SEV Biblia, Chapter 4:11
Y recibi la circuncisin por seal, por sello de la justicia de la fe que tuvo en la incircuncisin, para que fuese padre de todos los creyentes no circuncidados, para que tambin a ellos les sea contado por justicia;
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Romans 4:11
Verse 11. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal, &c.] So far was obedience to the law of circumcision from being the reason of his justification, that he not only received this justification before he was circumcised, but he received the sign of circumcision, as a seal of the pardon which he had before actually received. And thus he became the father, the great head and representative, of all them that believe; particularly the Gentiles, who are now in precisely the same state in which Abraham was when he received the mercy of God. Hence it appears, says Dr. Taylor, that the covenant established with Abraham, Gen. xvii. 2-15, is the same with that, Gen. xii. 2, 3; xv. 5, &c.; for circumcision was not a seal of any new grant, but of the justification and promise which Abraham had received before he was circumcised; and that justification and promise included the Gospel covenant in which we are now interested. St. Paul refers to this, Gal. iii. 8: The Scripture foreseeing that God would justify us, heathens, through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. The whole of the apostle's argument, in this fourth chapter to the Romans, proves that we, believing Gentiles, are the seed of Abraham, to whom, as well as to himself, the promise was made; and that the promise made to him is the same in effect as that promise which is now made to us; consequently, it is the Abrahamic covenant in which we now stand; and any argument taken from the nature of that covenant, and applied to ourselves, must be good and valid. It is also undeniably evident, from this eleventh verse, as well as from Gen. xvii. 1-11, that circumcision was a seal or sign of the Gospel covenant in which we now stand. See Taylor. There is nothing more common in the Jewish writers than the words hwa oth, SIGN, and twj chotham, SEAL, as signifying the mark in the flesh, by the rite of circumcision; see on Gen. iv. 15. SOHAR Genes., fol. 41, col. 161, has these words: And God set a mark upon Cain; this mark was the sign of the covenant of circumcision. TARGUM, Cant. iii. 8: The seal of circumcision is in your flesh; as Abraham was sealed in the flesh. YALCUT RUBENI, fol. l14: Joseph did not defile the sign of the holy covenant; i.e. he did not commit adultery with the wife of Potiphar. Liber Cosri, part i., c.
115, p. l20: Circumcision is a Divine sign which God has placed on the member of concupiscence, to the end that we may overcome evil desire.
SHEMOTH RABBA, sec. 19, fol. c18: Ye shall not eat the passover unless the SEAL of Abraham be in your flesh. Yalcut Rubeni, fol. xx16: God said to Abraham, I will seal thy flesh. Sohar Levit. fol. 6: Abraham was sealed with the holy seal. See Schoettgen.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 11. And he received the sign of circumcision , etc..] Or the sign circumcision, as the Syriac version reads it, and so the Alexandrian copy, and two of Stephens's; that is, Abraham received at the hands of God, the commandment of circumcision, which was a sign or token of the covenant; not of grace, but of that peculiar covenant God made with Abraham and his natural seed, concerning their enjoyment of the land of Canaan; and which was a distinctive sign or badge, which distinguished the posterity of Abraham from other people, and was also a typical one; not of baptism, for circumcision was peculiar to Abraham's natural seed, whereas baptism is not, but was administered to Gentiles as well as Jews; circumcision was confined to males only, not so baptism; circumcision bears no likeness to, nor any resemblance with baptism, whereas there is always some likeness and agreement between the type and the antitype; besides, if this had been the case, circumcision would have ceased when baptism took place, whereas it is certain it did not, but continued in full force with the rest of the ceremonies until the death of Christ; and it is as certain, that baptism was administered and continued to be administered three or four years before that time; which fully demonstrates the falsehood of that assertion, that baptism succeeds or comes in the room of circumcision; whereas baptism was in full force before circumcision was out of date: but circumcision was a typical sign of Christ, as all the ceremonies of the law were, and of the shedding of his blood, to cleanse from all sin, original and actual, and also of the circumcision of the heart.
And was, moreover, a seal of the righteousness of faith ; or which sign was a seal; and so it signifies the same as before; shmeia outw legousi tav sfragidav , signs, so they call seals, says Harpocratian f53 , and to be signed, he says, is used, instead of being sealed: or it may be expressive of something else, as that circumcision was a seal, not for secrecy, but for certainty; it being a confirmation, not merely of the sincerity of Abraham's faith, but of his justifying righteousness, which was not his faith, but that which his faith looked to; and which he had , both faith and righteousness, yet being uncircumcised : whence it follows, that he was not justified by his circumcision, but by a righteousness which he had before he was circumcised, or otherwise his circumcision could not have been a seal of it: though this clause, which he had, yet being uncircumcised, may be rendered, which should be in the uncircumcision, that is, in the uncircumcised Gentiles; and the sense be, that circumcision was a seal to Abraham, and gave assurance to him that he should be the father of many nations in a spiritual sense; and that the righteousness of faith which he had, should also come upon, and be imputed to the uncircumcised Gentiles; and accordingly it may be observed, that this seal was continued in full force on his natural seed, until this promise began to take place, and then it was abolished: this seal was broken off when the middle wall of partition was broken down, and the word of righteousness and faith, or the Gospel preaching justification by the righteousness of Christ, was ordered to be published to the Gentile world. It may be inquired whether circumcision being called a seal, will prove that baptism is a seal of the covenant? I answer, that circumcision was only a seal to Abraham of a peculiar covenant made with him, and of a particular promise made to him, and was it to be admitted a seal of the covenant of grace, it will not prove baptism to be such; since, as has been observed, baptism does not succeed it in place, in time, and use; and could this be allowed that it succeeds it, and is a seal of the righteousness of faith, as that was, it can only be a seal to them that have both faith and righteousness, and not to them that have neither; it would only at most be a seal to believers. But, alas! not ordinances, but other things more valuable than they, are the seals of the covenant, and of believers; the blood of Christ is the seal, and the only seal of the covenant of grace, by which its promises and blessings are ratified and confirmed; and the Holy Spirit is the only earnest, pledge, seal, and sealer of the saints, until the day of redemption. The apostle uses the word seal concerning circumcision, it being a word his countrymen made use of when they spoke of it, thus paraphrasing on ( Song of Solomon 3:8); they say f54 , everyone of them was sealed, hlym tmytj , with the seal of circumcision upon their flesh, as Abraham was sealed in his flesh: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised ; that is, his circumcision was a seal unto him that he should be so, which explains and confirms the sense of the former clause; not a father of the uncircumcised Gentiles by natural generation, for so he was only the father of the Jews, but of them as they were believers; and not so called because he was the author of their faith, but because they have the same sort of faith he had: that righteousness might be imputed to them also ; not Abraham's faith and righteousness, nor their own, but the righteousness of Christ received by faith, which is unto all, and upon all them that believe, without any difference of Jew or Gentile. Now when the apostle styles Abraham the father of all believers, even of uncircumcised ones, he says no other than what the Jews frequently own. Says one of them, speaking of the Ishmaelites; they are the seed of Abraham, who was ynymamh ar , the head of them that believe? and says another, Hagar might bring the firstfruits, and read, as it is said to Abraham, a father of, many nations have I made thee, ( Genesis 17:5); for he is wlwk lw[h lkl ba , the father of the whole world, who enter under the wings of the Shekinah; and says the same writer elsewhere f57 , having mentioned the above passage, they said in times past, thou wast the father of the Syrians, but now thou art the father of the whole world; wherefore every stranger may say this, as thou hast sworn to our fathers, ( Micah 7:20); for Abraham was the father of the whole world; seeing, hnwma dml , he has taught the true faith.
The apostle reasons on what they themselves allow, to prove that the blessedness of justification comes not only upon the Jews, but upon the Gentiles also.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-12 - To meet the views of the Jews, the apostle first refers to the exampl of Abraham, in whom the Jews gloried as their most renowned forefather However exalted in various respects, he had nothing to boast in the presence of God, being saved by grace, through faith, even as others Without noticing the years which passed before his call, and the failures at times in his obedience, and even in his faith, it wa expressly stated in Scripture that "he believed God, and it was counte to him for righteousness," Ge 15:6. From this example it is observed that if any man could work the full measure required by the law, the reward must be reckoned as a debt, which evidently was not the cas even of Abraham, seeing faith was reckoned to him for righteousness When believers are justified by faith, "their faith being counted for righteousness," their faith does not justify them as a part, small of great, of their righteousness; but as the appointed means of unitin them to Him who has chosen as the name whereby he shall be called, "the Lord our Righteousness." Pardoned people are the only blessed people It clearly appears from the Scripture, that Abraham was justifie several years before his circumcision. It is, therefore, plain tha this rite was not necessary in order to justification. It was a sign of the original corruption of human nature. And it was such a sign as wa also an outward seal, appointed not only to confirm God's promises to him and to his seed, and their obligation to be the Lord's, but likewise to assure him of his being already a real partaker of the righteousness of faith. Thus Abraham was the spiritual forefather of all believers, who walked after the example of his obedient faith. The seal of the Holy Spirit in our sanctification, making us new creatures is the inward evidence of the righteousness of faith.
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 CONJ σημειον 4592 N-ASN ελαβεν 2983 5627 V-2AAI-3S περιτομης 4061 N-GSF σφραγιδα 4973 N-ASF της 3588 T-GSF δικαιοσυνης 1343 N-GSF της 3588 T-GSF πιστεως 4102 N-GSF της 3588 T-GSF εν 1722 PREP τη 3588 T-DSF ακροβυστια 203 N-DSF εις 1519 PREP το 3588 T-ASN ειναι 1511 5750 V-PXN αυτον 846 P-ASM πατερα 3962 N-ASM παντων 3956 A-GPM των 3588 T-GPM πιστευοντων 4100 5723 V-PAP-GPM δι 1223 PREP ακροβυστιας 203 N-GSF εις 1519 PREP το 3588 T-ASN λογισθηναι 3049 5683 V-APN και 2532 CONJ αυτοις 846 P-DPM την 3588 T-ASF δικαιοσυνην 1343 N-ASF
Vincent's NT Word Studies
11. The sign - a seal (shmeion - sfragida). Sign refers to the material token; seal to its religious import. Compare 1 Cor. ix. 2; Gen. xvii. 11. See on to seal, Apoc. xxii. 10.That he might be (eiv to einai auton). Not so that he became, but expressing the divinely appointed aim of his receiving the sign.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
4:11 {The sign of circumcision} (semeion peritomes). It is the genitive of apposition, circumcision being the sign. {A seal of the righteousness of the faith} (sfragida tes dikaiosunes tes pistews). Sphragis is old word for the seal placed on books (#Re 5:1), for a signet-ring (#Re 7:2), the stamp made by the seal (#2Ti 2:19), that by which anything is confirmed (#1Co 9:2) as here. The circumcision did not convey the righteousness, but only gave outward confirmation. It came by faith and "the faith which he had while in uncircumcision" (ts en ti akrobustiai), "the in the state of uncircumcision faith." Whatever parallel exists between baptism and circumcision as here stated by Paul argues for faith before baptism and for baptism as the sign and seal of the faith already had before baptism. {That he might be} (eis to einai auton). this idiom may be God's purpose (contemplated result) as in eis to logisthnai below, or even actual result (so that he was) as in #1:20. {Though they be in uncircumcision} (di' akrobustias). Simply, "of those who believe while in the condition of uncircumcision."
