Original collection
Circumcision The removal of the male foreskin as a sign of membership in the covenant Israel maintained with God. This act was done on the eighth day after the birth of all the descendents of Abraham. Gentile converts to Judaism were also circumcised. There was a dispute in the NT as to whether Gentile converts to Christianity should be circumcised. The Scriptures emphatically say no (see Acts 15; Gal 5:1-6).
Key KJV Scriptures:
Genesis 17:9-14; Acts 15:1-29; Romans 2:28-29; Galatians 5:1-6; 6:15
Key KJV Scriptures: Full Text
119 indexed verses · Showing 1–40. Read each passage in its chapter context.
Genesis 17:4 (KJV)
As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
Genesis 17:5 (KJV)
Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
Genesis 17:6 (KJV)
And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
Genesis 17:7 (KJV)
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
Genesis 17:8 (KJV)
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
Genesis 17:9 (KJV)
And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
Genesis 17:10 (KJV)
This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
Genesis 17:11 (KJV)
And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
Genesis 17:12 (KJV)
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
Genesis 17:13 (KJV)
He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
Genesis 17:14 (KJV)
And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
Genesis 17:23 (KJV)
And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.
Genesis 17:24 (KJV)
And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Genesis 17:25 (KJV)
And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Genesis 17:26 (KJV)
In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.
Genesis 17:27 (KJV)
And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.
Genesis 21:3 (KJV)
And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
Genesis 21:4 (KJV)
And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.
Genesis 34:24 (KJV)
And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.
Exodus 4:24 (KJV)
And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.
Exodus 4:25 (KJV)
Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.
Exodus 6:12 (KJV)
And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?
Exodus 12:48 (KJV)
And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
Leviticus 12:3 (KJV)
And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
Deuteronomy 10:16 (KJV)
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
Deuteronomy 30:6 (KJV)
And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
Joshua 5:2 (KJV)
At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.
Joshua 5:3 (KJV)
And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.
Joshua 5:4 (KJV)
And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.
Joshua 5:5 (KJV)
Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.
Joshua 5:6 (KJV)
For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
Joshua 5:7 (KJV)
And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way.
Joshua 5:8 (KJV)
And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole.
Joshua 5:9 (KJV)
And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.
Jeremiah 4:4 (KJV)
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
Jeremiah 6:10 (KJV)
To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
Jeremiah 9:26 (KJV)
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.
Luke 1:59 (KJV)
And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
Luke 2:21 (KJV)
And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
John 7:22 (KJV)
Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.
Reference selections include Orville J. Nave’s public-domain topical index, via Brady Stephenson’s bible-data (CC BY 4.0). Titles and references have been normalized, duplicates merged, and references checked against the site’s KJV. This is a passage-finding aid; its classifications do not establish doctrine.