Jeremiah 9:26

9:26 That is, I will punish the Egyptians, the Judeans, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples. ¹  I will do so because none of the people of those nations are really circumcised in the Lord’s sight. ²  Moreover, none of the people of Israel ³  are circumcised when it comes to their hearts.” ⁴ 

Romans 4:10-12

4:10 How then was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but uncircumcised! 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, ⁵  so that he would become ⁶  the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised, ⁷  that they too could have righteousness credited to them. 4:12 And he is also the father of the circumcised, ⁸  who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was still uncircumcised. ⁹ 

Romans 4:1

The Illustration of Justification

4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, ¹⁰  has discovered regarding this matter? ¹¹ 

Romans 3:21

3:21 But now ¹²  apart from the law the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) ¹³  has been disclosed –

¹ tn Heb “all those who are cut off on the side of the head who live in the desert.” KJV and some other English versions (e.g., NIV “who live in the desert in distant places”; NLT “who live in distant places”) have followed the interpretation that this is a biform of an expression meaning “end or remote parts of the [far] corners [of the earth].” This interpretation is generally abandoned by the more recent commentaries and lexicons (see, e.g. BDB 802 s.v. פֵּאָה 1 and HALOT 858 s.v. פֵּאָה 1.β). It occurs also in 25:33; 49:32.

² tn Heb “For all of these nations are uncircumcised.” The words “I will do so” are supplied in the translation to indicate the connection with the preceding statement.

³ tn Heb “house of Israel.”

⁴ tn Heb “And all the house of Israel is uncircumcised of heart.”

⁵ tn Grk “of the faith, the one [existing] in uncircumcision.”

⁶ tn Grk “that he might be,” giving the purpose of v. 11a.

⁷ tn Grk “through uncircumcision.”

⁸ tn Grk “the father of circumcision.”

⁹ tn Grk “the ‘in-uncircumcision faith’ of our father Abraham.”

¹⁰ tn Or “according to natural descent” (BDAG 916 s.v. σάρξ 4).

¹¹ tn Grk “has found?”

¹² tn Νυνὶ δέ (Nuni de, “But now”) could be understood as either (1) logical or (2) temporal in force, but most recent interpreters take it as temporal, referring to a new phase in salvation history.

¹³ tn Grk “being witnessed by the law and the prophets,” a remark which is virtually parenthetical to Paul’s argument.