17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) 8 and circumcised them 9 on that very same day, just as God had told him to do.
1 tn The Hebrew construction uses the independent personal pronoun, followed by a suffixed form of הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) and the a participle used with an imminent future nuance: “As for me, look, I am going to bring.”
2 tn Heb “the flood, water.”
3 tn The verb שָׁחָת (shakhat, “to destroy”) is repeated yet again, only now in an infinitival form expressing the purpose of the flood.
4 tn The Hebrew construction here is different from the previous two; here it is רוּחַ חַיִּים (ruakh khayyim) rather than נֶפֶשׁ הַיָּה (nefesh khayyah) or נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים (nishmat khayyim). It refers to everything that breathes.
5 tn The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
6 tn Following the Hiphil imperative, “bring out,” the three perfect verb forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry an imperatival nuance. For a discussion of the Hebrew construction here and the difficulty of translating it into English, see S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, 124-25.
7 tn Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
9 tn Heb “Ishmael his son and all born in his house and all bought with money, every male among the men of the house of Abraham.”
10 tn Heb “circumcised the flesh of their foreskin.” The Hebrew expression is somewhat pleonastic and has been simplified in the translation.
13 tn Heb “And look.”
14 tn The word “cows” is supplied here in the translation for stylistic reasons.