Circumcision

Most everybody knows what circumcision is, what its origin was, and what its significance is – or do they?  As far as the English term itself goes, circumcision means 'cut around' and is a direct derivative from the Latin circumcisio, and this is also true of the corresponding Greek term περιτομη.  Medically, it refers to the excision of the prepuce.  For males, this refers to a cylinder of skin covering the glans penis and is more commonly called the foreskin.  For females, the prepuce is the hood covering the exterior portion of the clitoris.  In the early 20^th century male circumcision became quite common for infants in both the United States and Briton, because it was considered more hygienic to have the foreskin removed.  At one time up to 90% of male babies in the US were routinely circumcised immediately after birth; but more recently the hygienic benefit has been questioned, and there is a growing movement to keep infants and men intact unless a medical reason for the procedure is present.  In contrast, circumcision has never been widely practiced in Europe except among the Jews and now Muslims.

The peculiar thing is that the Hebrew root for the act of circumcision – מול – and the term for the male prepuce – ערלה – are semantically unrelated to the corresponding terms in Greek, Latin, or English.  The practice of circumcision among the Hebrews originated at the time YHWH made the covenant with Abram as described in Gen 17.  This particular covenant had stipulations for both God and men, starting with Abram.

·       God's part – YHWH would give all the land of the Canaanites (and all the other 'ites')  to Abram and his descendants.  As a sign of this of this promise, YHWH changed Abram's name (Exalted Father) to Abraham (Father of a Multitude), and he changed Sarai's name (Splendor) to Sarah (Princess).  Sarah, who had been barren up to this point would have a son by the following year; Ishmael would be blessed by God, but Sarah's son would be Abraham's heir.

·      Abraham's part – All the men presently connected with Abraham were to be circumcised, and every new male infant was to be circumcised on the 8^th day following birth.  Abraham was 99 at this time, and Ishmael was 13.  Any male not circumcised would be excluded from this covenant.

 As mentioned above, the Hebrew terms involved – מול and ערלה – have no semantic connection with the words used in later translations.  Even though the physical procedure of removing a cylindrical piece of skin from the end of the penis was the same, what might Abraham have understood from the semantic connotations of these terms?  Neither root is widely attested in the cognate languages, except in Syriac ערלא and its various derivatives these roots came to be used for both circumcise and foreskin, respectively.  As a result we will generally be limited to usage within the Hebrew bible. 

ערלה

The root ערל occurs 51 times in the Hebrew text in nominal, verbal, and adjectival forms.  Translation uniformly render these occurrences as foreskin (noun), be uncircumcised (verb), and uncircumcised (adjective).  When the context refers to the physical rite of circumcision or the effects of circumcision, these translations make perfect literal sense.  However, other contexts cannot be understood with these terms in any literal sense:

·     Fruit trees – Lev 19:23:  When an Israelite plants any tree that bears eatable fruit, he is to regard its fruit as uncircumcised for three years.  The fourth year the fruit is reserved for YHWH, and from the fifth year on he may eat the fruit.

·      The heart – Dt 10:12-16:  So now, Israel, what does YHWH, your God, ask from you except to fear YHWH, your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve YHWH, your God, with all your heart and soul, and to keep the commandments of YHWH and his statutes that I am commanding you today for your own good.  Behold, the sky and the highest heaven and everything in them belong to YHWH.  Yet YHWH set his affection on your fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, you, from all the peoples as it is this day.  So circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and stiffen your neck no more.

·       The heart – Je 4:4:  Circumcise yourselves for YHWH, and remove the foreskin of your heart, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, that my wrath not go out like fire and burn unquenchably because of your evil deeds.

·        The heart – Lv 26:41, 42: … or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled

·     The ear – Je 6:10:  To whom shall I speak and bear witness that they hear?  Behold their ear is uncircumcised, and they are unable to give attention.

·        Strangers – Ez 44:7, 9:  … strangers with uncircumcised heart and uncircumcised flesh …

·      The lips –  Ex 6:12, 30:  … Behold the sons of Israel will not listen to me, so how will Pharaoh listen to me – my lips are uncircumcised.

·       Character – Je 9:24, 25:  Behold, days are coming, says YHWH, when I execute judgement on all circumcised in foreskin – on Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Amon, Moab, all inhabitants of the desert that clip the side of their head – for all the nations are (physically) uncircumcised, and the entire house of Israel is uncircumcised of heart.

All of the above passages are typically interpreted figuratively.  Based on the wording of the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 17, anything described as having a foreskin is outside the covenant and subject to exclusion.  This understanding fits the context and usage reasonable well; however, there is another possibility.  Extra biblical sources preserve the meaning of sheath or cover for the root ערל, and this is what the prepuce actually is – a sheath that covers the glans penis in the flaccid state but not during an erection.  Using this meaning as a common base, then circumcision constitutes removal of the sheath or covering, rendering what remains directly sensitive to stimulus.  When this term is applied to things other than the foreskin, it refers to a barrier or a covering that renders the ear, lips, heart insensitive.

מול

This root occurs a total of 33 times in the Hebrew bible as a verb and just once as a noun.  Every occurrence of the verbal form is translated as some variation of circumcise, and the noun form is translated as circumcision.  Everywhere the term is used in connection with the physical rite, this translation conveys the appropriate meaning, but the text of Ps 118:10, 11 and 12 presents some interpretive difficulty.  The text as preserved in the MT is shown below.

כל גוים סבבוני     בשם יהוה אמילם

סבבוני גם סבבוני בשם יהוה אמילם

סבוני כדבורים     דועכו כאש קוצים   בשם יהוה אמילם

All nations have surrounded me                          In the name of YHWH אמילם

They have surrounded me, yes surrounded me   In the name of YHWH אמילם

The have surrounded me like bees                They have been extinguished like a fire of thorns   In the name of YHWH אמילם

The form אמילם is the causative first person singular imperfect of מול.  The interpretive difficulty is that the causative form of this root is attested nowhere else in Hebrew or any of its cognate languages.  It could mean I will cause them to become circumcised; but many English translations emend the text to read a form ofמלל  and render the text as In the name of YHWH I will cut them to pieces.  The problem with this latter approach is that the causative verb form is not attested for the root מלל either.  There is, however, another possibility that I have never found discussed in any source.  The meaning make a border, make an edge, make a hem is preserved from Assyrian as well as Midrashic Hebrew.  This is exactly what happens during the physical rite of circumcision: when the covering cylinder of the foreskin is removed, a border remains at the end of the penis.  If this significance is correct, then the above translation becomes In the name of YHWH I will make them a boundary.  This approach also works admirably well for the symbolic uses – the act of spiritual circumcision leaves a boundary not to be transgressed.

Why Circumcision, Anyway?

It seems to me that this is question is seldom, if ever, asked.  The Greeks of 200 BCE considered the human form to be the supreme manifestation of perfection.  The Greek games were conducted with all contestants naked – the noun γυμνος literally means naked.  They considered the practice of circumcision to be an abomination, and they made the Jewish practice of infant circumcision punishable by death.  There is a common denominator.  Circumcision, the dietary restrictions, the torah, statutes, and the biblical judgments set the Israelites apart from the peoples among whom they lived.  (Note that the Israelites were not the only people of antiquity that practiced circumcision, but the practice was rare even among the few peoples among whom it was practiced.)  Compare the ten words and the judgments of Exodus 21-23 with the Code of Hammurabi, Roman private law, or any of the other ancient law codes.  They are significantly different in content and consistency.  In the Balaam oracles it is stated Behold a people who lives apart And shall not be reckoned among the nations; in the song of Moses (Deut 31:8,9) Israel was designated as separate from the nations in their origin and destiny; in Esther 3:8 Haman describes the Jews as a people whose laws are different from those of all other peoples.  In short Israel was to be an example nation among the nations.  Their great failure in antiquity was their desire to make themselves like all other nations, and in part this tendency persists to this day both among Jews in the diaspora as well as the Jews in Israel.