The blood seal

 THE BLOOD SEAL!

Exo 4:25 KJV Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.

Exo 4:25 LBP (ES) Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off the foreskin of her son, and she fell down at the feet of the LORD and said, I have a bloody husband.

Exo 4:25 ABP2006 wo cr And Zipporah, taking a small sharp stone, circumcised the foreskin of her son. And she fell at his feet, and said, [is stopped The blood of the circumcision of my male child].

The word used for bridegroom in this passage is taken to mean stopped up.  As in the flow of blood has been stopped.  So, while our present Hebrew text reads chatan/חתן bridegroom, the ancient Jews who translated the LXX saw or heard chatam/חתם which means to seal, complete, stop, lock up.  If it is true, that ancient woman called the newborn child bridegroom at circumcision, as is speculated by Gesenius (see below), then apparently the LXX wants us to look deeper.  

It cannot be certain whether the LXX is targuming here, or simply reading the plain Hebrew text before them.  It is certain, however, that we can learn from them upon closer investigation.

Circumcision of the flesh could never be the seal of the covenant.  It could only be the sign Gen 17:10-11.  Perhaps the reason it was only a sign of the covenant is because it did not mean that the heart was circumcised. Jere 4:4,9:26, Eze 44:9, Deut 10:16, 30:6.

So then, what exactly is a blood seal, and how does this relate to circumcision?

Col 2:11-13 Murdock 11 And in him ye have been circumcised with a circumcision without hands, by casting off the flesh of sins, by a circumcision of the Messiah. 12 And ye have been buried with him, by baptism; and by it ye have risen with him; while ye believed in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your sins, and by the uncircumcision of your flesh, he hath vivified with him; and he hath forgiven us all our sins:

The circumcision made without hands is water baptism, in which one is buried with the Messiah.  And this burial implies the shed blood of death, of which the water is a type.  

1Jn 5:6 OANT PsPv This is he who came by water and blood, Yeshua The Messiah; it was not by water only, but by water and blood.

1Jn 5:8 KJV And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

The blood and the water work in baptism to wash away the guilt of sin. However, this alone is not the seal.

The blood and the Spirit work in our spiritual baptism with the laying on of hands, as the completion of our redemption, as the seal of the covenant.  

Eph 4:30 Murdock And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed for the day of redemption.

The seal of the Spirit, was placed upon the forehead by the seal of the name.

Rev 7:3 Murdock Hurt ye not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, until we shall have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads.

This seal somehow includes the great multitude of Rev 7:9

Rev 14:1 Murdock And I looked, and behold, a Lamb stood on mount Zion; and with him the number of a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name and the name of his Father written upon their foreheads.

The seal of the Spirit was accompanied with the seal of the name of the Father and Son. In fact, the very word “seal”, refers to the signet ring of the King, which bears His name.  Which goes a long way in explaining exactly what was happening as the apostles laid hands on believers to receive the Holy Ghost.  

Act 8:17 Murdock Then they laid the hand on them; and they received the Holy Spirit.

I do not believe it was possible for these ancient Jews to have seen all of this.  But they did see that without the blood, there could be no seal.

H2860

Original: חתן

Transliteration: châthân

Phonetic: khaw-thawn'

BDB Definition:

son-in-law, daughter's husband, bridegroom, husband

Origin: from H2859

TWOT entry: 781c

Part(s) of speech: Noun Masculine

Strong's Definition: From H2859; a relative by marriage (especially through the bride); figuratively a circumcised child (as a species of religious espousal): - bridegroom, husband, son in law.

H2368

Original: חתם חותם

Transliteration: chôthâm chôthâm

Phonetic: kho-thawm'

BDB Definition:

seal, signet, signet-ring

Origin: from H2856

TWOT entry: 780a

Part(s) of speech: Noun Masculine

Strong's Definition: From H2856; a signature ring: - seal, signet.

H2856

Original: חתם

Transliteration: châtham

Phonetic: khaw-tham'

BDB Definition:

to seal, seal up, affix a seal

(Qal)

to seal, affix one's seal

to seal up, fasten up by sealing

(Niphal) to seal

(Piel) to lock up

(Hiphil) to be stopped

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT entry: 780

Part(s) of speech: Verb

Strong's Definition: A primitive root; to close up; especially to seal: - make an end, mark, seal (up), stop.

GES2758

חָתָן

m. he who takes any one’s daughter in marriage, Gr. γαμβρός, hence with regard to the bride-

(1) a bridegroom, Psa 19:6 Isa 62:5 (refs2). It is not easy to explain now in what sense the new-born child, Exo 4:25, should, when circumcised, have been called by its mother חֲתַן דָּמִים bridegroom of blood [see note above]. It seems to me that in this metaphorical appellation is contained a comparison of circumcision, as the sign of the covenant between God and the new-born child ( Gen 17:10, 13 Gen 17:13), with marriage; and for the same reason the Arabic verb ختن to contract affinity, has also the signification of circumcising, no doubt a secondary sense, derived from the former. [But see above]. Aben Ezra says, “It is customary for women to call a son when he is circumcised, bridegroom.” Those who apply these words to Moses and not to the child, seem to have made a great mistake; see the observations of Pococke in Not. Miscell. ad portam Mosis, p. 52. Rosenm. on Ex. loc. cit.

(2) with regard to parents, a son-in-law, Gen 19:12 Jud. 15:6 .

(3) a connection by marriage, 2Ki 8:27.