CIRCUMCISION, the act of cutting off the prepuce; a ceremony of the Jewish and Mahommedan religions, in which is cut off the foreskin of the males, who are to profess the one or the other law.

Circumcision commenced in the time of Abraham, and was the seal of a covenant stipulated between God and [7:6:705]him. It was in the year of the world 2178 that Abraham, by divine appointment, circumcised himself and all the males of his family; from which time it became an hereditary practice among his descendants.

The ceremony, however, was not confined to the Jews. Herodotus and Philo Judaeus observe, that it obtained also among the Egyptians and Ethiopians. Herodotus says, that the custom was very ancient among each people: so that it was impossible to determine which of them borrowed it from the other. The same historian relates, that the inhabitants of Colchis also used circumcision; and hence he concludes that they were originally Egyptians. He adds, that the Phoenicians and Syrians were likewise circumcised; that they borrowed the practice from the Egyptians; and, lastly, that a little before the time when he wrote, circumcision had passed from Colchis to the people living near Thermodon and Parthenius.

Marsham is of opinion that the Hebrews borrowed circumcision from the Egyptians, and that God was not the first author of the practice; citing Diodorus Siculus and Herodotus as evidences on his side. This latter proposition seems directly contrary to the testimony of Moses, who assures us that Abraham, though ninety-nine years of age, was not circumcised till he had received the express command of God for the performance of the rite. But as to the former position of Marsham, it will admit of more debate. The arguments on both sides may be seen in one view in Spencer de Legibus Hebraeorum.

Among the Jews, the time for performing this rite was the eighth day, that is, six full days after the child was born. The law of Moses ordained nothing with respect to the person by whom, the instrument with which, or the manner how, the ceremony was to be performed; the instrument however was generally a knife of stone. The child was usually circumcised at home, where the father or godfather held him in his arms, while the operator taking hold of the prepuce with one han,d, cut it off with the other; a third person held a porringer, with sand in it, to catch the blood; then the operator applied his mouth to the part, and, having sucked the blood, spat it into a bowl of wine, and threw a styptic powder upon the wound. This ceremony was usually accompanied with great rejoicings and feasting; and at this time the child was named in presence of the company. The Jews invented several superstitious customs at this ceremony, one of which consisted in placing three stools; one for the circumcisor, the second for the person who held the child, and the third for Elijah, who, as they supposed, assisted invisibly at the ceremony.

The Jews distinguished their proselytes into two sorts, according as they were circumcised or not; those who submitted to this rite were looked upon as children of Abraham, and obliged to keep the laws of Moses; the uncircumcised were only bound to observe the precepts of Noah, and were called Noachidoe.