“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will punish all those who are circumcised only in their flesh:
Parallel Translations
-
“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will punish all those who are circumcised only in their flesh:
-
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;
-
(9-24) Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them that are circumcised in their uncircumcision:
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 9:25 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 2:8-9 but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath, indignation, oppression, and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
- Romans 2:25-26 For circumcision indeed profits, if you are a doer of the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won’t his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision?
- Galatians 5:2-6 Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is a debtor to do the whole law. You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace. For we, through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.
- Ezekiel 28:10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers; for I have spoken it,” says the Lord Yahweh.’ ”
- Ezekiel 32:19-32 Whom do you pass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised. They will fall among those who are slain by the sword. She is delivered to the sword. Draw her away with all her multitudes. The strong among the mighty will speak to him out of the middle of Sheol with those who help him. They have gone down. The uncircumcised lie still, slain by the sword. “Asshur is there with all her company. Her graves are all around her. All of them slain, fallen by the sword; whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living. “There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. They have set her a bed among the slain with all her multitude. Her graves are around her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. He is put among those who are slain. “There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude. Their graves are around them, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living. They will not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who have gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are on their bones; for they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. “But you will be broken among the uncircumcised, and will lie with those who are slain by the sword. “There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword. They will lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit. “There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down with the slain. They are put to shame in the terror which they caused by their might. They lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. “Pharaoh will see them, and will be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword,” says the Lord Yahweh. “For I have put his terror in the land of the living. He will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude,” says the Lord Yahweh.
- Amos 3:2 “I have only chosen you of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all of your sins.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet, after having removed the obstacle which he…
The Prophet, after having removed the obstacle which he saw hindered the Jews from reverently receiving the truth of God, now speaks more sharply, and performs the office of a herald in denouncing the vengeance which was at hand: Behold, he says, come shall the days, in which I will visit all the uncircumcised in uncircumcision
This passage admits of two meanings. Some interpreters take as distinct these two words, מול mul, the circumcised, בערלה, beorle, in uncircumcision; as though Jeremiah had said, “I will visit the Jews, who are circumcised, as well as the heathen nations, who are uncircumcised,” Others read them jointly, — that God threatens vengeance on the Jews and Gentiles, because they were circumcised, and still retained uncircumcision. The passage may however be thus suitably explained, — that there was a mixture, which corrupted the sacredness of circumcision, and made it like the uncircumcision of the Gentiles; as though it were thus expressed, “I will visit the circumcised with the uncircumcision,” that is, promiscuously and without any difference, as we say in our language, Pele mele. For it follows afterwards, that all were uncircumcised in heart; that is, all the Jews. We hence see that the Prophet makes circumcision and uncireumcision the same, and that he intended to render profane the sacred symbol of adoption;but he had reference to the Jews, who, being degenerated, thus adulterated God’s covenant, and at the same time violated circumcision, so that in differed nothing from uncircumcision. I therefore think, that the Jews are classed with the Gentiles, so that he ascribes even to them uncircumcision: I will then visit all the circumcised with the uncircumcision; that is, the circumcision of each is vain, and is like uncircumcision.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Meaning, both Jews and Gentiles, as in this next…
Meaning, both Jews and Gentiles, as in this next verse he showeth the cause, read Jer. 4:4.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 9:25 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD,…
Jer 9:25 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all [them which are] circumcised with the uncircumcised;
Ver. 25. That I will punish all them, &c.] Promiscuously and impartially.
Read full note →
That are circumcised.] Some read it, The circumcised in uncircumcision. Unregenerate Israel, notwithstanding their circumcision, are to God as Ethiopians. {Amo 9:7}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I will punish, viz. by the Babylonians, all them…
I will punish, viz. by the Babylonians, all them which are circumcised: q.d. Do not think to insist upon your external privilege of circumcision, that you are Abraham’s natural seed, and thereby distinguished from other nations, as you sometimes were wont to do of the temple, that you had God in the midst of you. Do not think that shall privilege you: for you shall see it shall not be long ere I bring the Chaldeans upon those other nations, which either are circumcised in the flesh as well as you, and upon you also, who are uncircumcised in heart as well as they: or whether circumcision was lost, as being cast off by them, and so they were indeed uncircumcised; God tells them they shall fare alike: hence in the next verse he ranks Judah next to Egypt among the other uncircumcised nations; for he looks to the circumcision of the heart, not of the body; to inward worship, not outward only; therefore some read it the circumcised in uncirumcision.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,.... Or, "are…
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,.... Or, "are coming" (h); it seems to respect the time after the Babylonish captivity, when the punishment after threatened took place, and not before:
that I will punish all them that are circumcised with the uncircumcised; Jews and Gentiles together. The circumcised. Jews trusting in their circumcision, and being, as is said in the next verse, uncircumcised in heart, were no better than the uncircumcised Gentiles; wherefore both being transgressors of the law, and despisers of the Gospel of Christ, are threatened with destruction; see Rom 2:12.
Read full note →
(h) "dies sunt venientes", Schmidt, Montanus; "venturi sunt", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 25. I will punish all them which are…
Verse 25. I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised] Do not imagine that you, because of your crimes, are the only objects of my displeasure; the circumcised and the uncircumcised, the Jew and the Gentile, shall equally feel the stroke of my justice, their transgressions being alike, after their advantages and disadvantages are duly compared. In like manner, other nations also were delivered into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, these he immediately enumerates: Egypt and Edom, and the Moabites and the Ammonites, and the Arabians of the desert. All these nations were uncircumcised in that way which God required that rite to be practised as a sign of his covenant; and the Israelites, that did practise it as a sign of that covenant, did not attend to its spiritual meaning, for they were all uncircumcised in heart. And it may be remarked, that these people were in general confederated against the Chaldeans.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jer 9:25-26. Behold the days come, &c. — Blaney…
Jer 9:25-26. Behold the days come, &c. — Blaney translates these two verses, “Behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah, that I will punish all the circumcision with the uncircumcision; Egypt, &c., and all those that have their coast insulated, those that dwell in the wilderness: for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.” The Greek word ακροβυσια, which properly means uncircumcision, is several times used by St. Paul for the persons who are uncircumcised, as περιτομη, circumcision, is put for persons circumcised. See Rom 2:26-27; Rom 3:30. Because the Jews valued themselves so much upon their circumcision, God here tells them that, when he should send his judgments abroad into the world, they should find no more favour than those that were not circumcised; and, accordingly, in mentioning the heathen nations whom he would punish, he places Judah among them, because they were, in effect, uncircumcised as well as the heathen, contenting themselves with the outward sign of circumcision in the flesh, without seeking that internal circumcision, which is of the heart and spirit, and the purification and holiness signified thereby. By those that have their coast insulated, as Blaney renders one of the clauses of Jer 9:26, he supposes the Arabians are designed, which he thinks may be fairly concluded from the connection in which the same words. קצוצי פאה, stand with the context, in Jer 49:32. Concerning the precise meaning, however, of these words, he justly observes, “interpreters differ very greatly. Some represent them as signifying persons cut off from other people, by being thrust into a remote corner; in which light the translators of our Bible appear to have considered them, when they rendered them in the text, All that are in the utmost corners, and in the margin, cut off into corners. But all the ancient versions understand them as expressing the peculiar manner in which the Arabians cut the hair of their heads or beards,” expressed also in our marginal reading; which reading, Dr. Durel says, ought doubtless to be received into the text; the Arabs, who are meant, he thinks, by this periphrasis, being accustomed to cut their hair short, particularly about the crown of the head; and in respect to their beards, leaving only a tuft of hair growing about their chins; a practice which was forbidden to the Jews, Lev 19:27. But it seems much more probable that the words have a respect to the peninsular form of the country, surrounded on all sides by the sea, excepting only the isthmus to the north; and thus almost insulated, or cut off, from any other land.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain All them which are circumcised ... - Rather, “all…
All them which are circumcised ... - Rather, “all circumcised in uncircumcision,” i. e., all who though outwardly circumcised have no corresponding inward purity.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain with the uncircumcised--rather, "all that are circumcised in uncircumcision"…
with the uncircumcised--rather, "all that are circumcised in uncircumcision" [HENDERSON]. The Hebrew is an abstract term, not a concrete, as English Version translates, and as the pious "circumcised" is. The nations specified, Egypt, Judah, &c., were outwardly "circumcised," but in heart were "uncircumcised." The heathen nations were defiled, in spite of their literal circumcision, by idolatry. The Jews, with all their glorying in their spiritual privileges, were no better (Jer 4:4; Deu 10:16; Deu 30:6; Rom 2:28-29; Col 2:11). However, Eze 31:18; Eze 32:19, may imply that the Egyptians were uncircumcised; and it is uncertain as to the other nations specified whether they were at that early time circumcised. HERODOTUS says the Egyptians were so; but others think this applies only to the priests and others having a sacred character, not to the mass of the nation; so English Version may be fight (Rom 2:28-29).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. The Means of Escape from Impending Punishment. —…
3. The Means of Escape from Impending Punishment. — Jer_9:25 to Jer_10:25.
25. Circumcised with the uncircumcised — Rather, circumcised in uncircumcision; literally, with the foreskin. The meaning is, God will cut off all who are really uncircumcised, and among these are included those who have received merely the outward rite.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 25, 26. circumcised in their uncircumcision] probably meaning circumcised…
25, 26. circumcised in their uncircumcision] probably meaning circumcised in body but not in heart. “Judah cannot rely on a rite which she shares with the heathen, indeed the corresponding inward circumcision is as lacking in her as in them,” Pe. See on Jer_4:4. The statements in Jer_9:26 are confirmed as to Egypt by Jos_5:9 (where “reproach of Egypt” means that the Egyptians would despise them as long as they remained uncircumcised), and by Herod. II. 104. The other nations, as tracing their descent from Abraham, would naturally observe the rite; so too the Arabians, as claiming Ishmael (see Gen_17:23 ff.) for ancestor. Josephus (Ant. I. xii. 2) also testifies as to these last. The Philistines, on the other hand, are frequently designated contemptuously as uncircumcised (e.g. 1Sa_14:6; 1Sa_17:26).
that have the corners of their hair polled] i.e. cut off from the temples. See also Jer_25:23, Jer_49:32. According to Herod. (III. 8) it had a religious significance with certain Arab tribes. Hence its prohibition in Lev_19:27.
Read full note →
the wilderness] the desert of Arabia, eastward of Palestine.
all the nations are uncircumcised] The true circumcision of the heart is as much lacking with them as with Judah.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (25) I will punish all them which are circumcised…
(25) I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised.—The passage is difficult, but the English verse is misleading. Better, I will punish all those that are circumcised in uncircumcision—all, i.e., who have the outward sign, but not the inward purity of which it was the symbol. In the day of God’s judgments (this being the connecting link with the preceding verse) there would be no difference between the Jew and other races who like him practised circumcision on the one hand, and the outlying heathen world on the other. Here, again, Jeremiah anticipated St. Paul, “To the Jew first, and also to the Gentile; for there is no respect of persons with God” (Rom_2:9). The true circumcision is that which is “in the spirit, not in the letter” (Rom_2:29).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 25, 26. A further enforcement of the doctrine…
Vers. 25, 26. A further enforcement of the doctrine that no outward privileges, if dissociated from inward moral vitality, will avail.
All them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised; rather, all the circumcised in uncircumcision, or, as Ewald turns it, "all the uncircumcised-circumcised." But what does this enigmatical expression signify? Hitzig, Graf, and apparently Dr. Payne Smith, think that it has a twofold meaning: that, as applied to the Jews, it means circumcised in the flesh, but not in heart, and, as applied to the heathen, simply uncircumcised (the one-half of the phrase neutralizing the other, like "a knife without the blade," "angels with horns and hoofs," etc.). The latter meaning, however, is surely very improbable, and it would only become necessary if it were proved that circumcision was practiced by none of the nations mentioned but the Jews. This is not the case. There is no doubt that the Egyptians were circumcised in very early times (see the drawing of a bas-relief in the Temple of Chunsu at Karnak, given by Dr. Ebers in his "Egypten und die Bucher Meets"). The assertion that only the priests underwent the operation has no older evidence than that of Origen (edit. Lommatzsch, 4:138), "in whose time it is quite possible that the Egyptians, like the later Jews, sought to evade a peculiarity which exposed them to ridicule and contempt." As to the Ammonites and Moabites, we have, unfortunately, no information. With regard to the Edomites, it is true that, according to Josephus ("Antiq.," 13:9, 1), they were compelled to accept circumcision by John Hyrcanus. But it is still quite possible that, at an earlier period, the rite was practiced, just as it was among the ancient Arabs, the evidence for which is beyond question (see the writer"s article, "Circumcision," in Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th edit.). (On the statement that "all these the nations are uncircumcised," see below.)
Read full note →
Vers. 25, 26. Impartial justice.
I SPECIAL PRIVILEGES DO NOT INTENSE WITH THE IMPARTIAL EXERCISE OF DIVINE JUSTICE. Judah is specially privileged, and prizes circumcision as a seal of the peculiar favor of Heaven. (Gen_17:9-14) Yet Judah must take its place in the indiscriminate catalogue of corrupt nations. If privileges are noted in God"s exercise of justice, this can only be as an aggravation of guilt. The citizens of favored nations, the heirs of rank and wealth, persons whose lives have been peculiarly successful and unvisited with the usual amount of trouble, all stand in this position. Their present happy condition is no guarantee for favor in the day of Divine judgment, but, on the contrary, a reason for regarding the ingratitude of sin as, in their case, the more culpable.
II THE OBSERVANCE OF EXTERNAL ORDINANCES HAS NO INFLUENCE ON THE IMPARTIAL EXERCISE OF DIVINE JUSTICE. Their utility is solely as regards their effect on men. They are profitable only in so far as they assist the corresponding spiritual acts, which are all that God takes note of. (Col_2:11) The circumcised in body who are not circumcised in heart will suffer just as if they had never been circumcised at all. The ordinance without the spirituality is an offence rather than a pleasing thing. It shows knowledge; it is a mockery to God. This must be so,
(1) because God is spirit, and can only be served spiritually; and
(2) because the highest justice is concerned with thoughts, motives, deeds of the soul, rather than with the ambiguous actions of the outer life.
III NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE TO THE IMPARTIAL EXERCISE OF DIVINE JUSTICE. All kinds of nations are classed together. Cultivated Egyptians and wild Arabs, scrupulous Jews and idolatrous Ammonites, all come before the same judgment-bar, all have the same fair trial-and righteous sentence.
1. The heathen are not excluded from Gods judgment; for
(1) he is the God of all the earth, and of those who ignore him as well as of those who recognize him;
(2) the heathen have a light of nature and a conscience by which to guide their conduct;
(3) God"s judgment is reasonable, and can adapt requirement to opportunity, so that the heathen will have as just treatment as those who are more privileged.
2. The Jews and professedly religious are not excluded. Many people make an utterly unwarrantable assumption that their respectability, position in the Church, etc., are such that the stern ordeal of the judgment is not for them. In his vision of judgment Christ made no such exceptions. (Mat_25:31-46)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
These are the words of Yahweh.
Read full note →
See
Yahweh uses this word here to draw the people's attention to what he says next. AT: "Listen" or "Indeed" (See: Idiom)
days are coming
This is an idiom. AT: "there will be a time" (See: Idiom)
this is Yahweh's declaration
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 1:8. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
all the circumcised who are such only in their body
This refers to the people of Israel who have entered into Yahweh's covenant by getting circumcised physically, but who have not changed their inner beings by following his laws. AT: "all those people who have changed their bodies by circumcising them but who have not changed their inner beings" (See: Metaphor)
all the people who cut the hair on their heads very short
This probably refers to people who cut their hair short in order to honor a pagan god. Some modern versions interpret this Hebrew expression as "all the people who live on the edge of the wilderness."
For all these nations are uncircumcised
The word "nations" refers to the people who live in these places. Foreigners being uncircumcised was a sign that they were not in Yahweh's covenant. AT: "For the people of these nations did not enter into a covenant with Yahweh through circumcision" (See: Metonymy and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
all the house of Israel has an uncircumcised heart
The "heart" represents a person's will and desires. An "uncircumcised heart" represents the character of a person that does not follow Yahweh and his laws. Also, the "house" of Israel refers to the people of Israel. AT: "all the people of Israel are only circumcised on the outside and have not changed their hearts" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)
translationWords
day
punish
circumcise
body
Egypt
kingdom of Judah
Edom
Ammon
Moab
desert
nation
house
kingdom of Israel
circumcise
heart
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 9:25 Because arrogant sin ruled the nation, there would…
9:25 Because arrogant sin ruled the nation, there would soon come a time when the Lord would decree a sentence of doom. • The rite of circumcision among the Hebrew people went back to Abraham (Gen 17:10-14). Through the centuries, this rite became so closely associated with being God’s covenant people that the Israelites assumed that it guaranteed their nation a lasting relationship with the Lord. Being circumcised in body is not enough, however; a person must also be circumcised . . . in spirit—radically separated from idol worship and completely committed to placing the Lord at the center of life and practice (Rom 2:25-29).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.