Circumcision v. Uncircumcision,
Is circumcision a requirement for keeping Pesach?

©2004 Mark Pitrone (Fulfilling Torah Ministries; Gnadenhutten, Ohio)

This question has plagued believers since the beginning of the Nazarite sect (Jewish believers in Yeshua). Let me say at the outset that I, like Rav Sha'ul (the apostle Paul), have not attained perfection (Phil.3.12) and so anything I say here could be wrong. I urge every reader to study this subject for himself. I am going to attempt to use pertinent Scripture in context to figure this out. Where I speculate I use the italicized I think.

The first use of the word circumcise is in Bereshith (Genesis) 17.11, where the newly renamed Avraham was instructed to circumcise all the males of his house as a token, or sign, of the covenant Abba made with him. For his part, YHWH would perform all the promises he'd already made to Avraham (not one new promise was made here) in chapters 12 and 15. Those promises were unconditional - Avram had to do absolutely nothing to partake of them. In fact, YHWH had put Avram to sleep while he made the covenant in chapter 15. I think that because Avram had no token of that Covenant he had a hard time believing it, and therefore did not live as if it were true. I think when YHWH came to him this time he required that Avraham do something to prove to himself that the covenant existed. Hence, circumcision.

The very next use of the word circumcise is in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 10.16, where Moshe told Israel to circumcise their hearts. At this point, all the adult males of Israel had been circumcised in their flesh, but their hearts were not all right with YHWH. They had an outward expression of love for YHWH, but no inward reality thereof. YHWH wanted them to live the covenant by their love for him, not just go through the motions in the fear of him.

There were 248 positive and 365 negative mitzvoth (commandments) in Torah, 613 in all. The negatives are the 'Thou shalt nots', while the positives are the 'Thou shalts'. But the addition of the 'not' is not what truly makes them negative. There are 2 'inclinations' in man, the good and the evil. The good inclination is the 'Yetzer Tov' and the evil inclination is the 'Yetzer Hara'. (These correspond roughly to the 2 natures of Christian theology.) The Yetzer Hara tends toward the flesh, while the Yetzer Tov tends toward the spirit. The positive commandments are those that feed the Yetzer Tov, while the negative commandments are those that starve the Yetzer Hara. The negative commandments are geared, therefore, to what the church has termed the 'sin nature', while the positive commandments are geared toward what the church has termed the 'divine nature.' We keep the positive commandments out of love for YHWH Avinu (YHWH our Father), while we do not do the negative commandments out of fear of Elohim Shoftenu (God our Judge). Hence, the fear of YHWH is the beginning of wisdom, loving YHWH is the end (or purpose) of wisdom.

We see our fear of YHWH in our negative acts of obedience, when we starve the Yetzer Hara, the flesh. We see our love for YHWH in the circumcision of the foreskins of our hearts, in the positive acts of obedience that feed our Yetzer Tov, the spirit. Both are essential to our sanctification, neither to our justification, which is the work of YHWH (Devarim 30.6).

In Brith Hadasha (the New, or more properly, Renewed Testament), Rav Sha'ul said that if the circumcised Jew lived like an uncircumcised Gentile his circumcision profited him nothing, while if the Gentile lived righteously it was as if he were circumcised. In fact, if the uncircumcised fulfilled Torah he would judge the circumcised who did not (Rom.2.25-29). Your fulfilling Torah shows forth to the world that you are a child of YHWH, not the token or sign of circumcision of the flesh. This is true because there is one God for the Jew and for the Gentile (Rom.3.28-30), for it is by grace that we are saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of Abba, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are the workmanship of YHWH himself, whom he created so we could do the works of Torah in Yeshua haMashiach.

But what about the commandment of Ex.12:48, "And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof (emphasis added)."

In order to understand v.48 we need to take it in its context. It was assumed that the Israelite and the servants of his house were circumcised. It was the stranger, the gentile who did not worship YHWH who was excluded from Pesach. Ex.12:43-45, "And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: [44] But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. [45] A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof." The purpose of the command in v.48 seems to be to exclude the pagan, not the believer. When this verse is juxtaposed with Rom.2.25-29 it seems scriptural that one who is uncircumcised in the flesh but circumcised in the heart is at least as welcome at Pesach as one who is circumcised in the flesh, but uncircumcised in his heart. After all, 1Sam.16:7b, "for YHWH seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but YHWH looketh on the heart." We ought not to look at the outward appearance, as Samuel was doing with David, but at the inward reality.

In the Hebrew language each letter has a meaning. The Hebrew word translated circumcised here is hay, mem, vav, lamed; hamol. By breaking down the word into it's constituent letters we arrive at the meaning of the root word - behold (hay) that which holds together (vav, the nail or peg) control (lamed, the shepherd's staff that controls the flock) and chaos (mem, chaos, as waves on the sea). The circumcision is the evidence of that which our shepherd (lamed) uses to hold or connect (vav) us, or our chaotic lives (mem), to himself. Seen another way, it is that by which we who embody chaos connect to our shepherd, who controls us by his Ruach (Spirit).

The Hebrew word translated uncircumcised here is ayin, resh, lamed; arayl. The letters that define the root word say the eye (ayin) controls (lamed) the head (resh). If we are arayl, uncircumcised, our eyes control our hearts and minds. In other words, we are living by sight, not by faith. Vayikra (Leviticus) 26.41 says that an uncircumcised heart is one that is proud, the one who in v. 21 walked contrary to YHWH and would not listen to him or be controled by him, who in vv.14-15 would not follow his commandments, statutes or judgments, and who broke his covenant. That would be… me! - and you! Until YHWH redeemed us by the blood of Yeshua we are all uncircumcised, bar mitzvah'd or not. After we were redeemed the bar-mitzvah became merely a ritual, albeit a wonderful picture of the reality of our redemption. YHWH is more concerned with our heart's attitude than our outward appearance, with the intent of our work than with the manner of it. Therefore the answer to the question above is:

Yes!

To partake of the Pesach one needs to be circumcised!

He just doesn't need to be cut in his flesh because circumcision in the flesh, in and of itself - apart from the spiritual reality in the person's life, is useless ritual, as is bar mitzvah, as is baptism for that matter. But all are wonderful pictures and reminders of what YHWH has done and will do for us. Does our justification depend on any of them? No more than they did for Avraham (Rom.4.2-13). And they only harm us insofar as we rely on them for justification. Should we do them? Check your heart through scripture. If you are convinced that YHWH would have you do any of them, do so. If you are convinced that YHWH would NOT have you do so, do not so. If you are unconvinced at this time, wait on YHWH to move you by his Ruach and don't be forced into anything by men's traditions. Rom.14:1-5, "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. (does this apply to circumcision? I think it does, in principle.) [2] For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. [3] Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. [4] Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. [5] One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." (emphasis added) There is no sin, as far as I can tell, in offering Pesach to a believer who is uncircumcised in the flesh. Nor is there any sin in the uncircumcised believer who partakes thereof. There is, however, a sin in allowing a pagan, circumcised or not, to partake thereof.

Rav Sha'ul's letter to the Romans needs to be studied carefully to arrive at the proper balance here. We should not require circumcision for gentile believers to partake of our Pesach, as that would be both a stumbling block for them and the height of Nicolaitanism (treating fellow believers as a conquered slave) in us. However, a believer who is truly wishing to follow after YHWH's heart will probably desire to be circumcised when he sees the Torah's requirements for partaking in Pesach. So, when a man who shows every sign of being a believer wants to partake of your Pesach, do NOT ask him, "Are you circumcised?", because that is 1) very personal and 2) really none of your business. The real question you need to ask is this: "Is my heart circumcised?" If it isn't, you are partaking unworthily (1Cor.11.27, which, in context, is speaking of a Pesach Seder).

As Voltaire summarized in 'Candide', "Tend your own garden."

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