Leviticus 12:3

12:3 On ¹  the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin ²  must be circumcised.

Leviticus 22:27

22:27 “When an ox, lamb, or goat is born, it must be under the care of ³  its mother seven days, but from the eighth day onward it will be acceptable as an offering gift ⁴  to the Lord.

Exodus 6:12

6:12 But Moses replied to ⁵  the Lord, “If the Israelites did not listen to me, then ⁶  how will Pharaoh listen to me, since ⁷  I speak with difficulty?” ⁸ 

Exodus 6:30

6:30 But Moses said before the Lord, “Since I speak with difficulty, ⁹  why should Pharaoh listen to me?”

Exodus 22:29-30

22:29 “Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. ¹⁰  You must give me the firstborn of your sons. 22:30 You must also do this for your oxen and for your sheep; seven days they may remain with their mothers, but give them to me on the eighth day.

Jeremiah 6:10

6:10 I answered, ¹¹ 

“Who would listen

if I spoke to them and warned them? ¹² 

Their ears are so closed ¹³ 

that they cannot hear!

Indeed, ¹⁴  what the Lord says is offensive to them.

They do not like it at all. ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 9:25-26

9:25 The Lord says, “Watch out! ¹⁶  The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh. ¹⁷  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. ¹⁸  I will do so because none of the people of those nations are really circumcised in the Lord’s sight. ¹⁹  Moreover, none of the people of Israel ²⁰  are circumcised when it comes to their hearts.” ²¹ 

Acts 7:51

7:51 “You stubborn ²²  people, with uncircumcised ²³  hearts and ears! ²⁴  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ²⁵  did!

[12:3]  ¹ tn Heb “and in….”

[12:3]  ² tn This rendering, “the flesh of his foreskin,” is literal. Based on Lev 15:2-3, one could argue that the Hebrew word for “flesh” here (בָּשָׂר, basar) is euphemistic for the male genitals and therefore translate “the foreskin of his member” (see, e.g., J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:748). A number of English versions omit this reference to the foreskin and mention only circumcision, presumably for euphemistic reasons (cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[22:27]  ³ tn The words “the care of” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied. Although many modern English versions render “with its mother” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), the literal phrase “under its mother” refers to the young animal nursing from its mother. Cf. KJV, ASV “it shall be seven days under the dam,” which would probably be misunderstood.

[22:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “for an offering of a gift.”

[6:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “And Moses spoke before.”

[6:12]  ⁶ sn This analogy is an example of a qal wahomer comparison. It is an argument by inference from the light (qal) to the heavy (homer), from the simple to the more difficult. If the Israelites, who are Yahwists, would not listen to him, it is highly unlikely Pharaoh would.

[6:12]  ⁷ tn The final clause begins with a disjunctive vav (ו), a vav on a nonverb form – here a pronoun. It introduces a circumstantial causal clause.

[6:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “and [since] I am of uncircumcised lips.” The “lips” represent his speech (metonymy of cause). The term “uncircumcised” makes a comparison between his speech and that which Israel perceived as unacceptable, unprepared, foreign, and of no use to God. The heart is described this way when it is impervious to good impressions (Lev 26:41; Jer 9:26) and the ear when it hears imperfectly (Jer 6:10). Moses has here returned to his earlier claim – he does not speak well enough to be doing this.

[6:30]  ⁹ tn See note on Exod 6:12.

[22:29]  ¹⁰ tn The expressions are unusual. U. Cassuto renders them: “from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses” (Exodus, 294). He adds the Hittite parallel material to show that the people were to bring the offerings on time and not let them overlap, because the firstfruits had to be eaten first by the priest.

[6:10]  ¹¹ tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:10]  ¹² tn Or “To whom shall I speak? To whom shall I give warning? Who will listen?” Heb “Unto whom shall I speak and give warning that they may listen?”

[6:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “are uncircumcised.”

[6:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Behold!”

[6:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “They do not take pleasure in it.”

[9:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Behold!”

[9:25]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “punish all who are circumcised in the flesh.” The translation is contextually motivated to better bring out the contrast that follows.

[9:26]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “house of Israel.”

[9:26]  ²¹ tn Heb “And all the house of Israel is uncircumcised of heart.”

[7:51]  ²² sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

[7:51]  ²³ tn The term ἀπερίτμητοι (aperitmhtoi, “uncircumcised”) is a NT hapax legomenon (occurs only once). See BDAG 101-2 s.v. ἀπερίτμητος and Isa 52:1.

[7:51]  ²⁴ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

[7:51]  ²⁵ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”