Verse 14, which concludes God’s third speech to Abraham, is a warning of punishment. Some languages may need to mark the opening of verse 14 by a special term that will tell the reader that a warning is now to be read.
Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin: the wording is in legal style and hence highly redundant. Many translations will need to simplify this by saying something similar to Good News Translation: “Any male who is not circumcised….” In languages that cannot use the passive here, the most common approach is “If they do not cut [or, circumcise] any male person….”
Shall be cut off from his people: cut off is used commonly in the Old Testament to refer to persons who are excluded or separated from the sacred community. Other examples are Exo 12.15; Lev 7.20-27; Num 9.13. To be cut off is to be condemned to isolation and separated from the people of Israel and the worshiping community. Moffatt translates “outlawed,” which means to be without the protection of the law. In more modern terms it expresses the idea of excommunication.
From his people: people in Hebrew here is plural and is best taken in a more limited sense to refer to a man’s kin or family group, those with whom he recognizes some bond of relationship. The same term is used in 25.8, in which it is said that “Abraham … died … and was gathered to his people.” Good News Translation translates “will no longer be considered one of my people.” This rendering shifts from his people to “my people,” to agree with “my covenant” in the next clause. We may also translate “He will be sent away from his relatives,” “He will be removed from his clan,” or if the passive cannot be used, “His own people will put him out.”
He has broken my covenant: although there is no connecting word in Hebrew or in Revised Standard Version, this clause follows the statement about punishment as the reason for it. Good News Translation expresses this by saying “because….” To break the covenant is to fail to perform the obligations required by God. To break the covenant is the opposite of keeping or obeying the conditions of the covenant, as used in verses 9 and 10. Bible en français courant translates “For not having respected the obligations [duties] of my covenant.” We may also translate, for example, “because you have not performed the duties I required when I made the covenant with you.” Following on from verse 9, some translations say “because he hasn’t kept his side of the promise I am making with you.”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .