Editing Brit milah (section)

== Biblical references ==
{{Main|Religious male circumcision}}
{{See also|Covenant (biblical)#Abrahamic covenant}}
According to the [[Hebrew Bible]], [[Names of God in Judaism|Adonai]] commanded the [[Patriarchs (Bible)|biblical patriarch]] [[Abraham]] to be circumcised, an act to be followed by his descendants:
{{Blockquote|This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt Me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner, that is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken My covenant.|source=Genesis 17:10–14<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|17:10–14|HE}}</ref>}}

[[Book of Leviticus|Leviticus]] 12:3 says: "And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised."<ref>{{bibleverse||Leviticus|12:3|HE}}</ref>

According to the Hebrew Bible, it was "a reproach" for an [[Israelite]] to be uncircumcised.<ref>[[Book of Joshua|Joshua]] 5:9.</ref> The plural term {{transliteration|he|arelim}} ("uncircumcised") is used [[wikt:opprobrium|opprobriously]], denoting the [[Philistines]] and other non-Israelites<ref>[[Books of Samuel|I Samuel]] 14:6, 31:4; II Samuel 1:20</ref> and used in conjunction with {{transliteration|he|tameh}} (unpure) for heathen.<ref>[[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] 52:1</ref> The word {{transliteration|he|arel}} ("uncircumcised" [singular]) is also employed for "impermeable";<ref>[[Leviticus]] 26:41, "their uncircumcised hearts"; compare [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]] 9:25; [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] 44:7, 9</ref> it is also applied to the first three years' fruit of a tree, which is forbidden.<ref>[[Leviticus]] 19:23</ref>

However, the Israelites born in the wilderness after the [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] from Egypt were not circumcised. [[Book of Joshua|Joshua]] 5:2–9, explains, "all the people that came out" of [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] were circumcised, but those "born in the wilderness" were not. Therefore, Joshua, before the celebration of the [[Passover]], had them circumcised at [[Gilgal]] specifically before they entered Canaan. Abraham, too, was circumcised when he moved into Canaan.

The prophetic tradition emphasizes that God expects people to be good as well as pious, and that non-Jews will be judged based on their ethical behavior, see [[Noahide Law]]. Thus, Jeremiah 9:25–26 says that circumcised and uncircumcised will be punished alike by the Lord; for "all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart".

The penalty of willful non-observance is ''[[kareth]]'' (making oneself liable to extirpation or excommunication), as noted in Genesis 17:1-14.<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|17:1–14|HE}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Zechariah ha-Rofé |author-link=Zechariah ha-Rofé |editor-last=Havazelet |editor-first=Meir |title=Midrash ha-Ḥefez |volume=1 |publisher=[[Mossad Harav Kook]] |location=Jerusalem|year=1990|page=137 |language=he|oclc=23773577 |title-link=Midrash ha-Hefez}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=Genesis 17: Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers |url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/genesis/17.htm |website=Biblehub}}</ref> [[Conversion to Judaism]] for non-Israelites in Biblical times necessitated circumcision, otherwise one could not partake in the [[Passover]] offering.<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|12:48|HE}}</ref> Today, as in the time of Abraham, it is required of converts in [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]], [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] and [[Reform Judaism]].<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|34:14–16|HE}}</ref>

As found in Genesis 17:1–14, ''brit milah'' is considered to be so important that should the eighth day fall on [[Shabbat|the Sabbath]], actions that would normally be forbidden because of the sanctity of the day are permitted in order to fulfill the requirement to circumcise.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tractate Shabbat: Chapter 19: Regulations ordained by R. Eliezer concerning circumcision on the Sabbath|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/tractate-shabbat-chapter-19|access-date=2022-07-23|website=[[Jewish Virtual Library]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425221632/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Talmud/shabbat19.html |archive-date=2016-04-25}}</ref> The [[Talmud]], when discussing the importance of Milah, compares it to being equal to all other mitzvot (commandments) based on the [[gematria]] for ''brit'' of 612.<ref name=":14">Tractate [[Nedarim (tractate)|Nedarim]] 32a</ref>

Covenants in biblical times were often sealed by severing an animal,<ref>Jeremiah 34:18 and Genesis 15:1–4</ref> with the implication that the party who breaks the covenant will suffer a similar fate. In Hebrew, the verb meaning "to seal a covenant" translates literally as "to cut".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Strong's Hebrew: 3772. כָּרַת (karath) -- To cut, cut off, cut down, make a covenant |url=https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3772.htm |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=biblehub.com}}</ref> It is presumed by Jewish scholars that the removal of the foreskin symbolically represents such a sealing of the covenant.<ref name=":6">"Circumcision." Mark Popovsky. Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Ed. David A. Leeming, Kathryn Madden and Stanton Marlan. New York: Springer, 2010. pp. 153–54.</ref>

Speculated reasons for biblical circumcision include to show off "patrilineal descent, sexual fertility, male initiation, cleansing of birth impurity, and dedication to God".<ref name=":92">{{Cite book |last=Hendel |first=Ronald |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/10720/chapter/158788296?login=true#313433798 |title=Remembering Abraham: Culture, Memory, and History in the Hebrew Bible |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199784622 |pages=3–30}}</ref>