Acts 7 verse 8

Acts 7:8

And he gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.    (KJV)

And he gave to them a covenant of circumcision*; and so he fathered Isaac; and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.     (IB)

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*Gen 17:1-13 When Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said,  I am the Almighty God; . . . walk before me, and . . . be thou perfect. (2) And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 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.(6) And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. (7) 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. (8) 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. (11) And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and thee. (12) 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. (13) . . .: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

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Retranslation: And God gave the Understanding of Generation to Abraham;

God “appeared” to Abram    (Gen 17:1)

 Abraham stood in Her presence fully aware of where he was; Her meaning was clear, obvious, and comprehensive; She enabled him to know Her as . . . .

God shows Herself as The Disposer (Covenanter)

. . . . the One-Who-Disposes-of-All-Events, the One Who sets all things in order,-----arranging, regulating, adjusting, and governing,------according to the natural constitution of Her most gentle and amiable Mind. 

The Disposition of Generation (The Covenant of Circumcision)

She enabled him to know Her as I-Am-the-Generator-of-All, the One Who Begins-All-Things, the One Who maintains all things forever and ever. 

(Abraham’s “token” of Acceptance)   (Gen 17:11)

(As a token, or sign, of Abraham’s acceptance of this Understanding, Abraham disposed of his belief in any generating power originating in himself, or in anything other than God, and) . . . . 

Generation = spiritual unfolding of What Is

. . . God fathered great joy in Abraham [Isaac]; 

multiplied his Understanding and “dominion with God” [Israel]; and

brought forth to Abraham's view the perfect Man [twelve patriarchs]. 

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gave1325 didomai, a prolonged form of a primary verb (which is used as an alternative inmost of the tenses); to give (used in a very wide application, properly or by implication, literally or figuratively; greatly modified by the connection):-----adventure, bestow, bring forth, commit, deliver (up), give, grant, hinder, make, minister, number, offer, have power, put, receive, set, shew, smite (+ with the palm of the hand), strike (+ with the palm of the hand), suffer, take, utter, yield.

covenant 1242 diatheke, from 1303; properly a disposition, i.e. (specifically) a contract (especially a devisory will):----covenant, testament.

1303 diatithemai, middle from 1223 and 5087; to put apart, i.e. (figuratively) dispose (by assignment, compact or bequest):-----appoint, make, testator.

disposition (1828 Dict. def.): [from dispose, L. dispono, dis + pono, to place.]

1. The act of disposing, or the state of being disposed.
2. Manner in which things or the parts of a complex body are placed or arranged; order; method; distribution; arrangement. We speak of the disposition of the infantry and cavalry of an army; the disposition of trees in an orchard; the disposition of the several parts of an edifice, the parts or a discourse, or of the figures in painting.
3. Natural fitness or tendency. The refrangibility of the rays of light in their disposition to be refracted. So we say, a disposition of plants to grow in a direction upwards; a disposition in bodies to putrefaction.
4. Temper or natural constitution of the mind; as an amiable or an irritable disposition.
5. Inclination; propensity; the temper or frame of mind, as directed to particular objects. We speak of the disposition of a person to undertake a particular work; the dispositions of men towards each other; a disposition friendly to any design.
6. Disposal; alienation; distribution; a giving away or giving over to another; as, he has made disposition of his effects; he has satisfied his friends by the judicious disposition of his property.

Dispositor (ibid.): A disposer; in astrology, the planet which is lord of the sign where another planet is.

Disposer (ibid.): 

1. One who disposes; a distributor; a bestower; as a disposer of gifts.
2. A director; a regulator.  The Supreme Being is the rightful disposer of all events, and of all creatures.
3. That which disposes.

Disposing (ibid.):

1. Setting in order; arranging; distributing; bestowing; regulating; adjusting; governing.

circumcision 4061 peritome, from 4059; circumcision (the rite, the condition of the people, literal or figurative):-----circumcision, circumcised.

circumcised 4059 peritithemi, from 4012 and the base of 5114; to cut around, i.e. (specifically) to circumcise:----circumcise.

thus 3779 houto, in this way (referring to what precedes or follows):-----after that, after (in) this manner, as, even (so), for all that, like, likewise, no more, on this fashion, on this wise, so (in like manner), thus, what.

begat 1080 gennao, from a variation of 1085; to procreate (properly by the father, but by extension of the mother); figuratively to regenerate:-----bear, beget, be born, bring forth, conceive, be delivered of, gender, make, spring.

Generation (ibid.): [From gender, L. genus, from geno, to beget, or to be born. From the same root as Begin and Can.]

1. The act of begetting; procreation, as of animals.
2. Production; formation; as the generation of sounds or of curves or equations.
3. A single succession in natural descent, as the children of the same parents; hence, an age. Thus we say, the third, the fourth, or the tenth generation. Gen. xv. 16.
4. The people of the same period, or living at the same time. “O faithless and perverse generation.” Luke ix.
5. Genealogy; a series of children or descendants from the same stock. “This is the book of the generations of Adam.” Gen. v.
6. A family; a race.
7. Progeny; offspring.

Production (ibid.): The act or process of producing.

Produce (ibid.): To bring forward; to bring or offer to view or notice.

Bring (ibid.): To fetch; to bear, convey or lead from a distant to a nearer place.

1. To cause to come.
2. To cause to come to a point, by moral influence; used of the mind, and implying previous remoteness, aversion, alienation, or disagreement; as, to bring the mind to assent to a proposition; or to bring a man to terms by persuasion or argument.

The primary sense is to lead, draw or cause to come; the sense of conveying or bearing is secondary. The use of this verb is so extensive, and incorporated into so many peculiar phrases, that it is not easy to reduce its significations within any precise limits. In general, the verb bring implies motion from a place remote, either in a literal or figurative sense.

To bring back is to recall, implying previous departure, either in a literal or figurative sense.

To bring about, to bring to pass; to effect; to accomplish; to bring to the desire issue.

To bring forth, is to produce, as young or fruit; also, to bring to light; that is, to produce to view.

To bring in, to import; to introduce; to bear from a remote place within a certain precinct; to place in a particular condition; to collect things dispersed; to reduce withing the limits of law and government; to produce, as income, rent or revenue; to induce to join; etc.

Notice (ibid.): [L. notus, past participle of nosco, I begin to know.]

1. Observation by the eye or by other senses. 
2. Observation by the mind; as to take notice of a distinction between truth and veracity.
3. Information; intelligence by whatever means communicated; knowledge given or received.

Beget

1. To procreate, as a father or sire; to generate; as, to beget a son.
2. To produce, as an effect; to cause to exist; to generate; as, luxury begets vice.

Isaac H3327 yishaq, from 6711; laughter (i.e. mockery); Jitchak (or Isaac), son of Abraham:-----Isaac.

eighth [Does anyone know the significance of the number 8?  Is it “one more than 7," and thus, a symbol or abundance, i.e. more than is needed?]

day 2250 hemera

Day. The irradiance of Life; light, the spiritual idea of Truth and Love.

“And the evening and the morning were the first day.” (Genesis 1.5.) The objects of time and sense disappear in the illumination of spiritual understanding, and Mind measure time according to the good that is unfolded. This unfolding is God’s day, and “there shall be no night there.”   SH p. 584:1

fathered (same word as “begat” above)

Jacob 2384 [In my translation, I am using Jacob’s name “Israel.”]

Israel H3478 yisrael, from H8280 and H410; he will rule as God; Jisrael, a symbolic name for Jacob; also (typically) his posterity:------Israel.

twelve [In my translation, I use the “twelve patriarchs” as a symbol of perfect Man perfectly mirroring what God is reflecting upon: God’s reflection, or God’s Idea.

patriarchs 3966 partiarches, from 3965 and 757; a progenitor (“patriarch”):-----patriarch.