circumcize

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circumcise and uncircumcised verbs; circumcision, noun The surgical removal of the foreskin from a boy’s penis is a ritual that probably existed long before its adoption by the people of ancient Israel. Following the admonitions in the story of God’s covenant¹ with Abraham, both Jews and many Moslems circumcise male infants.

This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. [Genesis 17:10-13]

The custom of circumcising baby boys has continued among some Gentiles², especially in North America, but as a medical procedure rather than as a religious ritual. The rationale given is no longer the commandment in the Hebrew Scriptures but rather hygiene. Some argue that removing the foreskin reduces the chance of infection and the transmission of pathogens.

Except for Jews and some Moslems, ritual as opposed to medical circumcision exists primarily as a puberty rite. The ritual circumcision of ten to twelve year old boys is practiced by aboriginal tribes in Australia, by native South Sea Islanders, by various ethnic groups in Africa, and by some Moslems, notably the Bedouins. Circumcision in these cultures is an initiation into manhood. The pain of the operation creates the emotional climate for learning the rules and sexual taboos of the particular tribe. The willingness of the young men to endure the procedure, according to Bruno Bettelheim³, may be their envy of the genital bleeding experienced by girls of their own age. Of the pain, however, there can be little doubt. One of the earliest descriptions of the agony produced by circumcision is recorded in a story about the sons of Jacob seeking revenge for the rape of their sister Dinah by Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite. When Shechem decided he wanted to marry Dinah, her brothers said that would not be possible unless he and his father and all their men were circumcised—

And all who went out of the city gate heeded Hamor and his son Shechem; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came against the city unawares, and killed all the males.They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went away. [Genesis 34:24-26]

Although many Gentiles were attracted to the high moral standards and the monotheistic faith of Judaism, the prospect of painful genital surgery was enough to keep them from converting. One part of St. Paul’s brilliant missionary strategy was to welcome into the Christian community these Gentile men without requiring them to be circumcised. This move did not meet with universal approval from the first of Jesus’s followers, but Paul persisted.

Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders. [Acts 15:1-2]

It seems likely that this painful rite of initiation into the adult community at some point in Israel’s history became associated with birth rather than the onset of puberty. A boy baby is initiated into the tribe eight days after he is born. The ceremony today is called bris, derived from the Hebrew berith, covenant.In the Hebrew Scriptures the name for the procedure is mul, which means to cut short. In Greek it is peritemno, to cut around. Both terms were used as metaphors indicating those who considered themselves to be God’s people. The negative terms in both languages, the words for uncircumcised, became metaphors for other people—strangers, aliens, and enemies. The Hebrew for uncircumcised is orla or arel and the Greek is akrobustia, words that literally meant foreskin. In Greek it also could be aperitmetos, the negative particle with a form of peritemno.

        Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will act for us; for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few." [I Samuel 14:6]

       Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion! Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for the uncircumcised and the unclean shall enter you no more. [Isaiah 52:1]

          Since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. [Romans 3:30]

That circumcision was intended to be an outward sign of an attitude leading to appropriate behavior can be seen in the metaphorical uses of circumcision and uncircumcised in relation to the heart⁴.

        If then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then will I remember my covenant with Jacob; I will remember also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. [Leviticus 26:41-42]

       The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will attend to all those who are circumcised only in the foreskin: Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all those with shaven temples who live in the desert. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart. [Jeremiah 98:25-26]

        You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. [Acts 7:51]

         For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God. [Romans 2:28-29]

Although the words associated with circumcision today are seldom used in a metaphorical sense, their ancient connection to matters of the heart stands as a reminder that ritual forms are of little value if they do not represent attitudes that are manifest in moral behavior.

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1.      For covenant, see From Literal to Literary, pp. 63-65.
2.      For Gentiles, see heathen in From Literal to Literary, pp. 118-119.
3.      Bruno Bettelheim, Symbolic Wounds—Puberty Rites and the Envious Male (Glencoe, Ill. : Free Press, 1954
4.      For heart, see mind in From Literal to Literary, pp. 170-172.