What Is Circumcision in the Bible?
When people hear the word “circumcision,” they often think only of a medical procedure or a cultural ritual. Circumcision in the Bible, however, is a covenant sign loaded with theological meaning. It marks out the people of God, exposes the danger of relying on outward signs without inward faith, and finally gives way to a deeper “circumcision of the heart” fulfilled in Christ and received by faith.
Circumcision is introduced in Scripture as a visible marker of belonging to the Lord, yet the Bible never lets it remain a merely physical act. From Abraham to Paul, circumcision in the Bible moves from external branding to internal renewal, culminating in a people made one in Christ apart from the old boundary of “circumcised” and “uncircumcised.”
1. Circumcision in the Bible as the Covenant Sign of Abraham
Circumcision in the Bible first appears in Genesis 17, where God confirms his covenant with Abram and renames him Abraham. God promises to make him “the father of a multitude of nations” and to give his descendants the land as an everlasting possession (Genesis 17:4–8). Circumcision is then commanded as the sign of this covenant: every male in Abraham’s household, including slaves and foreigners, must be circumcised (Genesis 17:10–13).
This early use of circumcision in the Bible highlights several key truths:
It is a sign and seal of God’s covenant, not a badge of racial purity (Genesis 17:12–13).
It marks out those who belong to the Lord; those who refuse are “cut off” from the people (Genesis 17:14).
It embraces all under Abraham’s authority, hinting that God’s people will be more than one ethnic line (Genesis 17:5).
Later, circumcision becomes embedded in Israel’s life. Abraham circumcises Isaac on the eighth day (Genesis 21:4), and the law of Moses codifies infant circumcision for all males (Leviticus 12:3). In narratives like Exodus 12, circumcision is required to join the Passover celebration (Exodus 12:44, 48). When Israel enters Canaan, a generation that had not been circumcised in the wilderness is circumcised at Gilgal before eating the produce of the land (Joshua 5:2–9, 11–12).
All of this shows that circumcision in the Bible functions as God’s “branding” of his covenant people, a necessary sign of belonging under the old covenant.
2. Circumcision of the Heart in the Old Testament
From early on, circumcision in the Bible is not allowed to remain purely outward. The physical rite must match an inner response to God, or it becomes empty. Moses calls Israel to “circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn” (Deuteronomy 10:16). This heart circumcision is defined in terms of fearing the Lord, walking in his ways, loving and serving him (Deuteronomy 10:12, 20).
Later, Moses promises that after exile and return, “the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 30:6). Here circumcision in the Bible anticipates a deeper, God-given transformation: the Lord himself will cut away the hardness of heart so his people can love him fully (Leviticus 26:41–42; Deuteronomy 29:4).
The prophets develop this further:
Jeremiah warns Israel to “circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts” (Jeremiah 4:4), and condemns those who are “circumcised merely in the flesh” but uncircumcised in heart (Jeremiah 9:25–26).
Ezekiel insists that entrance to the temple is forbidden to those “uncircumcised in heart and flesh” (Ezekiel 44:9).
So biblical circumcision is already moving beyond the body: true covenant membership requires an inner change, a responsive heart that obeys God’s covenant and reflects his holiness (Leviticus 11:44).
3. Circumcision in the Bible at the Time of Jesus
By the time of the New Testament, circumcision in the Bible is a firmly established marker of Jewish identity. John the Baptist, Jesus, and Paul are all circumcised on the eighth day (Luke 1:59; Luke 2:21; Philippians 3:5). Circumcision functions as the boundary between “the circumcision” (Jews) and “the uncircumcision” (Gentiles) (Ephesians 2:11).
Yet the New Testament continues the Old Testament concern with the heart. Stephen accuses the Sanhedrin of being “uncircumcised in heart and ears,” resisting the Holy Spirit even while belonging to the circumcised nation (Acts 7:51). Jesus hints that something greater than circumcision is at work when he contrasts Mosaic circumcision with his healing ministry, which brings full wholeness (John 7:22–24).
The real crisis over circumcision in the Bible comes when the gospel reaches the Gentiles. The Spirit falls on uncircumcised Gentiles in Cornelius’s house (Acts 10:44–48), and Peter concludes that God has granted them “repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18). When some believers from the Pharisee party insist that Gentile converts must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to be saved (Acts 15:1, 5), the apostles and elders meet in Jerusalem. Peter argues that God makes no distinction, cleansing hearts by faith (Acts 15:8–11). The council concludes that Gentiles are not to be burdened with circumcision (Acts 15:19–21).
From this point, circumcision in the Bible is no longer required as an entrance requirement for God’s people, because God himself has already marked Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit apart from the rite.
4. Paul’s Theology of Circumcision in the Bible
For Paul, the controversy over circumcision in the Bible becomes a key testing ground for the gospel of grace. In Galatians and Romans, he argues that circumcision cannot be a condition for justification or covenant membership.
Paul’s central moves include:
Abraham’s example
Abraham was counted righteous by faith in Genesis 15:6 before he was circumcised in Genesis 17. Therefore circumcision cannot be the basis of his acceptance with God (Romans 4:1–12; Galatians 3:6–9). Circumcision functions as a “seal” of the righteousness he had by faith, not its cause (Romans 4:11).The law and the curse
Anyone who relies on circumcision as a law-work obligates himself to keep the whole law and falls under its curse, since no one keeps it perfectly (Galatians 5:3; Galatians 3:10–14). Justification is “by faith in Jesus Christ,” not by works of the law (Galatians 2:16).True circumcision
Paul defines the true people of God as those who “worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3). He says that “no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly,” but the true Jew is one inwardly, whose circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit (Romans 2:28–29).Unity in Christ
In Christ, “neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (Galatians 6:15; Galatians 5:6). Jew and Gentile are reconciled in one body through the cross, so that old identity markers no longer divide the people of God (Ephesians 2:14–16; Colossians 3:11).
Paul can allow circumcision as a cultural practice in some contexts (Timothy is circumcised to avoid hindering ministry among Jews, Acts 16:3), but he fiercely opposes circumcision as a requirement for salvation (he refuses to circumcise Titus, Galatians 2:3–5). For him, to add circumcision to Christ is to subtract from the sufficiency of Christ’s cross.
5. Circumcision in the Bible and the Work of Christ
In Colossians, Paul uses circumcision language to describe what God has done in Christ. Believers have received “the circumcision of Christ,” a circumcision “made without hands,” by putting off the body of flesh (Colossians 2:11). This spiritual circumcision is associated with being buried with Christ in baptism and raised through faith in God’s powerful working (Colossians 2:12).
Here circumcision in the Bible is fulfilled in Christ’s death and resurrection. The old sinful self is decisively “cut away” in union with him. Baptism becomes the new covenant sign that publicly identifies someone with Christ’s saving work, not as a mere ritual, but as a confession of faith in the crucified and risen Lord.
In this way, the story of circumcision in the Bible moves from:
A physical mark on Abraham’s descendants,
To a call for circumcised hearts,
To the Spirit’s work among Jews and Gentiles,
To a new creation people united in Christ.
The gospel creates one family of God, no longer divided by circumcision status but joined by faith, the Spirit, and participation in the death and life of Jesus.
Bible verses about circumcision
Genesis 17:10–11, “This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.”
Genesis 21:4, “And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.”
Exodus 12:48, “If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land.”
Deuteronomy 10:16, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.”
Deuteronomy 30:6, “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”
Jeremiah 9:25–26, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh… for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”
Acts 15:10–11, “Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples… But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
Romans 2:28–29, “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly… But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit.”
Galatians 5:6, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”
Colossians 2:11–12, “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands… having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God.”
