CUT OFF from his people — a penalty of divine, not human, execution: the wrongdoer is simply excised, by God's own hand, from the covenant community. Its first occurrence plays on its own root: Hebrew 'CUTS' a covenant (karat brit, 15:18, over the cut animals), and the male who will not be cut (circumcised) 'shall be CUT OFF (venikhretah) from his people' (17:14) — the penalty rhymes with the refusal. Exodus 30 (already on these pages) uses the identical formula twice for one crime committed two ways: compounding the holy anointing oil or incense for ordinary use (30:33), and merely making incense like it to enjoy its smell, without ever giving it away (30:38) — private enjoyment of a sacred formula is itself karet-worthy, without any transaction at all. → first discussed at Gen 17:14