Genesis 17:24

Gen 17:24 And Abraham [was] ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

Ver. 24. And Abraham was ninety years old and nine.] Five different times is Abraham’s age exactly noted in Scripture; which showeth how dear the saints are to God; when the wicked are, ουτιδανοι, little set by; men of no account.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Abraham was ninety years old and nine,.... See Gen 17:1. This circumstance of his age is observed the more to commend his faith and obedience, that though he was an old man, he did not consider his age, or make that an objection; that he was unable to bear the pain, or it would be shameful for a man of his years to be uncovered before his servants:

when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin; who circumcised him is not said, very probably Eliezer his head servant: the Jews, who affect to know everything, say (u), that he sent for Shem, the son of Noah, who circumcised him and his son Ishmael; but it is most likely that Ishmael was circumcised by Abraham himself, as seems from Gen 17:23; and Abraham might circumcise himself, as Ben Melech thinks.

(u) Pirke Eliezer, c. 29.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, literally, a son of ninety years and nine (cf. Gen_7:6 Gen_16:16) when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

including those born into the household and those bought with money from a foreigner

"This includes those who were born in his household and those he had bought from foreigners"

those bought with money from a foreigner

This refers to servants or slaves.

those bought

This can be stated in active form. AT: "those whom he had bought" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

Abraham

Ishmael

circumcise

household

alien

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

בהמלו WHEN HE WAS CIRCUMCISED — a Niphal form (passive), like (Genesis 2:4) בהבראם “when they were created”.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ואברהם בן תשעים ותשע שנה, when he received the most recent prophetic vision he was 99 years old as already mentioned in verse 1. This had been at the end of 99 years after his birth, so that when he was circumcised he was still 99 years of age, and had not entered the 100th years. The Torah writes this in order to reinforce the report that he carried out the circumcision with dispatch, and did not wait until he had turned 100 years old.

בהמלו בשר ערלתו, if we were to say that the word בהמלו is in a passive mode. We would have to ask how it could conclude with the pronoun ו which introduces an action by him on the flesh of his foreskin. We never find that a passive mode is followed immediately by an active mode. If, on the other hand, we are to understand the word בהמלו as standing on its own, without direct relationship to the words בשר ערלתו, or if the Torah had written בהמול בשר ערלתו without the pronoun ו, we would not have a problem with the text as it is before us. One could perhaps resolve the problem of the text that we have by saying that the expression בהמלו describes a condition Avraham experienced as a result of his foreskin having been circumcised. We encounter a similar construction in Isaiah 1,30 where the word נובלת describes the condition of leaves of the tree described, i.e. they are shriveled or have wilted. The word is an intransitive verb, and the terebinth referred to as the trunk to which these leaves belonged is certainly not subject to wilting or shriveling. One could argue similarly, that Avraham was now considered נמול, (verse 26) circumcised, seeing that the flesh of his foreskin had been removed. In a similar manner we can also understand the words קרועי בגדים in Samuel II 13,31. The clothes of the men (David's servants) were torn, not the men themselves. The same is true of Samuel II 15,32 where the word קרוע does not refer to Chushai but to his tunic which was torn. Jeremiah 41,5 has a similar construction, מגולחי describes the condition of these men after their beards had been shaved off.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.