Demonstration 11: On Circumcision

Demonstration on Circumcision When God blessed Abraham and made him the head of all believers, the righteous, and the chaste, He did not give him as a father to one people, but to many peoples. For He said to him, "Let your name no longer be called Abram, but let your name be Abraham, because I have given you as a father to a multitude of peoples." Now, my beloved and dear one, hear the foundation of the discourse and the basis of the argument, which it is right to speak against that people who boast about themselves that they are the seed of Abraham, but do not understand that they were called the rulers of Sodom and the people of Gomorrah, and their fathers were Amorites, and their mothers Hittites, and their silver is rejected and their sons are rebellious. Moses, their leader, testified against them and said to them, "You have been rebellious from the day I knew you." And again, he rebuked them in the song of testimony, "Your vine is from the vine of Sodom and from the shoot of Gomorrah; your grapes are bitter grapes, and your clusters are gall for you." And he hinted in the praise of testimony concerning the people who are from the peoples, when he said to them, "I have mixed you with a people that is not a people, and with a foolish people I have angered you." And through Isaiah the holy one testified, when he said, "I planted a vineyard and cultivated it, but instead of grapes it produced thorns." And again the prophet Jeremiah said concerning the corruption of the people, "I left your cultivation, the whole seed of truth, and you turned and rebelled against me like a foreign vine." And Ezekiel testified concerning the vine, "Its branches the fire consumed, and its trunk became a thornbush, and again it was not fit to be sent to the vinedresser." The planting was abandoned; the seed of truth of their first fathers, and their sons turned into the unclean servants of the Amorites. For among all peoples, when they practiced chastity, they were called sons and heirs of Abraham, their father.

the sons of Abraham, when they served the filthy service of the nations and were strangers to them, the Sodomites and the people of Gomorrah, as Isaiah testified concerning them that they did not hear the word of the Lord, the rulers of Sodom and the people of Gomorrah. But the wise man shows that the rulers and the people who were in Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of the prophet Isaiah, from the days of Lot, were overturned in wrath and will never be settled again. And Ezekiel reveals the iniquity of Sodom and rebukes her sister Jerusalem, when he said to her, "Sodom is your sister, and her daughters did not do evil deeds as I and your daughters have done." And behold, that is the iniquity of Sodom and her daughters, which did not take hold by the hand of the wicked and the poor. And when I saw these deeds among them, I overturned their eyes, when Sodom and Gomorrah and their companions were overturned from the beginning. Why did Isaiah say that the rulers of Sodom and the people of Gomorrah heard, but not that they were called? Because they served and were corrupted by the deeds of the Sodomites. For the circumcised and the uncircumcised, the chosen and the rejected, were boastful that the circumcised, the chosen, and the known were not among all the nations. For it is known to all who understand that circumcision without faith has no efficacy or benefit, because faith is prior to circumcision, and circumcision was given to Abraham as a sign and a covenant, as God said to him: "This is my covenant which you shall keep when you circumcise every male." And at the time when it was fitting to give it, it was kept with the commandments of the law. I brought and showed, and at the time of the law it was not kept in it; circumcision did not bring anything. Jeroboam son of Nebat, from among the sons of Joseph, from the tribe of Ephraim, was circumcised as the Holy One commanded Abraham, and Moses warned in the law. And all the kings of Israel who walked in the law of Jeroboam were circumcised and separated.

and they did not remember the good of him because of their sins. When Jeroboam was corrupted by his circumcision, and all the kings of Israel who walked in his footsteps, and also when Hezekiah son of Ahaz was in need and it was fitting for him, because of his many sins, God could not again forgive Jerusalem. With all generations and families, God gave his covenants from generation to generation as was fitting for him, and they were preserved in their times and changed. For he commanded Adam that he should not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and because he did not keep the commandment and covenant, he was condemned. And the brother of him who was pleasing before God was not a commandment that he should not eat from the tree that was preserved for him for the sake of life, but because of faith. And the beauty is not like the commandment, that he should not eat from the tree. And Noah, because he kept integrity and righteousness, was saved from the anger of the flood. And he established a covenant for him and for his generations after him, that they should multiply and increase. And the covenant of the bow in the clouds, between God and the earth and all flesh. And with one of these covenants, circumcision was not given. And to Abraham, when he chose him, it was not by circumcision that he called and chose him, and named him to be the father of all peoples, but by faith. And after his faith, then he commanded him to circumcise. For if life were by circumcision, Abraham would have first circumcised and then believed. And if eternal life were given by circumcision, scripture would have made known that Abraham circumcised and his circumcision was counted for righteousness. But it is written thus: Abraham believed in God, and his faith was counted for righteousness. For those who believed while not being circumcised lived, and those who circumcised and did not believe, their circumcision did not benefit them at all. Abel, and his brother, and Noah, and Shem, and Japheth, were not pleasing before God by circumcision.

but each one in his own time kept his own covenants, and they believed that the same one gave the covenants in each generation as he willed. Melchizedek was a priest of the Most High God; he blessed Abraham when he was not circumcised, and it is known that the one who is less than the one who is better is blessed by him. Now, my beloved, listen and I will show you: circumcision was given for a certain purpose. For when Abraham believed and went out from Ur of the Chaldeans and came to dwell in Haran, God did not command him to be circumcised. And when he lived in the land of Canaan for twenty-four years, he did not circumcise, because he had no son from whom righteous ones, kings, priests, and messiahs would be born. But when he was ninety-nine years old, the Holy One revealed to him that after a hundred years a son would be born to him. Then he circumcised him, so that when he was a hundred years old, Isaac was born to him, and he commanded him to circumcise the flesh of his foreskin, a sign and a token of the covenant, so that when his seed multiplied, it would be separated from all the peoples who walk in their own ways, so that they would not mix with their impure deeds. And Abraham circumcised the flesh of his foreskin at ninety-nine years, and he circumcised his son Ishmael at thirteen years, and he circumcised those born in his house and those bought with his silver on that day, as God had spoken with him. And after he circumcised, Isaac was conceived and born, and he was circumcised on the eighth day. And circumcision was established in the seed of Abraham, in Isaac and in Ishmael, and in Jacob and his sons, and in Esau and his children, for one hundred and ninety years, until Jacob went down to Egypt. And in Egypt, the sons of Jacob kept it for one hundred and twenty-five years, until they went out to the wilderness. And also Lot, when he saw that his uncle Abraham had circumcised, he too circumcised his children, after he had separated from him. And they took up circumcision as a custom without believing.

If then circumcision is life, how is it that the sons of Ishmael and the sons of Keturah, and the sons of Lot and the sons of Esau, were also alive, seeing that they were circumcised? And when they were circumcised, they worshipped many idols. But the prophet Jeremiah showed clearly that all the circumcised who did not believe were uncircumcised. And in his anger at their circumcision, he was not pacified. For he said, "Thus I command concerning all who are circumcised in the foreskin: concerning the Egyptians and concerning the Jews, and concerning Moab and concerning Edom, and concerning the sons of Ammon, and concerning all the inhabitants of the desert who dwell in the wilderness." Because all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in their hearts. If they were saved by circumcision, why is a Jew counted with the Egyptians, and with the Edomites and Moabites, and with the Ammonites and the inhabitants of the wilderness, who are the sons of Hagar and the sons of Keturah? But it is known that their circumcision was uncircumcision to them. For behold, he also commanded wrath against Judah, as against all these who are circumcised in the foreskin. For when the holy one saw what was said, that in this life the sons of Abraham sinned, and the circumcised sinned, and their necks were stiff and they did not submit to the yoke of the law, he said to them through the prophet, "Circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and do not again stiffen your necks." And it is known that when the foreskin of his heart is not circumcised, even the circumcision of the flesh does not benefit him at all, just as I have shown concerning all who are circumcised in the foreskin. And I will explain to you, my beloved, that circumcision is a sign, as they were separated from the unclean nations. See that when they went out from Egypt and walked in the wilderness for forty years, they did not circumcise, because they were one people, and they were not mixed with other nations. Then they were not marked, because they were alone in their pasture.

And in this, that He marked the seed of Abraham, it was not because all the nations were not His own. He separated the seed of Abraham by circumcision for Himself. But all the nations that served evil deeds of wickedness, He left them because of their deeds. And He marked them for His people, not that He might know for Himself that the seed of Abraham was His, because even if He had not marked them, He knew them. But that they might know one another, and not be hidden by false pretexts, because it was possible for error to occur. If they had not been marked, when they were found among those who served idols, or among those who were adulterers, fornicators, and sorcerers, and did something contrary to the law, those who were among them who were found in these things would have denied and said that they were not sons of Abraham, so that they would not be killed and receive the penalty of stoning, and the judgment of the death that is written in the law upon those who are found in these things. But when one is found who transgresses the law and is found in one of these evil things, he cannot again hide by the false pretext that he was not of the seed and offspring of Abraham, because if he is found to have denied, they separate him from his circumcision and do to him the penalty of stoning according to the justice of his folly. For if it were not for this reason that circumcision was given, it would have been necessary that even in the desert they should be circumcised. But because they were separated from the nations and alone were in the desert, they were not marked. And at the crossing of the Jordan, the Lord commanded Joshua son of Nun and said to him: Go, circumcise the sons of Israel a second time. And why did he say to Joshua that he should circumcise them a second time? But because they were circumcised in their hearts, as the prophet said: Circumcise the foreskin of your heart and your neck, and do not be hard again. Again Joshua went and circumcised them and marked them in their flesh a second time.

And how does this word sound to you, that Jesus circumcised the people of the wilderness? For they were not circumcised in their flesh, because after Jesus circumcised them, Scripture testifies that Jesus circumcised all who were born in the wilderness, since every child born in the wilderness was not circumcised. See, my beloved, and be amazed at this: that the circumcised who went out from Egypt died in the wilderness because of their sins, because they provoked the spirit of the Holy One and did not believe in him. And it is known that if they had believed, they would not have been prevented from entering the land of the Canaanites. And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh lived, along with the six hundred thousand who went out from Egypt, and they entered the land and inherited it. And the children of the wilderness who believed, though they were not circumcised, lived and entered the land of the inheritance. And he circumcised them when they entered the land of the Canaanites, and two circumcisions were counted for them. And when the wrath had subsided against all who were circumcised in uncircumcision, he also considered the Egyptians, who were not from the seed of Abraham, like the Moabites and the Ammonites, who were sons of Lot, the brother of Abraham, and like the Edomites, who were sons of Esau, and like the inhabitants of the desert fringes, who are the sons of Ishmael and the sons of Keturah. And Judah is the seed of Jacob. All these are the seed of the house of Abraham. And the Egyptians received circumcision by custom, because they did not believe with the sons of Israel when they dwelt in their house. And they again received it from Joseph, when Manasseh and Ephraim were born to him and he circumcised them. And they also learned from Joseph and began to circumcise, because the command of Joseph was carried out in everything within Egypt. And because there are some, my beloved, who say that the daughter of Pharaoh, when she found Moses, recognized from the covenant on his flesh that he was from the sons of Israel—this is not so; rather, it is as the action of the word appears.

because the covenant of Moses' circumcision was in no way distinct from the circumcision of the sons of Egypt. And because you do not know that the Egyptians were circumcised, learn from the Aramaean. For when Pharaoh's daughter found Moses and saw that he was floating on the river, she knew that he was from the sons of the Hebrews, because it was not commanded concerning the Egyptians that they should throw their sons into the river, as Pharaoh commanded concerning the sons of Israel, saying, "Every male child that is born shall be thrown into the river." And she knew that it was because of the fear of the command that this custom was done, and because she saw that he was placed in a basket of reeds, she knew that it was because his parents could not hide him that they made a basket and threw him into the river. For if the sons of Israel were distinct by circumcision, while the Egyptians were not circumcised, Moses could not have been raised in Pharaoh's house, because in his childhood the sign of his flesh would have been known at all times. And when Pharaoh's daughter transgressed the law and command of her father, it was not again established throughout Egypt, the command and law of Pharaoh. And I will also instruct you, my beloved, concerning the sons of Qeturah, that they also were circumcised, like the sons of Ishmael. For when the Medes, who were the sons of Qeturah, and the sons of Qedem, who were the sons of Ishmael, gathered and came to fight against Israel in the days of Ged'yon bar Yo'ash, they desired together to subjugate Israel, but they were delivered into the hands of Ged'yon, three hundred leaders. This I have instructed you concerning the sons of Qeturah because they and the sons of Ishmael had their dwelling in the desert. For from the time that Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael, the dwelling of Ishmael and his offspring was in the desert. Thus it is written: he dwelt in the desert and learned the bow, so that his hand would be over all, and the hand of all over him, and he settled on the border of all his brothers.

On the other side, from the south, the sons of Esau, who were Edomites, began to multiply. Because when Israel went out from Egypt, they went around the land of Edom, the mountain of Esau. And also the Ammonites and Moabites were commanded not to oppose them from the north. And the lords of the border, the sons of Qeturah, to the south, with the Edomites, the sons of Esau. Because when Abraham sent the sons of Qeturah, first to the south he sent them. And the sons of Hagar took possession of the whole land of the Tiyaye. And the Edomites, the sons of Esau, from the south, all of them dwelt as far as Bozrah. Because also the Lord commanded Moses that you should not approach the land of the sons of Esau, because he did not give you from their land even the space of a footstep. Because to Esau he gave the mountain of Seir. But buy bread from them with silver and eat, and buy water from them with silver and drink. And Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and he did not compel the sons of Esau. But when he came as far as Riqem, he sent messengers with words of peace to the king of Edom and said to him: Thus says your brother Jacob: that you know the whole sign that you perceived on the way, and that the Egyptians were enslaved. And now your brother is in Riqem, a city at the end of your border. Now he will pass through your land. He will go by the king's road. Buy bread for him that he may eat, and also water that he may drink, your brother, and for his cattle he will give their price. And he said to Israel: Do not cross my border, lest I go out with the sword against your way. And Israel turned away from them, when he saw that they were not persuaded. And when they crossed their border, the sons of Israel took Bozrah of the desert from them and inherited it, and made it a city of refuge. And if you wish to receive proof that Bozrah belonged to the sons of Esau, who were Edomites from the beginning, hear from Isaiah the prophet, when he saw the Holy One coming from Edom, and his red ones from Bozrah.

and they did evil and they sinned, and they exacted vengeance from the sons of Esau, because he did not receive his brother and he kept his anger forever. And because he was no longer reconciled, concerning Bozrah of the Edomites, it was a work from ancient times. And hear again from the beginning, when kings reigned in Edom, that Jobab son of Zerah reigned from Bozrah. And Isaiah said again: "Behold, against the Edomites, he came against the people who were condemned in the sanctuary." And David said that he set up his camps against Edom, because Esau destroyed his friendships forever, and forever he kept his anger, and he did not allow his brother to pass through his border. Because of this, he was condemned in the sanctuary, because he kept his anger forever. And when Israel turned away from Esau his brother, he sent messengers to the Moabites, the sons of Lot, that they might pass through their border, but they did not listen and were not reconciled. Instead, they hired Balaam son of Beor to curse them. And because they did not allow them to pass through their border in peace, the Holy One commanded that the Ammonites and Moabites should not enter the congregation of the Lord, nor the tenth generation, because they did not bring bread and water to Israel on the way, and they killed them with the sword. And he was weary and exhausted, and concerning the Egyptians and Edomites, he commanded that they should not be distant from Israel: the Egyptians who dwell in their land, and the Edomites who were his brother. And behold, all this I have set forth and shown you, that you may know that Ishmael settled on the border of all his brothers, and he became a guard for the sons of the house. And to the sons of Keturah, Abraham gave gifts, and he sent them to Ishmael their brother, so that they would not be heirs with Isaac, the son of the free woman. For if they lived by circumcision, also the sons of Ishmael and the sons of Keturah and the sons of Lot, the Moabites and Ammonites, and the sons of Esau, the Edomites, and the Egyptians, even they boasted more, saying: "Behold, we also are circumcised and we worship many idols.

Now it is known that there is no circumcision in faith, but rather everyone who circumcises the foreskin of his heart believes and lives, and becomes a son of Abraham. And the word that God spoke to Abraham is fulfilled: "I have given you as a father to a multitude of peoples." For in everything the law and the covenant were changed. For earlier God changed the covenant of Adam and gave another to Noah, and he also gave one to Abraham, and he changed that of Abraham and gave another to Moses. And when that of Moses was not kept, he gave another in the last generation, a covenant that cannot be changed. To Adam, a covenant not to eat from the tree; to Noah, the bow in the clouds; to Abraham, first he was chosen because of his faith, and afterwards circumcision, a seal and a sign for his descendants; and to Moses, the lamb of Passover for the people. And all these covenants are not alike, one to another. For the circumcision that he desired in them gave covenants. It is the same that the prophet said: "Circumcise the foreskin of your hearts." For if the covenant that God gave to Abraham is true, then this one is also true and faithful. And the law cannot set aside those who are outside the law, or those who are under the law. For he gave the law to Moses with its ordinances and its covenants, and when they did not keep the law and its covenants, it was annulled. He reigned through the parable of the new covenant, and said that it is not like the former, although the giver of both is one. And this covenant that was acknowledged through the parable of all the righteous, from their youth to their old age. And in this covenant there is no circumcision of the flesh and no sign of the people. Know, my beloved, in truth, that in every generation God placed laws, and they served the sacrifices that pleased him, and they were changed, as the Apostle said: "For previously, through all kinds of blood, the kingdom of God was established in all times." To the wise and to those who understand, this is known and clear, that every beginning is with a covenant.

And after circumcision, he is ashamed because of its righteousness and its disgrace, and he circumcises. And he does not understand what the Apostle said: that they should be circumcised in heart, those who are circumcised in heart are the ones who are alive for you. For God is true and his covenants are trustworthy. And every covenant in its time is true and trustworthy. And those circumcised in heart live and are circumcised in the sign of the Jordan of truth, the baptism of the remission of sins. Jesus son of Nun circumcised the people with a flint knife of the sign, when he crossed the Jordan, he and his people. And Jesus the Saviour circumcised the peoples who believed in him with the sign, with the circumcision of the heart, and they were baptized with baptism. And they are circumcised with the knife which is his word, which is sharper than a two-edged sword. Jesus son of Nun brought the people across to the land of the kingdom. And Jesus the Saviour made the land of life to reign for all who crossed the Jordan of truth, and believed, and circumcised the foreskin of his heart. Jesus son of Nun set up stones for testimony in Israel. And Jesus the Saviour called Simon a true stone, and set him up as a faithful witness among the peoples. Jesus son of Nun made the Passover in the plain of Jericho, in the cursed land, and the people ate from the bread of the land. And Jesus the Saviour made the Passover with his disciples in Jerusalem the city, which is cursed so that not a stone should be left on stone in it, and there he gave the mystery of the bread of life. Jesus son of Nun condemned Achan the son of Carmi, who stole and hid. And Jesus the Saviour condemned Judas, the son of the man who stole and hid the money from the purse which he held. Jesus son of Nun destroyed the unclean peoples. And Jesus the Saviour overthrew Satan and his host. Jesus son of Nun set up the sun in the sky. And Jesus the Saviour darkened the sun at noon when they crucified him. Jesus son of Nun, the saviour of the people. And Jesus was called the saviour of the peoples.

Blessed are the circumcised of heart from the foreskin, and those born from the waters of the true circumcision, who become heirs with Abraham, the head of the faithful and the father of all peoples, whose faith was counted for him as righteousness. The demonstration on circumcision is completed.