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Concept
Religion and circumcision
Summary
Religious circumcision generally occurs shortly after birth, during childhood, or around puberty as part of a rite of passage. Circumcision is most prevalent in the religions of Judaism and Islam. Circumcision for religious reasons is most prominently practiced by members of the Jewish and Islamic faiths.
Brit milah
According to the Torah and Halakha (Jewish religious law), ritual circumcision of all male Jews and their slaves (Genesis ) is a Commandment from God that Jews are obligated to perform on the eighth day of birth, and is only postponed or abrogated in the case of threat to the life or health of the child. Jews believe that Gentiles (i. e. non-Jews) are neither required nor obligated to follow this commandment, since it is considered binding exclusively for the Jewish people; according to the Jewish law, only the Seven Laws of Noah apply to non-Jews.
Covenant (biblical)#Abrahamic covenant
There are numerous references to circumcision in the Hebrew Bible. Circumcision was enjoined upon the biblical patriarch Abraham, his descendants and their slaves as "a token of the Covenant" concluded with him by God for all generations, an "everlasting covenant" (), thus it is commonly observed by two (Judaism and Islam) of the Abrahamic religions.
The penalty of non-observance was kareth (Hebrew: "cutting off") from the people (, ; Leviticus ). Non-Israelites had to undergo circumcision before they could be allowed to take part in the feast of Passover (Exodus ). (See also Mosaic Law directed at non-Jews and Conversion to Judaism).
It was "a reproach" for an Israelite to be uncircumcised (Joshua ). The name arelim ("uncircumcised") became an opprobrious term, especially a pejorative name for the Philistines, who might have been of Greek origin, in the context of the fierce wars recounted in the First Book of Samuel (, ). When the general (and future king) David wanted to marry King Saul's daughter, the King required a grisly "dowry" of a hundred Philistine foreskins.
Official source
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