Demonstrations 11.4–12.1

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Hear then, my beloved, and I will show you with what purpose circumcision was given. When Abraham believed and went out from Ur of the Chaldeans and came to live in Haran, the Lord did not command circumcision to him; nor indeed was he circumcised during the twenty-four years he spent in the land of Canaan; for the son of the promise had not yet been born to him, from whom righteous men, kings, priests, and anointed ones were to arise. But when he was ninety-nine years old, the Most Holy announced to him that at the completion of his hundredth year a son would be born to him; and then [God] circumcised him; and after he became a hundred years old, Isaac was born to him. [God] ordered him to circumcise the flesh of his foreskin as a sign and mark of the covenant, so that when his seed multiplied it might be set apart from all the peoples among whom it walked, lest it be mixed with their impure works. So Abraham circumcised the flesh of his foreskin when he was ninety-nine years old; he also circumcised Ishmael his son, thirteen years old; and Abraham circumcised the slaves born in his house and those bought with money on that day, as God had told him. And after he was circumcised, Isaac was conceived and born, and he was circumcised on the eighth day. And circumcision was kept in the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and his children, Esau and his son, for one hundred and ninety years, until Jacob went into Egypt. The sons of Jacob also kept it in Egypt for two hundred and twenty-five years, until they went out into the wilderness. Lot too, seeing that Abraham his uncle had circumcised himself, also circumcised his son after he parted from him; and unbelievers kept circumcision as a custom.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Now if life were given through circumcision, then the sons of Ishmael and the sons of Keturah, the sons of Lot and the sons of Esau, also had life; for they were circumcised, and yet they worshipped very many idols. But Jeremiah the prophet shows me plainly that all were circumcised and did not escape wrath by virtue of their circumcision. For he says: "See, I will visit all who are circumcised in their foreskin: the Egyptians and the Jews, Moab, Edom, the sons of Ammon, and all who have their beards clipped; but all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart." If their circumcision profited the Jews, why then are they reckoned with the Egyptians and Edomites, the Moabites and Ammonites, and those who clip their beards, who are all sons of Hagar and Keturah? But it is known that their circumcision has become uncircumcision, for [God] also sent fury upon Judah, as on all who were circumcised in their foreskin. For the Most Holy, seeing that they said, "We live because we are sons of Abraham and are circumcised," and that they did not bend their hard neck to the service of the law, said to them through the prophet: "Circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and do not harden your neck any longer." For it is clear that one uncircumcised in the foreskin of his heart gains no fruit even from circumcision of the flesh, just as it profited nothing to all who were circumcised in their foreskin.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

But so that you may be persuaded, my beloved, that circumcision was a sign by which [the Jews] were distinguished from the defiled nations, see how, after being brought out of Egypt, they travelled forty years in the wilderness and were not circumcised, since they were one people and could not mix with foreign nations. So he did not mark them [with circumcision] there, because they pastured apart. He marked the seed of Abraham, not because all the nations were not under his rule; but he set apart the seed of Abraham for himself by circumcision, while he left the other nations, who carried out the abominable crimes of idolatry, because of their works; and he marked the people, not to make known to himself that they were Abraham's seed, for even if he had not marked them he would still have known them; but so that each might recognize the other and they might not shelter behind false pretexts. For it could have happened at some time, had they not been marked, that some of them caught serving idols, or committing fornication, adultery, theft, and transgressing the law, and caught in such crimes, would have disowned their parentage and denied that they were sons of Abraham, so as to escape death and not pay the penalty; for he had decreed the judgment of death, written in the law, against those who committed such things. So if any transgressor of the law had been found sinning in one of these crimes, he could no longer have defended himself by the lying excuse that he was not a son of Abraham nor of his seed; for they would have recognized the one found denying it by his circumcision, and would have punished him according to the measure of his offence. Unless it was given with this purpose, it would have been necessary for them to be circumcised in the wilderness; but since they were separated from the other nations and pastured apart in the wilderness, they were not marked. But when they crossed the Jordan, the Lord commanded Joshua the son of Nun and said to him: "Now circumcise the children of Israel again, a second time." Why did he command Joshua to circumcise them a second time? Only because they were already circumcised in their heart, as he said through the prophet: "Circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and do not harden your neck any longer." So Joshua circumcised them anew and marked them a second time, namely in their flesh. Otherwise how will you understand that word, "Joshua circumcised the people a second time," when they had not yet been circumcised in the flesh? For after Joshua circumcised them, Scripture testifies that Joshua circumcised all who were born in the wilderness, because none of those born in [the wilderness] had been circumcised …

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

See, my beloved, and wonder how the circumcised who came out of Egypt died in the wilderness because of their sins, because they provoked the Spirit of the Most Holy and did not believe him. It is clear that if they had believed, they would not have been barred from entering the land of promise. For Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh lived longer than the six hundred thousand men who were brought out of Egypt; they entered the land and inherited it. But those who were born in the wilderness and believed, though uncircumcised, lived and entered the land to inherit it; and when they were about to enter the region of the Canaanites, he circumcised them. So two circumcisions are ascribed to them.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

But why, when he brings wrath on all the circumcised with foreskin, does he also count the Egyptians? For they were not of Abraham's seed, as were the Moabites and Ammonites, sons of Lot, who was the son of Abraham's brother; the Edomites too, sons of Esau; and also those who clip their beards, the dwellers in the desert, who are sons of Ishmael and sons of Keturah; and Judah, the offspring of Jacob: all these are seed of the house of Abraham. The Egyptians, though unbelievers, adopted the custom of circumcision from the children of Israel while these lived among them; and they received it again from Joseph, who circumcised Manasseh and Ephraim when they were born to him; and having learned it from Joseph, they began to circumcise, for they carried out Joseph's command in every matter in Egypt. There are some, my beloved, who say that Pharaoh's daughter, when she found Moses, recognized him as one of the children of Israel by the covenant of his flesh. But the matter is otherwise, as appears from the sense of the account; for the covenant of circumcision of Moses differed in nothing from the circumcision of the Egyptians; and if anyone does not know that the Egyptians were circumcised, let him learn it from Jeremiah. But Pharaoh's daughter, when she found Moses, seeing him floating on the river, knew that he was of the children of the Hebrews, because Egyptians had not been ordered to be thrown into the river, as Pharaoh had decreed concerning the children of Israel, saying: "Every male son who is born shall be thrown into the river"; she understood that it had been done for fear of the decree; and seeing the boy placed in a wooden ark, she suspected that his own people could not hide him, and had therefore prepared this ark for him and committed him to the river. But if the children of Israel had been distinguished from the Egyptians by circumcision, as from uncircumcised people, Moses could not have been brought up in Pharaoh's house, because the covenant of the flesh of this boy would always have been recognized. As for Pharaoh's daughter breaking her father's law and decree, [it must be said] that Pharaoh's law and decree were not proclaimed in all Egypt.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Now I want to show you, my friend, that the sons of Keturah also lived next to the sons of Ishmael. For when the Midianites, who are the sons of Keturah, gathered with the sons of the East, that is, the sons of Ishmael, and came to fight with arms against Israel in the days of Gideon the son of Joash, being so joined they wished together to subdue Israel; but they suffered defeat at the hands of Gideon with three hundred leaders. I wished to show you this about the sons of Keturah, that they had their home with the sons of Ishmael in the desert. For from the time Abraham sent away Hagar and Ishmael, he and his sons were dwellers in the desert. For so it is written: "He dwelt in the desert and learned to draw the bow; that his hand should be against all, and the hand of all against him; and he dwelt over against the borders of all his brothers." On one side, that is, to the east [of Israel], lived the sons of Esau, who are the Edomites; for when Israel came out of Egypt, they went around the region of Edom, the mountain of Esau. Opposite, the Ammonites and Moabites bounded their territory on the north; and the sons of Keturah occupied the borders in the east with the Edomites, the sons of Esau. For when Abraham sent away the sons of Keturah, he first drove them to the east. And the sons of Hagar held the whole southern region. The Edomites, sons of Esau, lived to the east of all these, as far as Bozrah. For the Lord had commanded Moses: "You shall not come near the land of the sons of Esau; for I will not give you of all their land as much as the sole of your foot treads, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau. But you shall buy from them with money the bread you eat, and you shall buy water from them with money and drink." And Moses did as the Lord had commanded him. He did not force the sons of Esau; but when he came to Rekem the proud, he sent messengers with words of peace to the king of Edom and said to him: "Thus says your brother Jacob: You know all the hardship that has come upon us on the way, and that the Egyptians oppressed us. See, we are in the city of Rekem, which is at the farthest edge of your borders; let us now pass through your land; we will go by the king's road; sell us bread to eat; and we will pay the price even of the water that we and our cattle drink." And he answered Israel: "You shall not pass through my borders, or I will come out against you with the sword." So Israel turned away from them, seeing that they would not consent. But when they had passed their borders, the children of Israel took from them Bozrah, which is in the desert, occupied it, and made it a city of refuge. Whoever wishes to make sure that Bozrah formerly belonged to the sons of Esau, who are the Edomites, let him learn it from Isaiah, when he saw the Most Holy coming from Edom, in red garments from Bozrah, crushing and trampling them, to take vengeance on the sons of Esau because they did not receive their brother, keeping their anger to the end. If anyone still will not admit that Bozrah once belonged to the Edomites, let him hear this other text from Genesis about the kings who reigned in Edom: "Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned." Isaiah says again: "See, [my sword] will come down upon the Edomites, upon the people condemned in judgment." And David says: "Over Edom I will loose my shoes," because Esau destroyed his compassion for ever and kept his anger to the end, and did not let his brother pass through his borders. Therefore he was condemned in judgment, because he kept his enmity for ever. And when Israel turned aside from Esau his brother, he sent messengers to the Moabites, the sons of Lot, to pass through their borders. But they did not listen or consent; instead they hired Balaam the son of Beor to curse them; and because they did not let them pass through their borders in peace, the Most Holy commanded that no Ammonite or Moabite should enter the assembly of the Lord, not even after the tenth generation, because they had not provided Israel with bread and water on the way, and had attacked them when they were troubled and weary. But concerning the Egyptians and Edomites he commanded that Israel should not reject them: the Egyptians because Israel had been a sojourner in their land, the Edomites because they were their brothers.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

I have set out and explained all this to you so that you may know that Ishmael lived along the borders of all his brothers and was like a wild ass among men. Abraham gave gifts to the sons of Keturah and sent them to Ishmael their brother, so that they would not become heirs with Isaac, the son of the promise. So if life were given through circumcision, the sons of Ishmael, the sons of Keturah, the sons of Lot, Moabites and Ammonites, and the Edomites, sons of Esau, and the Egyptians would have boasted even more. But though they are circumcised, they worship very many idols. So it is clear that there is no profit in circumcision without faith; but whoever is circumcised in the foreskin of his heart and believes will live and will be a son of Abraham, and the word God spoke to Abraham will be fulfilled: "[I have made] you the father of a multitude of nations."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

The law and the covenant have been changed altogether. For first he changed the covenant of Adam and laid another on Noah; he gave another to Abraham, which he changed to give a new one to Moses. And when the Mosaic covenant was not kept, he gave another covenant in the last generation, never again to be changed. For he had set a law for Adam that he should not eat of the tree of life; to Noah the bow in the clouds; to Abraham, already chosen for his faith, he afterwards gave circumcision, a mark and seal for his descendants. Moses had the [Passover] lamb, an atonement for the people. All these covenants were different from one another. But the circumcision that the giver of [those] covenants approves is the one of which Jeremiah said: "Circumcise the foreskin of your heart." And if the covenant God established with Abraham was firm, this one too is firm and faithful, and he will not be able to lay down a law beyond it, whether taking its beginning from those outside the law or from those subject to the Law. For he gave the law of Moses with its observances and commandments, and when they did not keep it, he made void the Law and its commandments; he promised that he would give a new covenant, which he said would be different from the former, though the giver of both is one. And this is the covenant he promised to give: "All will know me, from the least of them to the greatest." And in this covenant there is no longer circumcision of the flesh or the sign of the people. We know for certain, my beloved, that God established laws in various generations, which were in force as long as it pleased him and were afterwards made obsolete, as the Apostle says that the kingdom of God once stood in many likenesses at each time. But it is plain and clear to the wise and understanding that any member of the covenant who, after circumcision, is thrown down by lust and wantonness is indeed circumcised, but does not understand the Apostle's words: "Would that those who trouble you would cut themselves off." Our God is truthful and his commandments most faithful; and every covenant has been proved firm and true in its own time; and those who are circumcised in heart live and are circumcised again at the true Jordan, which is the baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

[12] Joshua the son of Nun circumcised the people a second time with a knife of stone when he crossed the Jordan with his people; Jesus our Savior circumcised a second time, with the circumcision of the heart, the nations who believed in him and were washed in baptism, and they were circumcised with the sword which is his word, sharper than any two-edged sword. Joshua the son of Nun brought the people across to the land of promise; Jesus our Savior promised the land of life to all who cross the true Jordan, believe, and are circumcised in the foreskin of their heart. Joshua the son of Nun set up stones as a witness in Israel; Jesus our Savior called Simon the firm Rock and set him as a faithful witness among the nations. Joshua the son of Nun celebrated the Passover [in the] cursed [land], and the people ate bread from the land; Jesus our Savior kept the Passover with his disciples in the city of Jerusalem, which he cursed, [saying]: "Not a stone will be left upon a stone in it"; and there he gave the sacrament in the bread of life. Joshua the son of Nun condemned the covetous Achan, who had stolen and hidden; Jesus our Savior judged the greedy Judas, who stole and hid money from the purse he kept. Joshua the son of Nun destroyed the defiled nations; Jesus our Savior destroyed Satan and his host. Joshua the son of Nun held the sun still in the heaven; Jesus our Savior made the sun set at noon when they crucified him. Joshua the son of Nun was called the savior of the people; Jesus was called the Savior of the nations. Blessed then are those who are circumcised in the foreskin of the heart and are reborn from the waters of the second circumcision; they will receive the inheritance with Abraham, the faithful leader and father of all nations, because his faith was counted to him for righteousness.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

The Most Holy commanded Moses to keep the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. For he said to him: "Command the assembly of the children of Israel to take for themselves one lamb a year old, a lamb without blemish; they shall take [it] from the lambs or the kids, and all the children of Israel shall keep the Passover to the Lord." He also told Moses that they should take that lamb on the tenth day of the month and keep it with them until the fourteenth, sacrifice it at sunset, and sprinkle the doors of their houses with its blood against the destroyer, so that he would not enter to them when he passed through the land of Egypt laying it waste; then that the whole congregation should eat the lamb in haste, and eat it in this manner: with loins girded, feet shod, and staffs in their hands; and he warned them to eat it in haste, and not to eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but only roasted with fire; again, that they should carry none of it out of the house, and finally that they should not break a bone in it. And the children of Israel did so, and ate the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, which is Nisan, the month of flowers, the first month of the year.