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Summary
- In the Bible, circumcision is the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, which God called “a token of the covenant betwixt me and you” (Genesis 17:11).
- Every male of Abraham’s household was circumcised, and every baby boy after him on his eighth day, a rule the law of Moses repeats in Leviticus 12:3.
- In the Old Testament, uncircumcised usually means outside the covenant, and “uncircumcised lips” or ears are a picture of people closed to God.
- Moses and Jeremiah called for circumcision of the heart, Paul wrote that “circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter” (Romans 2:29), and at the council in Jerusalem (Acts 15) the apostles did not require Gentile believers to be circumcised.
- Jesus was circumcised and named on the eighth day (Luke 2:21), which the Orthodox and Anglican calendars keep on 1 January, or 14 January in Orthodox churches on the old Julian calendar.
- Jewish families still keep the brit milah on the baby’s eighth day, when the boy also receives his Hebrew name.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture is quoted from the King James Version, from BibleGateway: Genesis 15:6; 17:4–14, 17:26; 21:4; Exodus 6:12; 12:48; Leviticus 12:3; Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6; Judges 14:3; 1 Samuel 17:26; Jeremiah 4:4; 6:10; 9:25–26; Luke 2:21; Acts 7:51; 15:1–29; 16:3; Romans 2:28–29; 4:10–11; 1 Corinthians 7:18–19; Galatians 2:3, 2:7; 4:4–5; 5:2–6; 6:12; Ephesians 2:11; Colossians 2:11–12.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 527 (the circumcision of Jesus), paragraph 1150 (signs of the covenant) and paragraph 1250 (infant baptism).
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Daily Readings for 1 January 2026, Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God (Gospel: Luke 2:16–21).
- Orthodox Church in America, The Circumcision of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, commemorated on 1 January, Lives of the Saints; and Baptism, The Orthodox Faith.
- RISU, Religious Information Service of Ukraine, Feast of Circumcision of Our Lord celebrated, 13 January 2011 (the feast on 14 January in churches on the Julian calendar).
- Church of England, Book of Common Prayer (1662), The Circumcision of Christ: Collect, Epistle and Gospel.
- Church of England, Articles of Religion, Articles VII (Of the Old Testament) and XXVII (Of Baptism).
- The Augsburg Confession (1530), Article IX, Of Baptism, and Article XXVIII, Of Ecclesiastical Power, Book of Concord.
- Formula of Concord (1577), Solid Declaration, Article X, Church Rites, Commonly Called Adiaphora, Book of Concord.
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapters 7.5, 19.3 and 28.4, as published by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
- Heidelberg Catechism (1563), Question and Answer 74, translation of the Christian Reformed Church in North America.
- Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689), chapter 19.3, Of the Law of God, and chapter 29.2, Of Baptism, The Reformed Reader.
- My Jewish Learning, The Brit Milah (Bris): What You Need to Know.
- Yehuda Shurpin, Why Wait Eight Days for the Circumcision?, Chabad.org.
- Cambridge Dictionary, foreskin and circumcision.
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