Gentile Ridicule and Reasons for Circumcision
Now the practice which is thus ridiculed, namely the circumcision of the genital organs, is very zealously observed by many other nations, particularly by the Egyptians, a race regarded as pre-eminent for its populousness, its antiquity and its attachment to philosophy. And therefore it would be well for the detractors to desist from childish…
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In this passage, Philo defends the practice of circumcision to its detractors, offering four reasons for circumcision that he attributes to wise men who preceded him and two additional explanations of his own. He posits that circumcision serves as a twofold symbol: of harnessing one’s pleasures and of minimizing one’s ego.
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Circumcision in Antiquity
1st–6th Centuries
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Ancient Life-Cycle and Ritual Practice
4th Century BCE–6th Century CE
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Jewish Daily Life in Roman-Era Palestine
1st Century BCE–6th Century CE
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