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 

Deuteronomy 10:16

10:16 Therefore, cleanse ⁵  your heart and stop being so stubborn! ⁶ 

Deuteronomy 30:6

30:6 The Lord your God will also cleanse ⁷  your heart and the hearts of your descendants ⁸  so that you may love him ⁹  with all your mind and being and so that you may live.

Ezekiel 18:31

18:31 Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! ¹⁰  Why should you die, O house of Israel?

Romans 2:28-29

2:28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh, 2:29 but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart ¹¹  by the Spirit ¹²  and not by the written code. ¹³  This person’s ¹⁴  praise is not from people but from God.

Colossians 2:11

2:11 In him you also were circumcised – not, however, ¹⁵  with a circumcision performed by human hands, but by the removal ¹⁶  of the fleshly body, ¹⁷  that is, ¹⁸  through the circumcision done by Christ.

[9:26]  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.

[9:26]  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.

[9:26]  ³ tn Heb “house of Israel.”

[9:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “And all the house of Israel is uncircumcised of heart.”

[10:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “circumcise the foreskin of” (cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV). Reference to the Abrahamic covenant prompts Moses to recall the sign of that covenant, namely, physical circumcision (Gen 17:9-14). Just as that act signified total covenant obedience, so spiritual circumcision (cleansing of the heart) signifies more internally a commitment to be pliable and obedient to the will of God (cf. Deut 30:6; Jer 4:4; 9:26).

[10:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “your neck do not harden again.” See note on the word “stubborn” in Deut 9:6.

[30:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “circumcise” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “will give you and your descendents obedient hearts.” See note on the word “cleanse” in Deut 10:16.

[30:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “seed” (so KJV, ASV).

[30:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on the second occurrence of the word “he” in v. 3.

[18:31]  ¹⁰ sn In Ezek 11:19, 36:26 the new heart and new spirit are promised as future blessings.

[2:29]  ¹¹ sn On circumcision is of the heart see Lev 26:41; Deut 10:16; Jer 4:4; Ezek 44:9.

[2:29]  ¹² tn Some have taken the phrase ἐν πνεύματι (en pneumati, “by/in [the] S/spirit”) not as a reference to the Holy Spirit, but referring to circumcision as “spiritual and not literal” (RSV).

[2:29]  ¹³ tn Grk “letter.”

[2:29]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “whose.” The relative pronoun has been replaced by the phrase “this person’s” and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation.

[2:11]  ¹⁵ tn The terms “however” and “but” in this sentence were supplied in order to emphasize the contrast.

[2:11]  ¹⁶ tn The articular noun τῇ ἀπεκδύσει (th apekdusei) is a noun which ends in -σις (-sis) and therefore denotes action, i.e., “removal.” Since the head noun is a verbal noun, the following genitive τοῦ σώματος (tou swmatos) is understood as an objective genitive, receiving the action of the head noun.

[2:11]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “in the removal of the body of flesh.” The genitive τῆς σαρκός (th" sarko") has been translated as an attributive genitive, “fleshly body.”

[2:11]  ¹⁸ tn The second prepositional phrase beginning with ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ (en th peritomh) is parallel to the prepositional phrase ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει (en th apekdusei) and gives a further explanation of it. The words “that is” were supplied to bring out this force in the translation.