The Nature of Circumcision

Circumcision was not a new rite in the ancient Near East. The priests in Egypt practiced it, but in Mesopotamia it was not customary. Later the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites practiced it, but the Philistines did not. It also had hygienic value since cancer of the penis was much higher in uncircumcised males.1 Circumcision was a rite of passage for adults in these cultures.2 Normally it was practiced on young adults (Gen. 34), whereas circumcising infants was something new here.

However, we do not fully understand the nature and meaning of circumcision and exactly why God made it the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant. It is clear that this ritual marks the male as set apart. At the very heart of the promises of God to Abraham is the promise of the seed that will be a great nation and ultimately bless the whole world. Thus, the organ responsible for the procreation of the seed must be consecrated to God (Deut. 30:6; Jer. 4:4). It is possible, where God does not require child sacrifice, that this is a substitutionary sacrifice of the body to God. Spiritually it would have been a frequent reminder to every circumcised male of God’s promises involving seed and a symbol that they had repudiated “the flesh” in favor of trust in God and His spiritual promises.

Another possibility is that it could have been protection from evil spiritual beings and forces of the spiritual realm. It is interesting that at this time in history the cultures that do not perform circumcision also require human sacrifices. The Egyptians, for example, did not sacrifice humans and they also circumcised their adult males. Today, the Occult, especially in Africa, does not allow for children or adults who have been circumcised to be sacrificed at the altar. The demonic spirits that the shamans follow remedially forbade the offering of a human who has been circumcised, calling them defiled. Though it is not clear why the demons will not accept this sacrifice, it is possible that God, knowing this, has His people circumcised at birth to protect them from being taken and sacrificed by the Canaanites among whom they would be living.

The requirement of circumcision being on the eighth shows that God is truly the creator and sustainer of the human body. Before birth the baby’s nutrients and antibodies comes from his mother’s blood, including her blood-clotting ability, which is made possible by the protein prothrombin. Prothrombin is dependent on vitamin K for its production. At birth the baby is unable to produce vitamin K. After birth prothrombin decreases so that by the third day it is only 30 percent of normal, this would result in hemorrhaging if cut. Gradually the body begins to produce vitamin K and by the eighth day production is at 110 percent and then levels off to 100 percent for the remainder of ones life. Therefore the eighth day was the safest of all days for circumcision to be performed. Today vitamin K is routinely administered to newborns shortly after their delivery, which eliminates the clotting problem. However, before the days of vitamin K injections, a 1953 pediatrics textbook recommended that the best day to circumcise a newborn was the eighth day of life.3