After Abram had sojourned in the land of promise twenty-four years, the Lord made a covenant with him and changed his name to Abraham (Gen 12:4-5; Gen 17:1-5). The Lord proposed to make of him a great nation and to perpetuate the covenant through his offspring (Gen 17:6-7). Birth and purchase were the conditions of membership in this covenant (Gen 12:13). Circumcision was,

1. a visible mark in the flesh,
2. it affected only the males of Abraham's family,
3. the children were circumcised on the eighth day,
4. and the uncircumcised were to be cut off from the covenant (Gen 17:6-14).