Circumcision

Circumcision refers to the practice of removing the prepuce of a male. Historically it has been practiced in a variety of societies for cultural and religious reasons. Jews and Arabs continue to circumcise their sons in keeping with their religious traditions. Some groups in Africa and the South Pacific also practice the ritual, though the origins of these practices are sometimes obscure. Sometimes it is performed as a rite of passage from puberty to manhood. The procedure has never been common in Europe.

Circumcision in the Old Testament: A Metaphor for Holiness

In the Old Testament God adopted this West Semitic rite, depicted on statues of warriors from the early third millennium b.c., to show that the organ of procreation was consecrated to him.

Moses complained that he had “uncircumcised lips,” by which he meant his speech was not fit to participate in God’s program (Exodus 6:12 KJV). God remedied the situation by giving him speech that made him as God to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:1). Jeremiah speaks of uncircumcised ears, that is, ears unfit to hear God’s word (Jeremiah 7:10). When Israel entered the Promised Land, they were to regard its fruit as uncircumcised for three years, but in the fourth year “all its fruit will be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord” (Leviticus 19:24). A circumcised heart (Leviticus 26:41; Deut. 10:16; Deut. 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4; Jeremiah 9:25-26) refers to the human intellectual-emotional-spiritual forum, where decisions are made, as able to participate in God’s covenant.

The Practice of Circumcision in Old Testament Times

According to Genesis 17:9-14 Abraham was obliged to circumcise himself and his household to make the organ of procreation symbolically fit to produce seed fit to participate in God’s covenant. Some cultures circumcise their children at puberty as a rite of passage from childhood to manhood in the community. God employed the sign for infants eight days old to show that they are “holy” (see Romans 11:16; 1 Cor. 7:14).

The extension of the sign to all of Abraham’s physical seed, not just Sarah’s, shows it included nonelect children. Physical circumcision could not be equated with the circumcision of the heart, the essential covenant requirement (Deut. 6:5; Deut. 10:16; Deut. 30:6). The granting of the sign to those bought with money, however, shows that the covenant relationship could include Gentiles. An uncircumcised male will be cut off by God (that is, he might die any day; Genesis 17:9-14).

Two Old Testament stories about circumcision have received considerable discussion. After the Lord threatened Pharaoh with the announcement that unless he let Israel go the Lord would kill Pharaoh’s firstborn son, God met Moses to kill him, or more probably Moses’ firstborn son, for failing to circumcise him (Exodus 4:24-26). Moses’ narrow escape validated God’s threat against Pharaoh’s household (compare Proverbs 11:31; 1 Peter 4:18).

Two explanations have been proposed for God’s command to Joshua to circumcise the Israelites again (that is, a second time; Joshua 5:2-3). On the one hand, that portion of the united militia who were forty years and older may have had to be circumcised again because the Egyptian circumcision was an incomplete slit, unlike the Israelite complete circumcision. This interpretation best explains the emphasis on flint knives, which were plentiful in Palestine but not in Egypt, and the reference to the reproach of Egypt (Joshua 5:9). On the other hand, that older portion may have been reckoned as the first circumcision, and those under forty, who were not circumcised in the desert, the second. This interpretation best suits Joshua 5:4-7.

Circumcision of the Heart: The New Testament

Without circumcision of the heart, circumcision is uncircumcision (Romans 2:25-29). The outward sign fades into insignificance in comparison with keeping the commandments (1 Cor. 7:18-19). The circumcision in Christ entailed the putting off of the whole, not only part, of the sinful nature (Col. 2:11). Paul vehemently opposed the notion that Gentiles had to accept circumcision and thus become Jews before they could belong to God’s chosen people. Christians are justified by faith in Christ alone (Acts 15:1; Galatians 2:3; Galatians 5:12). Since both circumcision and uncircumcision are nothing (1 Cor. 7:19), if Jews wished to continue the practice, they could (Acts 16:3).

Circumcision in North America

In the United States over 60 percent of males are circumcised (62.7 percent in 1994; Hill). In addition to religious tradition, it is practiced for cosmetic, precedential (that is, “like father, like son”) and hygienic reasons. Its popularity is somewhat puzzling since many physicians say it is unnecessary. Advocates of the practice, however, claim it might serve to prevent penile and cervical cancer, and there is fear that delayed circumcision will be more risky and traumatic (about 5 percent of uncircumcised infants require the operation later in life). Christians, be they ethnic Jews or Gentiles, may elect to circumcise their children for these reasons but not for spiritual advantage.

» See also: Body

» See also: Sacraments

References and Resources

R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1961); George Hill, “U.S. Circumcision Statistics,” 3 Apr. 1997.

—Bruce Waltke