<b>And I will make my covenant between Me and thee (Gen. 17:2).</b> Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: <i>The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and His covenant, to make them know it</i> (Ps. 25:14). What secret did He reveal to those who feared Him? The secret of circumcision. The Holy One, blessed be He, revealed to Abraham alone the mystery of circumcision. <i>The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.</i> This alludes to Abraham, for it is written about him: <i>Thou art a God-fearing man</i> (Gen. 22:12). What is the meaning of the word <i>sod</i> (“secret”)? It may be explained arithmetically. In the word <i>sod,</i> the <i>samekh</i> is sixty, the <i>vav</i> six, and the <i>dalet</i> four—totaling seventy in all. Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, informed Abraham: I will produce from you seventy, as it is said: <i>Thy fathers descended to Egypt with threescore and ten persons</i> (Deut. 10:22); I will cause seventy elders to descend from them, as it is written: <i>Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel</i> (Num. 11:16); and I will also cause Moses to descend from you, and he will explain the Torah in seventy languages. Therefore, it is written: <i>The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and His covenant, to make them know it.</i>
The Holy One, blessed be He, declared unto Abraham: I permitted twenty generations to pass by after creating My world before you appeared to accept the precept of circumcision. Now if you do not accept the precept of circumcision I, God Almighty (Shaddai), say unto the world: “It is enough (<i>dai</i>),” and I shall return it to void and desolation.