Genesis 17:10

Summary

Genesis 17:10 introduces God's covenant as something Abraham and his descendants must keep, and specifies its concrete sign: every male among them is to undergo circumcision. The verse combines a nominal declaration ("this is my covenant") with a legal-style command expressed through an infinitive.

Key words

• beriti ("my covenant", H1285) — noun in construct state with 1st person singular suffix, marking the covenant as belonging to the speaker (God).
• tishmeru ("you will keep", H8104G) — qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural, expressing an ongoing or future obligation laid on the addressees.
• bein...u-vein ("between...and between", H0996G, repeated three times) — construct form of "between," used serially to delineate the parties bound by the covenant: God, the plural "you," and "your offspring after you."
• himmol ("to be circumcised", H4135A) — niphal infinitive of the root meaning "circumcise," used here as an infinitive absolute rather than a finite verb form.
• zakhar ("male", H2145) — masculine singular adjective functioning as the grammatical subject of the circumcision requirement.

What the text says

The verse opens with a nominal clause: zot ("this") + beriti ("my covenant") — "this [is] my covenant" — followed by a relative clause introduced by asher ("which") that qualifies the covenant as one the addressees must observe (tishmeru, 2mp imperfect). The threefold repetition of bein ("between") — between me, between you (plural), and between your offspring after you — structures the covenant relationship as spanning three parties across time: the speaker, the present generation, and future descendants.

The second half of the verse shifts grammatical strategy: instead of a finite verb, the Hebrew uses the niphal infinitive himmol ("to be circumcised") standing alone, followed by lakhem ("to/for you") and the subject kol-zakhar ("every male"). An infinitive used in this independent position, without a governing finite verb, carries an imperatival or legally binding force in Biblical Hebrew — it functions less as a description and more as a directive, distinct from the ordinary imperfect used moments earlier for tishmeru.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the infinitive himmol with a finite future passive verb, περιτμηθήσεται ("it will be circumcised"), smoothing the Hebrew's infinitive-absolute construction into ordinary future tense. The Vulgate does the same with circumcidetur ("it will be circumcised"). Additionally, the LXX text includes the phrase εἰς τὰς γενεὰς αὐτῶν ("to their generations"), which has no corresponding word in the Hebrew word-list for this verse.