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Circumcised

Samantha Rinne

Resident Genderfluid Writer/Artist
Circumcision was the act of peeling off an outer skin of the shaft of men's genitals (and no, "female circumcision" is not at all the same) . It was done under Judaism to make you a part of the house and tribe of God's Chosen.

To circumcise the heart means to make one's heart that same sort of belonging.
 

metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
IMO, the idea of "circumcision of the heart" likely related to becoming one with Jews minus adherence to the letter of Jewish Law. IOW, the Gentile would get the full blessing as if he converted to Judaism as being one of "God's chosen".
 

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
Circumcision was the act of peeling off an outer skin of the shaft of men's genitals (and no, "female circumcision" is not at all the same) . It was done under Judaism to make you a part of the house and tribe of God's Chosen.

To circumcise the heart means to make one's heart that same sort of belonging.


 

dybmh

דניאל יוסף בן מאיר הירש
what does it mean to be circumcised of the heart?

There's a lot contained in this idea, which comes from Deut. 30:6.

In Judaism, as Samantha correctly noted above, the circumcision is an everlasting covenant which connects the eternal to the Jewish people. There are 2 circumcisions noted in the Torah: external circumcision, and internal circumcision. Circumcision of the heart is the internal version of circumcision.

Understanding "what does it mean to be circumcised of heart" involves answering 3 questions:

What is "the heart" as described in Deut. 30:6?
How does this circumcision occur?
What is the result?

What is "the heart"?

In Judaism, the heart is the seat of human emotion. Not just the good, but the bad as well. ( Babylonian Talmud Berahot 54a ). This is evidenced in the peculiar spelling of the word "heart" in Deut. 30:6. Also, how it is pronounced, and biologically. The 2 chambers: one generally full of blood, and one generally empty was interpreted to be significant and intentional by the creator. The chamber full of blood represented the animalistic emotions, and the chamber which is empty represented the divine emotions. Both sides of the heart beating together, working cooperatively was interpretted to mean that humans have both animal qualities and divine qualities. both qualities are contained in the "heart". Because of this,

"the heart" in verse 30:6 is speaking about the entire range of human emotions from completely animalistic to completely divine.

How does this circumcision occur?

According to 30:6, God is performing the circumcision of the heart.

Going back a few verses to 30:1... First the blessings and curses result in the Jewish people "returning" their "heart". Note, there is the same peculiar spelling as 30:6, so the same interpretation applies. So, the verse is speaking about the complete range of emotional faculty. Then the people follow the commandments ( 30:2 ). Then God responds in mercy ( 30:3 ). Then God reaches to the "edges of heaven" collecting the people together ( 30:4 ). Then the people collectively return to the ancestral land ( 30:5 ). Finally God performs the circumcision of the heart, and the people are able to "love God with all their heart and all their soul" ( throw-back reference to Deut 6:5 ).

Looking back on this, it's cooperative, a contract, a covenant...

Jewish people will:
  1. experience the blessings and curses
  2. return their heart from exile
  3. follow the commandments
God will:
  1. be merciful
  2. gather the people together
  3. deposit them in the land
  4. perform the circumcision of the heart
What is the result?

The verses continue thru 30:20. But 1 theme is repeated. Loving God brings "Life". Looking at verse 30:6 and verse 30:20, the word for "life" is also spelled in a peculiar way. it is similar to the way that "heart" is spelled in a peculiar way. In this way, verses 30:6 and 30:20 are like bookends. I don't have a source for it ( maybe someone else can provide it ). But I'm quite sure that the 2 peculiar spellings have a similar explanation. For the word "heart", the spelling communicated a complete heart. And for this spelling of "Life" I think the reason is that verse 30:6 and verse 30:20 are speaking about complete life, eternal life, physical life and spiritual life. The peculiar spelling of life in verse 30:6 is like the first bookend, and the peculiar spelling of Life in 30:20 is the other side of the bookend. Essentially the verses 30:7 thru 30:20, the verses contained in the bookends, all say the same thing:

Circumcision of the heart results in eternal life.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

So, @Fool , what does it mean?

"Circumcision of the heart" is an internal adjustment made by God that renders a complete love resulting in eternal life.
 
Last edited:

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
IMO, the idea of "circumcision of the heart" likely related to becoming one with Jews minus adherence to the letter of Jewish Law. IOW, the Gentile would get the full blessing as if he converted to Judaism as being one of "God's chosen".

behold i stand at the door and knock.


Song of Solomon 5:2
I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.


Revelation 3:7
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
 

1213

Well-Known Member
what does it mean to be circumcised of the heart?

That God’s law is written in your heart.


"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days," says the Lord; "I will put my laws into their mind, I will also write them on their heart. I will be to them a God, And they will be to me a people. They will not teach every man his fellow citizen, Every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' For all will know me, From the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more."

Hebrews 8:10-12 (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

For circumcision indeed profits, if you are a doer of the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won't his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision? Won't the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfills the law, judge you, who with the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.
Romans 2:25-29
 

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
There's a lot contained in this idea, which comes from Deut. 30:6.

In Judaism, as Samantha correctly noted above, the circumcision is an everlasting covenant which connects the eternal to the Jewish people. There are 2 circumcisions noted in the Torah: external circumcision, and internal circumcision. Circumcision of the heart is the internal version of circumcision.

Understanding "what does it mean to be circumcised of heart" involves answering 3 questions:

What is "the heart" as described in Deut. 30:6?
How does this circumcision occur?
What is the result?

What is "the heart"?

In Judaism, the heart is the seat of human emotion. Not just the good, but the bad as well. ( Babylonian Talmud Berahot 54a ). This is evidenced in the peculiar spelling of the word "heart" in Deut. 30:6. Also, how it is pronounced, and biologically. The 2 chambers: one generally full of blood, and one generally empty was interpreted to be significant and intentional by the creator. The chamber full of blood represented the animalistic emotions, and the chamber which is empty represented the divine emotions. Both sides of the heart beating together, working cooperatively was interpretted to mean that humans have both animal qualities and divine qualities. both qualities are contained in the "heart". Because of this,

"the heart" in verse 30:6 is speaking about the entire range of human emotions from completely animalistic to completely divine.

How does this circumcision occur?

According to 30:6, God is performing the circumcision of the heart.

Going back a few verses to 30:1... First the blessings and curses result in the Jewish people "returning" their "heart". Note, there is the same peculiar spelling as 30:6, so the same interpretation applies. So, the verse is speaking about the complete range of emotional faculty. Then the people follow the commandments ( 30:2 ). Then God responds in mercy ( 30:3 ). Then God reaches to the "edges of heaven" collecting the people together ( 30:4 ). Then the people collectively return to the ancestral land ( 30:5 ). Finally God performs the circumcision of the heart, and the people are able to "love God with all their heart and all their soul" ( throw-back reference to Deut 6:5 ).

Looking back on this, it's cooperative, a contract, a covenant...

Jewish people will:
  1. experience the blessings and curses
  2. return their heart from exile
  3. follow the commandments
God will:
  1. be merciful
  2. gather the people together
  3. deposit them in the land
  4. perform the circumcision of the heart
What is the result?

The verses continue thru 30:20. But 1 theme is repeated. Loving God brings "Life". Looking at verse 30:6 and verse 30:20, the word for "life" is also spelled in a peculiar way. it is similar to the way that "heart" is spelled in a peculiar way. In this way, verses 30:6 and 30:20 are like bookends. I don't have a source for it ( maybe someone else can provide it ). But I'm quite sure that the 2 peculiar spellings have a similar explanation. For the word "heart", the spelling communicated a complete heart. And for this spelling of "Life" I think the reason is that verse 30:6 and verse 30:20 are speaking about complete life, eternal life, physical life and spiritual life. The peculiar spelling of life in verse 30:6 is like the first bookend, and the peculiar spelling of Life in 30:20 is the other side of the bookend. Essentially the verses 30:7 thru 30:20, the verses contained in the bookends, all say the same thing:

Circumcision of the heart results in eternal life.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

So, @Fool , what does it mean?

"Circumcision of the heart" is an internal adjustment made by God that renders a complete love resulting in eternal life.

Unconditional love is everlasting?


are we exiled from God when we look for it in another place? or is it like coming home and finding God was always there? like rumi, like alan watts, like jesus' kingdom coming within self?
 

dybmh

דניאל יוסף בן מאיר הירש
Unconditional love is everlasting?


are we exiled from God when we look for it in another place? or is it like coming home and finding God was always there? like rumi, like alan watts, like jesus' kingdom coming within self?

"Love can change the world in a moment, but what do i know..." :)

 
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