Why Avraham Was the First Man to be Circumcised
The term “circumcision” does not appear in the Hebrew Scripture until the end of the Torah Portion Lech Lecha, “Go for yourself” (Genesis 12:1-17:27), wherein it was first established as a sign of an eternal covenant. There are two commandments in the Torah which are called “sign” between the Creator and Israel. They are: the commandment of circumcision and the commandment of observing the Sabbath day. The patriarch Avraham was commanded in this Torah portion to perform circumcision on himself and then on every male in his household. This commandment was then handed down to all descendants from him as a perpetual covenant. The Torah teaches that circumcision leaves a permanent mark on man’s flesh so that this mark will be considered the sign of the covenant. Thus, circumcision became a distinctive sign of Jewishness.
And indeed Jewishness is not a matter of historical consciousness, outlook appearance, or even national traditions; it is a state of being a Jew. This is the deeper significance of the debate between the descendants of Ishmael and Yitschak concerning circumcision. When a Jew is circumcised on the eighth day of his life he is completely unaware (unlike a Muslim) of the significance of what has occurred. This “ unawareness” is precisely the significance of circumcision as a sign. With circumcision a Jew is defined by his relationship with the Creator not by what an eight-day boy has done (for he has done nothing), but by the mere fact of being born as a descendant of Avraham by promise.
But if circumcision was so important to the Creator, why was it not given to Adam the first man as a sign between Him and mankind after him? Or to posit the same question before the reader in a different way: Was the first man created with a foreskin at all?
This study is not a mere rendition of rabbinic literature but also a further development of the concept of circumcision, as the present author has added his personal understanding in order that the studious reader can obtain more knowledge of some less-obvious matters. We will explain the unique standing of circumcision in the following vein.
In the Hebrew Scriptures, the explicit commandment of circumcision as an enduring covenant between God and Avraham’s descendants is established with the words:
And God said to Avraham: And as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after your throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and you. (Genesis 17:9–11)
From the oral tradition, we learn that on the third of his circumcision, Avraham was visited by three messengers of the Most High; the third day after circumcision is particularly dangerous for an old man. The sensation of pain is a fundamental part of the commandment of circumcision. Genesis 17:13 states, “My covenant should be in your flesh”, which suggests that the flesh itself should feel the effects (pain) of the covenant. A lack of pain would mean that the covenant had not properly entered the flesh of man, and the covenant of circumcision loses its significance.
In the following verses (Genesis 17:12-14), we learn that every male eight days old must be circumcised whether native or not, as long as he was born in Avraham’s house, because in his flesh is an everlasting covenant.
The year was 2047 from the creation of Adam. Between Genesis 16 and Genesis 17, 13 years have elapsed. Avram was 86 years old when Hagar the Egyptian bore Ishmael to Avram (Genesis 16:16), 90 when the Almighty appeared to him in Genesis 17:1 to make a covenant with him, and 99 years old when he was circumcised (Genesis 17:26).
After 13 years had passed since Ishmael was born (Genesis 17:25), the Lord commanded Avram to get circumcised, in order that Yitschak must be conceived with the sign of the Covenant in his father’s flesh, and in order to make the miracle of a 100 year old man and a ninety year old woman having a child even greater.
Insight: Because Ishmael was 13 years old when he was circumcised, the Arabs even today defer circumcision to the age of 13, for on the same day Avraham and Ishmael were circumcised (Genesis 17:26-27). “On that [hazeh] very day”, the Hebrew word hazeh indicates that it was a preordained time. In comparison to Yitschak, Ishmael was conceived while Avraham was uncircumcised. We now return to the text.
Maimonides (Rambam) in his Mishneh Torah, Milah 1, teaches that when a new convert enters the congregation of Israel, he is obligated to undergo circumcision first. If he had already been circumcised for whatever reason, while he was a gentile, it is necessary to extract the blood of the covenant on the day that he converts. Similarly, a child who was born without foreskin must have blood extracted for circumcision on the eighth day. Now, this is where things become complicated. According to Rambam, if a child was born androgynous, i.e., with both male and female sexual organs, the child must be circumcised on the eighth day too. Similarly, Mishneh Torah states that if a child was born by Caesarian section or has two foreskins, he should also be circumcised on the eighth day.
Remarkably, Rambam (a physician himself) could not have possibly known of the existence of the X chromosome (the sex chromosome that is carried by women) and Y chromosome (the sex chromosome that is carried by men), and that only men can have both chromosomes X and Y, while women only XX chromosomes. Hence, we can reason that by his wisdom given by the Torah, he codified in Mishneh Torah that an androgynous child born with both male and female sexual organs must be considered a male, seeing that Torah stipulates the child is male he must be circumcised. Cases of an androgynous child or a child born without a foreskin, and of a child who was born with two foreskins must have been real in Rambam’s time in order for him to codify them in his Mishneh Torah.
In classical Rabbinic literature and Jewish commentary, the question of why Adam was not commanded regarding circumcision—or why humans were not created naturally circumcised—is explicitly addressed. The sources examine this through both theological concepts of human perfection/completion and specific traditions regarding Adam’s initial physical state.
A fundamental explanation provided in Rabbinic literature is that the Supernal One deliberately created the world in an incomplete state, leaving room for humanity to partner in completing and refining creation. This is known in the Rabbinic literature as Tikkun, “repair”. Circumcision signifies that physical creation requires intentional human effort expressed through his deeds to reach spiritual and physical completion not only of his soul but also of his body.
Rambam in his other remarkable work, Guide for the Perplexed (Moreh Nevuchim), Part 3, Chapter 49, explains the functional and symbolic reasons why circumcision was given later to Avraham as a covenantal sign rather than built into human physiology at Creation. Rambam writes that the covenant of circumcision serves to perfect moral character and establish a unifying sign for the descendants of Avraham, which was meant to unite those who believe in the unity of the Creator. He states: “It gives to all members of the same faith, i.e., to all believers in the Unity of God, a common bodily sign, so that it is impossible for anyone that is a stranger, to say that he belongs to them”.
So, was Adam born circumcised? While circumcision as an obligatory covenant was first given to Avraham, classical Rabbinic texts present two primary traditions regarding Adam’s physical state at Creation.
Adam Was Created Circumcised
According to the oral tradition, several Rabbinic sources state that Adam was created without a foreskin, thus representing initial state of perfection (completion); this initial state of perfection existed before the sin in the Garden of Eden. The Rabbis have thus discussed the question which all ask: “Was Adam created with a foreskin?” At this point it is pertinent to ask why the Torah has “omitted” this detail in the creation of man, for it would have been proper for Scripture to say it.
Midrash Tanchuma (Noach 5:3) states that there were seven individuals in history of mankind who were born circumcised, beginning with Adam: Adam and his Seth, Noach, Ya’akov, Yoseph, Mosheh, and Iyov. So, the first man Adam was created in a state of physical wholeness, which included being born circumcised. Hence, because Adam was created in the image of the Creator, he did not require any physical intervention to achieve bodily integrity. To explain why circumcision was necessary later if Adam was created whole, the Talmud records that following his transgression, Adam’s state changed. But we are not satisfied with this tradition, because it does not explain satisfactorily what and why has changed. With this wanting we are coming to the next tradition handed down to us.
Adam lost the sign
Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 38b, states that after his transgression, Adam “drew his foreskin forward” to conceal his circumcision and make himself appear uncircumcised. This implies that he was created circumcised but spiritually pulled a foreskin over as an act of heresy to break God’s covenant. The text states regarding Adam’s transgression: “Adam was an apostate who pulled over his foreskin, as it is written: ‘But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant’ (Hosea 6:7), and it is written there: ‘And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant’ (Genesis 17:14)”. If we have properly understood the Babylonian Talmud, the Rabbis see the issue metaphorically. Nothing in the text of Genesis, however, suggests that a metaphorical context was intended. The text must therefore be interpreted according to its plain reading. Those Rabbis who support this view were forced to do so on account of lack of explicit evidence in Genesis 1. But we are not satisfied with this tradition, either. Thus far Babylonian Talmud.
We do not believe that this case has been proven. So, how to reconcile these contradicting traditions, namely that Adam was created without a foreskin and that Adam “drew his foreskin forward”, which implies Adam’s physical transformation? By tradition Adam was indeed created circumcised. However, when he sinned, his spiritual degradation had a literal, physical manifestation: Adam’s flesh miraculously morphed: the skin of his body extended and grew downward, creating a new layer of flesh that covered his flesh. Or perhaps, this transformation was pure spiritual. In our opinion, this does not quite solve the difficulty. To understand all the aforesaid clearly an explanation is called for.
There is no way for us with complete certainty to decide between these two traditions, seeing that there is no record in the Torah regarding Adam’s state of physical wholeness. This is why we have the traditions. Yet, although most commentators have already treated the subject of circumcision exhaustively, there is some room left for our comments in this debate at the end of our expose. Let us see it a little simpler.
Adam was created complete, but the next generation lost the sign
There is a basic rule of interpretation: when there are clear and obscure passages in the Scripture, and they seem to contradict each other, the clear passage always explains the obscure one, not the other way around. And the clear passage is that when Adam was created, it was said: “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them” (Genesis 1:27). And further it was said: “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good“ (Genesis 1:31). It appears likely from the language of Scripture that Adam was created whole. We find support for our interpretation in the words above. If the Torah had only written “And Adam was created with the sing of the covenant”, we would have known the obvious. But the Torah tries to tell us something beyond what is immediately obvious.
Seeing that some commentators have engaged in speculations, we have added our own to clarify our stance. In our opinion, Adam originally possessed the sign of perfection; he was created naturally circumcised, seeing that everything created during the six days of creation was good and in complete form, the first man included. According to our view, Adam was formed in a state of physical perfection, without foreskin (naturally circumcised).
But Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3) caused a change not only in history of mankind after him, but also a change in human anatomy. His sons, Kayin and Hevel, and all generations after them were born with foreskin, as the Creator changed human DNA for all mankind. This physical transformation in the male body thus necessitated the formal Covenant of Circumcision (Berit Milah) re-established through Avraham. This enables us to understand Genesis 17:9–11: “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and you”. This man, Avraham, would become the first forefather of a chosen nation. By circumcision his impediment was removed, and he became whole as the first Adam was whole.
We can find this wholeness manifested in the animal kingdom. Animals have no foreskin, as they have no free will to transgress or not, as humans do. We thus see that the foreskin that grew with the birth of Adam’s sons was an unnecessary appendage in order to be removed by men.
The reason why we are forced to give this interpretation, which seems quite reasonable, is that there is a question that may be raised: Why remove what God has already created? The response is that God also created the umbilical cord and placenta that must be removed after birth in order that the new born can live. We thus see that God created appendages (foreskin, umbilical cord, and placenta) that require removal in order to make a human whole again, as Adam originally was.
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