Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CIRCUMCISION

The removal of the foreskin from the penis. While practiced by some ancient Near Eastern peoples for various reasons and in specific ways, circumcision had a unique place in the worship and practice of the people of Israel.

According to Genesis circumcision was first practiced by the patriarchs and involved all males of the household, including slaves; even resident aliens had to be circumcised in order to observe the Passover (Gen. 34:13-24). Normally male infants were circumcised when eight days old (Gen. 17:12; Lev. 12:3). Circumcision became the most critical distinguishing mark separating the Israelites from surrounding peoples. It was a requirement of God’s covenant (Gen. 17:9-14), along with sabbath observance and food laws. By the time of the Maccabees circumcision was intimately bound up with Israel’s identity as the covenant people of God (1 Macc. 1:14-15, 60-61; 2 Macc. 6:10). It was the most significant boundary marker which distinguished Jew from Gentile, those within the covenant from those outside.

Conquered peoples were circumcised so the inhabitants could be viewed as part of Israel (1 Macc. 2:46; Josephus Ant. 13.257-58, 318). By the time of Second Temple Judaism the terms “circumcision” and “Jew” were virtually synonymous. Even though circumcision was practiced by other peoples of the time (e.g., the Egyptians), Greco-Roman sources highlight the practice as a distinguishing mark of Judaism (e.g., Tacitus Hist. 5.5.2).

All this should not be misunderstood to mean that only the outward practice of circumcision was important for keeping the covenant. Circumcision and obedience to the entire covenant went hand in hand. The transformation of one’s heart was of such essential importance that without it circumcision was of no value (Deut. 10:16; 30:6; Jer. 4:4; 9:25[MT 24]). A fine distinction between inward and outward cannot be maintained in Judaism; those who are the people of God must live as the people of God.

In the NT the issue of circumcision comes to the surface in the late 40s c.e. with the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-29; cf. Gal. 2:1-10). Why it does not appear to be an important issue earlier in the Church is difficult to say.

The discussion of circumcision in the NT finds its focus in the Pauline corpus. In Galatians Paul insists that circumcision not be required of gentile believers. This was for Paul’s opponents nothing less than the abandonment of a necessary requirement for the covenant which was so inextricably bound up with Israel’s national identity. For Paul’s opponents one could not abandon circumcision, the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, and remain faithful to the covenant. Paul argues quite forcefully in Galatians that the Gentiles belong to the people of God by virtue of their faith in Christ. They need not identify themselves as Jews by adopting the badges of the covenant so identified with ethnic Israel. According to Paul the Cross is the way one enters into the covenant, becoming a member of the people of God (cf. Col. 2:11). Thus Paul can accuse his opponents of diminishing the Cross in their desire to retain circumcision (Gal. 5:11; 6:12-15). For Paul there could be no importance placed on circumcision nor uncircumcision, Jew nor Gentile, in Christ Jesus.

Bibliography. J. M. G. Barclay, Obeying the Truth: Paul’s Ethics in Galatians (Minneapolis, 1991); S. J. D. Cohen, “Crossing the Boundary and Becoming a Jew,” HTR 82 (1989): 13-33; J. Collins, “A Symbol of Otherness: Circumcision and Salvation in the First Century,” in “To See Ourselves as Others See Us”: Christians, Jews, “Others” in Late Antiquity, ed. J. Neusner and E. Frerichs (Chico, 1985), 163-86; J. D. G. Dunn, The Partings of the Ways: Between Christianity and Judaism and Their Significance for the Character of Christianity (Philadelphia, 1991), 28-29, 124-27; J. Nolland, “Uncircumcised Proselytes?” JSJ 12 (1981): 173-94; F. Thielman, Paul and the Law (Downers Grove, 1994), 119-44.

Allan R. Bevere

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CIRCUMCISION

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)