abraham, but it is not something which is novel within the world. And we have to understand how is this covenant so special if it's also practiced in other societies and civilizations? Furthermore, we want to understand the nature of this command. It is described on the one hand as the covenant, right? "They must be my covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant." But it is also described as a sign of the covenant. So how do we view, um, the circumcision? Is the circumcised, is the circumcision just a sign of a covenant, but the covenant is something else? Or is the circumcision the covenant itself, right, as seemingly implied, um, later on, "my covenant in, in your flesh"? Between the two, uh, possibilities, I opt for the prior one: sign of the covenant. Namely, that this is a sign which represents the actual covenant, and the covenant itself involves the commandment to walk in the ways of God, um, and be, uh, righteous, uh, upright, and also all the promises of God, including, um, the promise for fertility and the promise of the land. And this is as a sign of the covenant. But here, if we accept that it's serving as a sign of the covenant, it's not the covenant itself, like we have other examples. For example, the sign of the covenant between Noah and God was, of course, the rainbow, and the rainbow is supposed to remind us of the promise and the covenant between them. So, so too. But then we have to ask, it's quite surprising that the sign of the covenant is something which isn't, is usually not seen, right? It's something which has covered up the, uh, um, male reproductive organ, is not something which is visible usually. And therefore, if we want a sign, why is this covenant, why is this the sign used? And like I said, what makes it so special if it also is found in other cultures?

So here, let us, uh, discuss a little bit the, uh, difference involved in this covenant. First of all, the command is, um, command of circumcision when this, when the son is eight years old, right? Eight days old, sorry, eight days old, right? At a very early stage, where in other cultures, it was usually practiced later, and, uh, according to some explanations, was a, a sign of maturation, of bravery, etcetera. Here, we're talking about something which is performed when, uh, with a baby, obviously. Um, it has more to do with the parents bringing their children, their newborn, into the covenant. Um, so we have to try to understand the significance of this sign chosen to be the covenant between God and Abraham. And I accept the explanation that, um, the sign is connected directly to what was promised, namely, the focus here in the, in the covenant of circumcision is, um, the promise of fertility, of offspring, as we'll see, it is further elaborated later in the chapter, um, and hence there is a lot of logic that this promise, um, receives its sign in the, um, uh, organ of reproduction, right, the male organ of reproduction. And hence, we can see, we can say that this sign is directly related to the actual covenant and the promise of offspring. Furthermore, we can, uh, suggest that this covenant has far-reaching ramifications because, like we said, for starters, it is the parent who brings his newborn son into the covenant on the eighth day. But in addition to that, of course, the, the newborn son now is part of the covenant because he was circumcised. But we can say that the effect is not only parent-son, but it may also be also on the further offspring of the son who was born because now his, uh, reproductive organ has the sign of the covenant, and therefore it impacts his children. Therefore, we can say it's something which, um, spans three generations, if you will: the parent, the son who is now being circumcised, and his offspring who will issue from, uh, his, uh, circumcised reproductive organ. So, uh, this also may, um, be what is behind, um, uh, our query as to why it, why Abraham's age is mentioned, and we'll elaborate on this shortly. We'll just emphasize that this is a central, um, command, and anybody who doesn't perform this will be cut off from his people, which is in the Hebrew, right, "will be cut off," um, which means he won't be part of the people. And this is quite a, a severe punishment for not doing something. And we will elaborate on that as well shortly.

We move on to the next speech. "God also said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.'" So here, um, the name is also changed, and interestingly enough, it is also changed and receives an additional Heh, 'h', as you can see. The Yud drops, SAR, and becomes SAR, right? Um, the name itself means like a minister, a sar, right? And now, uh, it receives a general Sarah, she will be a general, uh, like minister, princess, etcetera. "I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her." So here we have a promise that basically parallels the promise that was given to Abraham. Just like Abraham was said that he will have many offspring, and not only that, but he, his offspring will be, right, kings, right, as stated, um, in the promise, "and kings will come from you." So we have the first, uh, um, promise to Abraham that he will be, uh, many, "I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you." Now, in the speech about Sarah, we have the same promise, right, that she will be the mother of nations, kings of people will come, uh, from her. So we have that parallel between the, uh, uh, second speech, uh, that God gave to Abraham and changed his name, and this speech, now the fourth speech, if you will, um, where God speaks, uh, about Sarah and changes her name and promises that she will have any offspring, and they will also be as kings, right? So we have a clear parallel. And here we have a, uh, dramatic novelty in comparison to the previous covenant, because in the previous covenant, Sarai wasn't mentioned at all, whereas in this covenant, I'm talking about in the Covenant of the Pieces, whereas in this covenant, she is, and there's a whole speech related to her, which will also be elaborated later on.

Following Abraham's response, so the question that we have to ask is, why does Sarah get such a focus in this covenant? And I think the answer is quite simple, because in light of what happened in the previous chapter with the giving of Ishmael and the birth of Ishmael, this chapter, um, places Sarai as the focus and promises that from her, uh, will Abraham's covenant continue. And we can see from Abraham's reaction that, um, this is quite surprising. Abraham reacts, and like I said, just like we had Abraham who fell face down earlier on when God, um, appears before him, so we see, um, in his response, once again, Abraham fell face down. See that chastic structure? So he falls face down, he laughed, and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of 90?" So this first speech of Abraham is basically to himself, right? He said to himself. Then he, um, speaks to God, and Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing."

So what is the nature of Abraham's response? You see that he laughed and he speaks to himself, questioning, querying, how could that be? Um, and then he also mentions, wait, what about Ishmael, who will live before you? So the interpretation of Abraham's response, of course, allows for certain different possibilities. We state, first of all, him falling face down is a sign of respect whenever God reveals himself, right? We see many examples of falling face down as a sign of respect for God, right, and humility before God. But on the other side, he laughs and seems to not believe. So the question is, how do we interpret his laughter? Is it a laughter of disbelief? Um, I tend to think so, even though certain commentators didn't want, did not want to take it in that direction. I, I base myself both on his questioning himself, "Will a son be born?" Now, one can say that's just a, a statement of amazement, "Wow, how son at the age of 100? How marvelous is that?" And son to a woman who's 90. But his later reaction relating to Ishmael, I think also seems to imply that he still hasn't totally absorbed the idea that there will be another son who will continue his covenant. So it may involve certain respect and humility, on the one hand, of Abraham falling face down, but also a sense of total surprise, amazement, verging on perhaps, uh, lacking credulity, right, and belief that this indeed will happen.

But then God responds to Abraham's response. Like previously, "Then God said, 'Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.'" And here the English misses the, the significance of the name Isaac. In Hebrew, it is the verb "to laugh," which of course is a reflection on Abraham's laughter. "I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you.'" Now, here too, we miss on a wordplay, um, in the English. Ishmael is of course based on the verb "shama," here, so "as for Ishmael, I have heard you." "Shama'ti," I heard you. So this is a kind of a reinterpretation of the name Ishmael. We saw it in the previous chapter, it's focused on Hagar and all her suffering and poverty, right, in oppression. So God heard her, her crying, saw her situation. Um, now, uh, God has heard Abraham. So it's as if the name of the son now is reflected from Ishmael, from Hagar, now to Abraham. And God continues and saying, "I will surely bless him. I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of 12 rulers, and I will make him into a great nation."

Now, it's interesting, we have also a blessing which is quite parallel to the blessing that was given, uh, to Isaac and to Abraham, of of being fruitful, of multiplying. Just an interesting note. "He will be the father of 12 rulers." In the Hebrew, "with the promise, the rulers are "nesim," right, leaders, right? That's, I think, in contrast perhaps to the kings, "melech," that will emanate from, um, Abraham and Sarah. Ishmael will bring forth rulers, "nesim," but not necessarily kings. This may also reflect the hierarchy, while the promise is similar of being fruitful and also, of course, the number 12, which, um, of course, parallels the 12 tribes, future tribes of Israel, later, later on down the road, the sons of Jacob. So, um, there's a similarity, but on the other side, there's also a distinction, and that here we're only talking about rulers, "nesim," but not kings. So that hierarchy might still remain. So he will get that blessing of Abraham, of of fertility, um, but, and the verse itself continues, "but my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year."

When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. So here we have a promise of a birth, uh, to Sarah, the first time explicitly stated that Sarah will give birth to a son, and we're also informed of the time, "by this time next year." So another one year from now. And here we may have come upon our answer to the question of Abraham's age at the starting point, where it was stated that he was 99 years old. And we queried, 99, why not 100? Well, this promise at the, at Abraham's age of 99, involves also a promise of a son within one year, and we know, um, Isaac will be born when Abram is 100. So why is the Covenant of Circumcision given when Abraham is 99? Well, I think it's clear, it paves the way, prepares for the, um, the birth of Isaac within one year. And it's as if, important for, for the Torah to state that even the conception of, uh, of Isaac was done after, uh, the covenant of circumcision, circumcision from holiness, right? So that might be the background to that 99. We have one more year awaiting. And like I stated, the, the whole issue of the Covenant of Circumcision is something which involves the parent, child who's born, right, and also whoever is circumcised affects also his offspring who were are conceived by the organ representing the, um, covenant with God. So if we try to discuss the significance of this, uh, sign of a covenant, it obviously involves the whole idea of fertility, bringing offspring, continuing life, that connects with God as the source of life. And there's also one more interesting point that the covenant here is by cutting, which is, uh, something which we find in covenants, um, but it's also cutting part of the body. And so it's not only that it involves the organ of, uh, reproduction, but it, uh, it seems to affect and cut part of the, uh, the foreskin, right, of the organ of reproduction. And here, um, later commentators have described this as representing, um, the lack of perfection, uh, in, in human natural condition, and the need to repair. And this connects with that commandment that Abraham has to continue to walk and be upright in front of the Lord. In other words, um, to be part of the covenant means to be constantly repairing oneself and sanctifying oneself and connecting oneself with God. And this is signified also in the, uh, uh, striving for perfection, even on the physical level, where the foreskin, which represents perhaps impurity, is done away with, and representing the ongoing, um, march and attempt to achieve perfection in walking in the ways of God.

Another issue which, uh, arises in relation to the Covenant of Circumcision is, in light of the mention of Sarah, in specifically in this chapter, is why is this covenant only on the male, on males, and not connected at all to females? Why was such a sign, um, chosen and, and then therefore limited to, uh, performance on males? And here, two, um, central suggestions have been raised. One is, well, we know that when a man and woman are married, they become as one, as, as the Torah already stated in, in the first story where, man will leave his, um, father and mother and become one with his wife in the, uh, story of the Garden of Eden. So, one may say, okay, so even only the male carries the sign of the covenant, but it represents, he represents the family. But still, one may ask, why was it specifically with the male, female, for example? And here, I accept, uh, the suggestion raised by Grossman that the concept, the biblical conception is that, um, the male provides the seed into the female, and then the female, female body serves as, as the place for the seed to develop. That was the conception. And in fact, the name for, for seed and for offspring is the same word in Hebrew, "zer," "zer," and it appears also as "your offspring," "zir," right? So that was the conception, and hence, it is the male reproductive organ which provides the seed, which carries the, of the covenant, because that is what, in the biblical conception, develops the offspring. Um, so that could be the explanation for the focus on, uh, on, on males here.

Conclusion of the chapter. "On that very day, Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or brought bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised him, as God told him." Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was 13. Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day, and every male in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him. Notice the emphasis on Ishmael, both here and earlier on in the promise. It was important here to, um, explain Ishmael's position because, on the one hand, God, when emphasizing the birth of a son to Sarah, said that the covenant will continue only with the son who will be born, Isaac. But at the same time, it was important to emphasize that Ishmael will get part of the blessing of Abraham, and he will also be circumcised as part of the house of Abraham. That's why Ishmael had to be born, um, in the house of Abraham, and Hagar had to return. So Ishmael's offspring will not continue the, uh, the specific covenant between God and Abraham, but it's, but he is part of that promise of, um, fertility and, um, developing into many, um, princes who will issue from it.

All right, so here we've analyzed. We've seen the overall structure, chastic structure of the chapter that opened God appearing, and then God leaving, and we have a conclusion, God promising many offspring who will be kings, um, both beginning and, and towards the end. Again, we have the change of the names, both of Abraham and of Sarah, and the focus in the middle of the actual, uh, covenant of circumcision. This, of course, leads us to, um, the points that we began with earlier on. For starters, we said that this covenant, the circumcision covenant, is, is, um, simply surprising in light of the earlier covenant which included the same components, the Covenant of the Pieces. So the obvious question that we have to ask is, why do we have a double covenant? And here, of course, biblical critics, uh, found an enticing possibility of saying, well, we have different sources that described, uh, co-, different covenants, and the editor put together the different, uh, covenants. So this is, this was a suggestion from a documentary perspective. If we approach it synchronically, why do we need two covenants?

So one prominent suggestion raised by, uh, modern commentators was to distinguish between the two covenants. The Covenant of the Pieces was a covenant which actually revealed the long-term history of the people, that they will be enslaved in Egypt, and, and then only the fourth generation will return and inherit the land. And as, as far as Abraham's concerned, he will not be the one who will inherit the land, he will, uh, pass away, and only his offspring will be the ones who will be able to inherit the land. So many have seen this as a national covenant, this one reflecting the history, the future history of the, uh, nation of Israel, whereas the Covenant of Circumcision is a more personal and family covenant, and it, and it impacts Abraham immediately. His name has changed, that's the obvious personal component to it, and, uh, and of course, he performs circumcision upon himself. So, uh, some have opted to suggest that we have, we have here a, a national covenant on the first level, and we have a more personal family covenant, uh, in the covenant of, uh, circumcision.

Now, interestingly enough, the, the two, um, covenants also have severe repercussions. If we view the Covenant of the Pieces as reflecting the historical national covenant and including the issue of the enslavement in Egypt and the Israelites, the offspring of Abraham who will be, um, saved and redeemed and, and released from bondage and brought to the whole, brought to the promised land, if we view that as related to Passover, the whole idea of Passover, the Exodus from Egypt, it's interesting that there are only two cases in the whole Bible where there is a punishment of being cut off from the people for not doing something. What, well, one we just read, "Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh will be cut off from his people." Interestingly, we read with regard to Passover, and I read this from Numbers chapter 9, verse 13, "But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, yet refrains from keeping the Passover, that person shall be cut off from his people because he did not offer the Lord's offering at its appointed time. That man shall bear his sin." So we have, we have other examples in the Bible, in the Torah, of the punishment of being cut off from the people, what's called, um, but those are usually if someone does a transgression, somebody eats blood, if somebody eats unleavened, if somebody eats leavened bread on Passover, or if somebody who doesn't fast on, on Yom Kippur, so they, those people will be cut off from the people. That's because they transgressed and, and they ate when they were supposed to fast, or they, uh, they ate something which, which is prohibited, like blood or whatever it may be. But here we have two examples where if you don't do, you didn't do anything, you just slept it out, you slept through a Passover, or you, you didn't do, you didn't do a circumcision, circumcision wasn't performed upon the, the result is being cut off from the people. And the question is, why, why for not doing, is there such a, a far-reaching result? And I think the answer is very obvious if we understand that both Passover and circumcision are related to covenant. And what is the essence of a covenant and during peoplehood? May very well be that in these instances, that being cut off is not a punishment, but simply an outcome. In other words, if you don't enter the covenant, both on a national level, Passover, celebrating the Exodus from Egypt, the people going out, or on a personal level, you don't enter via the covenant of circumcision, then you are not part of the people. You are cut off from the people, not as a punishment, but rather as an outcome. So that's one approach to understanding the relationship between the two covenants, seeing them as functioning on two levels, an entry, an entering step into peoplehood, into being, into your identity, both on a personal level, it's in chapter 17 with the circumcision, and on a national level with the Covenant of the Pieces, um, representing the whole history of Israel, Passover, if you will.

However, I want to propose here a different approach. I think if we pay close attention, we find not only similarities but obvious differences between the two covenants. The similarities we mentioned: in both instances, we have a covenant which relates to the promise of offspring and the promise of the land, right? "I will make you very fruitful," um, and "I will give the whole land of Canaan, uh, for you as a possession." You see this both in the Covenant of Circumcision as well as in the Covenant of the Pieces, where it began with a promise of many offspring. God shows them the stars, takes them out, shows them, "Look at the heaven, count the stars, so shall your descendants be." That's the promise of many offspring. And then later on, the possession of the land, um, as stated towards the end, "To your descendants I give this land," with all its elaboration. And in both instances, well, add another point, both instances involve cutting, right? God, God commanded Abraham to start taking the animals, and what did Abraham do? "Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram." He brought all these to him and cut them into. And it's interesting, the act of cutting, we find here with the, with the animals, and we also have, of course, the act of cutting, the circum-, in the act of circumcision, cutting the, uh, foreskin, um, so we, we have acts of, of covenant in both instances with similar promises.

But I think there is one very important difference that, uh, hasn't been pointed out, to the best of my knowledge yet, in the scholarship, and that is what leads to the covenant. In our chapter, when we read it, we saw God appears before Abraham and tells him, right, he appeared and tells him, "I am El Shai," commands him, "Walk before me faithfully and be blameless," and then he also gives the command of circumcision, "You must keep my covenant, you and your descendants," and the elaboration, "Every male among you shall be circumcised," or "undergo the circum-, circumcision," etcetera, to be a sign, and the elaboration when it's supposed to be done, "everyone who is male who was 8 years old must be circumcised." This whole covenant is initiated by God. God suddenly appears before Abraham and commands him to walk before him, and also commands him to, uh, perform the act of circumcision on him, on his offspring, on his whole household.

If we return to chapter 15, the Covenant of the Pieces, we look carefully, both in the, um, first promise of many offspring, Abraham first buried, "L, behold, what do you, the word of the Lord, you have given me no offspring. Indeed, one born in my house is my, indeed one born in my house is my heir." And behold, then the Lord responds to Abraham's, um, um, complaint and says, "No, not, you will have your own offspring who will inherit you." Similarly, with the promise of the land, we see God, uh, says, "I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it." And Abraham then, there's a promise, and then Abraham says, "Sovereign Lord, how, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?" The Hebrew, it is Abraham who asks God, "Give me a sign. How do I know that it'll actually happen?" And only as a response to Abraham's question or or concern, right, or or request of a sign, then God continues and commands him to take the animals and to cut them. Then what happens after Abraham does that? "When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking fire pot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces." Now, of course, that, uh, blazing torch that that appears between the pieces, obviously represents God walks between the pieces. Now, interestingly enough, there's no mention of Abraham walking between the pieces. Why is that? The answer is very simple. The Covenant of the Pieces is God's, God's commitment to Abraham. Abraham queried and asked, "How do I know that all this will actually happen? That I will really inherit the land?" And God responds to Abraham's desire to have, you know, more firm conviction that everything will happen by making the Covenant of the Pieces, where he passes through them. In other words, chapter 15, the Covenant of the Pieces, is God's committing himself in a covenantal form to Abraham.

What happens in our chapter? This covenant works the other way now. It is God who is commanding Abraham to be totally committed to him. And hence, this is a covenant which obliges Abraham. Now, Abraham is the one who is commanded, "Walk before me faithfully and be blameless." Abraham is the one who has to perform the circumcision. So if in chapter 15, as the conclusion said, "On that day, God the Lord cut a covenant with Abraham," here I'm using my own translation, usually it's translated "made a covenant." Word "karat" is like "cut a deal," right, "cut a covenant." There it is God who cut a covenant, right, and he was the one who, uh, became totally obliged to Abraham by his, um, by the blazing torch passing through the pieces. In our case, it is Abraham who is the one who is going to be obliged to God. And what I'm proposing here, counter to documentary suggestions that we have just two, two of the same covenants but with different traditions about the covenant or previous explanations, I wanted to suggest that we have here a national and a personal. I'm suggesting that we have here two covenants. The first is God becoming obliged to Abraham to fulfill all the promises of giving the land and the off-, to the offspring, whereas now we have Abraham being committed and obliged to God, uh, for, for him and on behalf of future generations. And, and in return for this commitment, then God promises both fertility, many offspring, and reassuring of kings who will come, uh, will issue from Abraham, and also the promise of the land. So this chapter actually represents the human obligation towards the divine, whereas the previous chapter represented the divine obligation to Abraham and commitment to Abraham.

And if we, uh, return to our question, so what makes this Covenant of Circumcision, which is, which was common in other civilizations, including Egyptian culture, what makes it different? This is a covenant which represents the commitment of Abraham and his offspring to walk in the ways of God, walk in the ways of God and be committed to, uh, God, both on the religious conviction level of walking in the before God, and also in walking upright and in, in, in perfection. So we have here the essence of the, uh, Jewish commitment, uh, and the Jewish covenant with God of both walking in the ways of God and walking blamelessly and in a complete manner, and trying to strive for moral, uh, perfection and uprightness. And this, of course, is represented in the act of circumcision and doing away with the foreskin and committing one's life to walk in the ways of God.