Circumcision outside of the Bible
Circumcision is not just found in the Bible. The custom was also common among the nations around Israel.
Circumcision among Neighbouring Peoples
There were other nations in the ancient Near East that practised circumcision:
- the Ammonites;
- the Edomites (until the second century BC);
- the Egyptians;
- the Midianites;
- the Moabites;
- the Phoenicians;
- the desert people, later known as the Arabs (see Jeremiah 9:25-26
).
Egyptians
The Israelites probably adopted the custom of circumcision from the Egyptians. An image was found in an Egyptian tomb from the third millennium BC, showing a man who is being circumcised by two slaves. It is unclear why the Egyptians circumcised. According to Greek historian Herodotus, it was for reasons of hygiene.
Swear Word
There were also people in the region around Israel who did not circumcise, such as the Assyrians, the Babylonians and the Philistines. These people were enemies of Israel, causing the word “uncircumcised” to become a swear word, as in 1 Samuel 31:4
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