Kejadian 17:14

17:14 Any uncircumcised male ¹  who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off ²  from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.” ³ 

Yosua 5:2-3

A New Generation is Circumcised

5:2 At that time the Lord told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites once again.” ⁴  5:3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites on the Hill of the Foreskins. ⁵ 

[17:14]  ¹ tn The disjunctive clause calls attention to the “uncircumcised male” and what will happen to him.

[17:14]  ² tn Heb “that person will be cut off.” The words “that person” have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:14]  sn The meaning of “cut off” has been discussed at great length. An entire tractate in the Mishnah is devoted to this subject (tractate Keritot). Being ostracized from the community is involved at the least, but it is not certain whether this refers to the death penalty.

[17:14]  ³ tn Heb “he has broken my covenant.” The noun בְּרִית (bÿrit) here refers to the obligation required by God in conjunction with the covenantal agreement. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.

[5:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “return, circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense to indicate the repetition of an action.

[5:3]  ⁵ tn Or “Gibeath Haaraloth.” This name means “Hill of the Foreskins.” Many modern translations simply give the Hebrew name, although an explanatory note giving the meaning of the name is often included.

[5:3]  sn The name given to the place, Hill of the Foreskins was an obvious reminder of this important event.