Genesis 17:26

Summary

Genesis 17:26 states that Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day. The verse marks the precise temporal coincidence of both circumcisions using an idiomatic Hebrew expression for "on that very day."

Key words

• 'Etzem ("[the] substance of", H6106H) — feminine singular noun in construct state; literally "bone/substance," here used idiomatically to mean "the very (day)," emphasizing exactness of time rather than physical substance.
• Yom ("day", H3117G) — masculine singular noun, the object of the construct phrase with 'Etzem, forming the expression "on the substance of this day" = "on this very day."
• nimmol ("he was circumcised", H4135A) — Niphal perfect verb (passive/reflexive stem, completed action), indicating the action was done to Abraham rather than performed by him.
• 'Avraham ("Abraham", H0085) — proper name, subject of the passive verb.
• ben ("son", H1121A) construct + o ("his", H9023) suffix — together beno ("his son"), identifying Ishmael's relation to Abraham.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with a prepositional phrase, be-'etzem ha-yom ha-zeh ("on the substance of this day"), which functions as a fixed idiom meaning "on this very day," stressing precision of timing before the main verb appears. The verb nimmol is Niphal perfect, third person masculine singular, agreeing grammatically only with the first subject, Avraham; the second subject, Yishma'el, is joined afterward with the conjunction ve- ("and", H9002), followed by the appositional phrase beno ("his son") to clarify the relationship. Because the verb form is singular, the construction technically states that "Abraham was circumcised... and Ishmael his son," with the verb's singular form covering the first-named subject while the second is added as a parallel clause rather than requiring a plural verb.

The idiom be-'etzem ha-yom ha-zeh draws on the noun 'etzem, whose core sense is "bone" or "substantial part," extended metaphorically to mean the "essential point" of the day — i.e., that very day and no other. This construction differs from a simple use of ba-yom ha-zeh ("in this day"), adding emphasis on exactness of timing.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the temporal phrase as en tō kairō tēs hēmeras ("at the time of the day"), using kairos ("time/season") rather than a literal equivalent of 'etzem ("substance/bone"), and employs a single passive verb perietmēthē ("was circumcised") covering both Abraham and Ishmael, unlike the Hebrew where the verb nimmol is grammatically singular and attached first to Abraham. The Vulgate's Eadem die ("on the same day") likewise smooths the Hebrew idiom into a simpler temporal expression, and its single verb circumcisus est ("was circumcised") also covers both names as in the LXX, differing from the Hebrew's construction where Ishmael is added via a separate appositional clause with beno ("his son").