Sunday, May 24, 2009

Ishmael gets circumcised?

17:25 says, “And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.”  But I thought god said in Gen 17:20 “And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

17:21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac,”  So if I am reading this right god is saying that Isaac will receive the covenant but Ishmael wont.  The covenant is explained in Gen 17:11 “And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.”  So why was Ishmael circumcised?  Don’t tell me it was for kicks.

2 comments:

  1. Maybe they're calling only Isaac's covenental since he was an infant as called for in the covenant (which by the way was abrogated centuries later when THOU SHALL NOT STEAL was handed down. You can't ask an infant for permission to take healthy normal body parts, so to avoid stealing, you need to wait).

    OR maybe it's just written to take a dig at Muslim's, who follow Ishmael.

    Come on, it's ancient superstitious voodoo and you're pretending there's some logic to it?

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  2. Circumcision could have been only a requirement for all decendants that the covenant was established with Isaac and his seed.

    It might not have been a sign that the circumcisee has become a member of the covenant.

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