God wanted Abraham to circumcise his male servants as well as his children. The reason was that the Abrahamic Covenant would affect all who had a relationship with Abraham. Consequently they needed to bear the sign of that covenant. The person who refused circumcision was "cut off" from his people ( Genesis 17:14) because by refusing it he was repudiating God"s promises to Abraham. [source][source][source]
"This expression undoubtedly involves a wordplay on cut. He that is not himself cut (i.e, circumcised) will be cut off (i.e, ostracized). Here is the choice: be cut or be cut off." [1][source]
There are two main views as to the meaning of being "cut off" from Israel. Some scholars hold that it means excommunication from the covenant community and its benefits. [2] However there is also evidence that points to execution, sometimes by the Israelites, but usually by God, and premature death. [3] The threat of being cut off hung over the Israelite offender as the threat of a terminal disease, that might end one"s life at any time, does today. [source][source][source]
The person who refused to participate in circumcision demonstrated his lack of faith in God by his refusal. Thus he broke the covenant of circumcision ( Genesis 17:14). [source][source][source]
Only males underwent circumcision, of course. In the patriarchal society of the ancient Near East people considered that a girl or woman shared the condition of her father if she was single, or her husband if she was married. [source][source][source]
Circumcision was a fitting symbol for several reasons. [source][source][source]
1.It would have been a frequent reminder to every circumcised male of God"s promises involving seed.2.It involved the cutting off of flesh. The circumcised male was one who repudiated "the flesh" (i.e, the simply physical and natural aspects of life) in favor of trust in Yahweh and His spiritual promises.3.It resulted in greater cleanliness of life and freedom from the effects of sin (i.e, disease and death). [source][source][source]
Circumcision was not a new rite. The priests in Egypt practiced it as did most of the Canaanites, the Arabs, and the Hurrians (Horites), but in Mesopotamia it was not customary. Later the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites practiced it, but the Philistines did not. [4] By commanding it of Abraham and his household God was giving further evidence that he would bless the patriarch. Circumcision has hygienic value. One evidence of this is that cancer of the penis has a much higher incidence in uncircumcised males. [5] Circumcision was a rite of passage to adulthood in these cultures. [6] Normally it was practiced on young adults (cf. ch34). Circumcising infants was something new. [source][source][source]
"Research indicates that other Middle Eastern cultures practiced circumcision ... However, the Hebrews were unique in that they practiced infant circumcision, which, though medically risky if not properly performed, is less physically and psychologically traumatic than circumcisions performed at an older age." [7][source]
"Designating the eighth day after birth as the day of circumcision is one of the most amazing specifications in the Bible, from a medical standpoint. Why the eighth day?[source]
"At birth, a baby has nutrients, antibodies, and other substances from his mother"s blood, including her blood-clotting factors, one of them being prothrombin. Prothrombin is dependent on vitamin K for its production. Vitamin K is produced by intestinal bacteria, which are not present in a newborn baby. After birth prothrombin decreases so that by the third day it is only30 percent of normal. Circumcision on the third day could result in a devastating hemorrhage. [source][source][source]
"The intestinal bacteria finally start their task of manufacturing vitamin K, and the prothrombin subsequently begins to climb. On day eight, it actually overshoots to110 percent of normal, leveling off to100 percent on day nine and remaining there for the rest of a person"s healthy life. Therefore the eighth day was the safest of all days for circumcision to be performed. On that one day, a person"s clotting factor is at110 percent, the highest ever, and that is the day God prescribed for the surgical process of circumcision. [source][source][source]
"Today vitamin K (Aqua Mephyton) is routinely administered to newborns shortly after their delivery, and this eliminates the clotting problem. However, before the days of vitamin K injections, a1953pediatrics textbook recommended that the best day to circumcise a newborn was the eighth day of life. [8][source]
Another writer saw the eighth day as symbolic of completing a cycle of time corresponding to the Creation. [9][source]