Genesis Vol 3.pdf - College Press

THE OLD COVENANT 17:l-27
tates the restriction of the punishment to adults, whereas
with the alternative signification no such restriction requires
to be imposed on the statute. The uncircumcised
Hebrew, whether child or adult, forfeited his standing in
the congregation, i.e., ceased to be a member of the Hebrew
commonwealth: he bath brokeii nzy covenaiit” (Whitelaw,
PCG, 234).
Design of the Covenant Sign. “Not a divinely ordained
instrumentality for initiation into the people of God,
at least not for a native Israelite. He was a member of
the people of God by virtue of birth. By circumcision he
was made aware of his covenant obligations and received
a perpetual badge or reminder of these obligations” (Leupold,
EG, 521). Was it, as some would have it, “a selfimposed
obligation on the part of God, irrespective of any
condition on the part of man,” or was it, as others would
ct
say, a bilateral engagement involving reciprocal obligations
between God and men”? We think Skinner’s explanation
is more to the point (ICCG, 298): “The truth seems
to lie somewhere between two extremes. The Berith is
neither a simple divine promise to which no obligation on
man’s part is attached (as in 15:18) nor is it a mutual
contract in the sense that the failure of one party dissolves
the relation. It is an immutable determination of God’s
purpose, which no unfaithfulness of man can invalidate;
but it carries conditions, the neglect of which will exclude
the individual from its benefits.” (The same is equally
true of the New Covenant). Circumcision here “becomes
a sign which, like the rainbow of 9: 16-17, is to remind
God of his Covenant and man of the obligations deriving
from his belonging to chosen people” (JB, 33, n.) . “Circumcision
was covenantal in nature, being the outward
sign or seal of the Abrahamic agreement which God made
(17: 11). The failure to be circumcised separated one from
the people of Israel. The command was perpetuated in
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