Genesis 17:26

Gen 17:26 In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

Ver. 26. In the self-same day.] To show his prompt and present obedience, without shucking and hucking, without delays and consults.

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.

(26) In the selfsame day.—Heb., In the bone of this day, and so in Gen_17:23 (see Gen_2:23). In the circumcising of the household together with Abraham and his son we see that no impassable interval separated the Hebrew slave from his master, but that he was to share all the national and religious privileges of the freeman.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son. This is repeated, that it might be taken notice of that both were circumcised according to the command of God, and on the very day in which it was given. Jarchi observes, it was in the day, and not in the night; which shows, says he, he was not afraid of the Heathen, and of mockers; and that his enemies, and the men of that generation, might not say, if we had seen him, we would not have suffered him to be circumcised, and keep the commandment of God: and some of the Jewish writers (e) fable, that he was circumcised on the day afterwards appointed by Moses for the day of atonement, and that in the place where he was circumcised the altar was built; but all this is without any foundation. This affair was transacted, according to Bishop Usher (f), A. M. 2107, and before Christ 1897.

(e) Pirke Eliezer, ut supra. (c. 29.) (f) Annales Ver. Test. p. 8.

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

Vers. 26, 27. In the self-same day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son. And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, wore circumcised with him. The usual charges of needless repetition which are preferred against the closing verses of this chapter may be disposed of by observing that Ver. 23 intimates that the sacrament of circumcision was administered to the patriarch and his household on the very day that God had enjoined it, i.e. without delay; that Vers. 24, 25 declare the respective ages of Abraham and Ishmael when they received the Divinely-appointed rite; and that Vers. 26, 27 state the fact that the entire household of the patriarch was circumcised simultaneously with himself.

THE ORIGIN OF CIRCUMCISION. The determination of this question does not appear of paramount importance, yet the ascertained results may be briefly indicated.

(1) According to Herodotus (2. 104) circumcision was observed as a custom of primitive antiquity among the Colchiaus, Ethiopians, and Egyptians, by the last of whom it was communicated to the Syrians of Palestine and the Phoenicians. It is, however, uncertain Whether among the Egyptians the practice was universal, as Philo and Herodotus assert, or limited to the priesthood, as Origen believed; and equally doubtful whether the Egyptians themselves may not have adopted it from the Hebrews in the time of Joseph, instead of from the Ethiopians, as appears to be the judgment of Kalisch. Against the idea that circumcision was a national and universal observance among the Egyptians in the time of Abraham, it has been urged that the male servants of the patriarch, some of whom were Egyptians, (Gen_12:16) were not circumcised till Abraham was commanded to perform the rite; that Ishmael, the son of an Egyptian mother, remained uncircumcised till the same time; and that the daughter of Pharaoh recognized Moses as a Hebrew child, which, it is supposed, she could not have done had circumcision been generally practiced among her own people. On the other hand, it is contended that the absence of details as to how the rite should be performed seems to imply that already circumcision was familiar to Abraham; and by some modern Egyptologists it is asserted that an examination of ancient mummies and sculptures, in which circumcision is a distinctive mark between the Egyptians and their enemies, shows that the ceremony must have been in use not among the priests only, but throughout the nation generally so early as the time of the fourth dynasty, i.e. 2400 B.C., or considerably earlier than the time of Abraham. Still

(2) though it should be held as indubitably established that circumcision was a prevalent custom among the Egyptians in the time of Abraham, it would not follow that the Hebrews adopted it from them. On the contrary, the Biblical narrative expressly mentions that its observance by the patriarch and- his household was due to a Divine command, and was connected with a religious significance which was altogether foreign to the Egyptians and others by whom that rite was practiced. Among the reasons for its adoption by the heathen nations of antiquity have been assigned, among the Ethiopians, a prophylactic design to ward off certain painful, and often incurable, disorders; among the Egyptians, a regard to cleanliness; and perhaps among the priesthood of the latter country a semi religious idea (the deification of the generative powers) was associated with a practice which was commonly regarded as enhancing productivity; but the import of the ceremony as enjoined upon the father of the faithful was as widely as possible removed from every one of these ideas, being connected with spiritual conceptions of which the heathen world was entirely ignorant. That a heathen custom should have been adopted by Jehovah and elevated to the rank and connected with the spiritual significance of a religious sign will not occur as a difficulty to those who remember that the rainbow, a well-known natural phenomenon, was selected as the sign for Noah"s covenant, and that Christian baptism is a similar transformation of a previously existing ceremony by which Gentile proselytes were admitted to the Hebrew Church.

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

בעצם היום הזה ON THE SELFSAME DAY when Abraham completed his ninety-ninth year and Ishmael his thirteenth year נמול אברהם וישמעאל בנו WAS ABRAHAM CIRCUMCISED AND ISHMAEL HIS SON.

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.

IN THE SELFSAME DAY WAS ABRAHAM CIRCUMCISED. Rashi wrote: “In the selfsame day when Abraham completed his ninety-ninth year and Ishmael his thirteenth, they were circumcised.”But what reason is there to mention this? Moreover, there is already general agreement with the words of Rabbi Eliezer, 27a. See also Seder Noach, Note 148, for fuller discussion of this point. who said that in the month of Tishri the world was created, and in Tishri the patriarchs were born, with the exception of Isaac who was born on Passover. Now Scripture says that the birth of Isaac will be at this time in the next year, and Rashi himself wrote further on in Seder Vayeira that the tidings were given on Passover. Consequently, Isaac was born on the next Passover! Instead, the expression, In the selfsame day, means that on the very day he was charged with this commandment, he and the men of his house — three hundred and eighteen — and all those purchased with his money were circumcised. Scripture thus tells of Abraham’s distinction with respect to the fear of G-d, as well as that of all the men of his house, i.e., that they were all zealous, fulfilling their religious duty as promptly as possible.Now the meaning of the phrase, was Abraham circumcised and Ishmael his son, is not that Abraham was circumcised first. Instead, it was Ishmael who was circumcised first, and then all the men of Abraham’s house, for it is so written: And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and after that it says, And Abraham was ninety years and nine when he was circumcised. The reason for this was that Abraham was zealous concerning the commandment to circumcise them first, either doing it himself or perhaps inviting many circumcisers whom he supervised, and then he circumcised himself. Had he performed his circumcision first, he would have been sick or in danger on account of his advanced age, and he would then not have been in a position to concern himself with their circumcision.Vayeira

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

בעצם היום הזה; we (the Torah) have already stated that Avraham circumcised all the members of his household on the very day G'd issued the command to him (verse 23). The Torah had not mentioned that he also circumcised himself and his son on that day. This is why this is added here, to tell us that he brooked no delay in performing the commandment both on his son and on himself. The meaning of the word נימול is that he performed the operation on himself and did not delegate anyone to do it as his agent. The use of a passive mode to describe that someone did something himself is not unique. We find it also in Samuel II 20,10 וכן עמשא לא נשמר, "and so Amassa did not protect himself."

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.