Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;
I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised - rather, 'all that are circumcised in uncircumcision' (Henderson). The Hebrew is an abstract term, not a concrete, as the English version translates, and as the previous "circumcised" is. The nations specified, Egypt, Judah, etc., were outwardly "circumcised," but in heart were "uncircumcised." The pagan nations were defiled, in spite of their literal circumcision, by idolatry. The Jews, with all their glorying in their spiritual privileges, were no better (Jeremiah 4:4, "Take away the foreskins of your heart;" Deuteronomy 10:16; Deuteronomy 30:6; Colossians 2:11, "circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh"). However, Ezekiel 31:18, "Thou (Egypt) shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised," 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 the English version may be right (Romans 2:28-29. But the Hebrew [bª`aarlaah] - literally, 'in,' or 'with the foreskin,' favours the translation 'circumcised (outwardly; yet still remaining) with the foreskin' of the heart not taken away; retaining carnality at heart though having laid aside its outward fleshly emblem).