un - sûr´kum - sı̄zd , un - sûr - kum - sizh´un : The adjective in the Old Testament is ערל , ̀‛ārēl ( Genesis 17:14 , etc.), from a root of uncertain meaning, with the noun ערלה , ‛orlāh , "uncircumcised (person)" (Leviticus 19:23; Jeremiah 9:25 ), and the verb ערל , ‛āral , "count as uncircumcised" (Leviticus 19:23; the Revised Version (British and American) Habakkuk 2:16 ). In the Apocrypha and the New Testament the noun is ἀκροβυστία , akrobustı́a (a physiological term, 1 Macc 1:15; Acts 11:3 , etc.), and the adjective ἀπερίτμητος , aperı́tmetos (Additions to Esther 14:15; 1 Macc 1:48; 2:46; Acts 7:51 ), with the verb ἐπισπάομαι , epispáomai , "become uncircumcised" (1 Corinthians 7:18 ). The language of 1 Macc 1:15 suggests the performance of some surgical operation, but no such operation appears to be possible, and "behaved like uncircumcised persons" (as in 1 Corinthians 7:18 ) is the probable meaning. See CIRCUMCISION .
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
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