Jesus was the circumciser

JESUS WAS THE CIRCUMCISER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Colossians2:11 11In him you were also circumcised
with a circumcisionnot performed by human hands.
Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when
you were circumcisedby Christ,
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The True Circumcision
Colossians 2:11
T. Croskery.
The Colossians did not need the rite of circumcision to make them complete,
for they had receivedthe spiritual circumcision, of which the rite was only a
type. "In whom ye were also circumcisedwith a circumcisionnot made with
hands, in the putting off the body of the flesh, in the circumcisionof Christ."
The apostle censures the ritualistic ideas of the false teachers by showing what
is the nature and effectof the true circumcision.
I. ITS NATURE. It is not external, but internal, wrought by the Spirit and not
by the hands of men. It is "of the heart in the spirit, and not in the letter"
(Romans 2:29). It is "the circumcision of the heart," so often spokenof even in
Old Testamenttimes (Deuteronomy10:16; Deuteronomy 30:6; Ezekiel44:7;
Acts 7:51), which ought to have accompaniedthe external rite. The

Colossians, as Gentiles, were circumcisedin this spiritual sense onthe day of
their conversion.
II. ITS EXTENT. "Inthe putting off the body of the flesh; "not in the mere
cutting off of a part of the body, as in the external rite of Judaism. This
language marks the completeness ofthe spiritual change and its effects upon
both body and soul.
1. The body of flesh is more than the mere body, which is not "put off," for it
is not evil, but becomes "the temple of the Holy Ghost" (1 Corinthians 3:16; 1
Corinthians 6:19). It is the body in its fleshliness, regardedas the seatof the
lusts which war againstthe soul and bring forth fruit unto death. The
expressionis similar to "the old man which is corrupt" (Ephesians 4:22), "the
body of sin" (Romans 6:6), and "sinful flesh," or, literally, "the flesh of sin"
(Romans 8:3). The spiritual circumcisionimplies, not the mere putting off of
one form of sin, but the putting off the whole of the power of the flesh.
2. The putting off of the body of flesh implies deliverance from the dominion
of sin - dying to sin as a controlling and regulating power, so that the body,
hitherto "the instrument of unrighteousness," becomes"aninstrument of
righteousness unto God" (Romans 6:13).
III. ITS AUTHOR. "In the circumcision of Christ;" that is, the circumcision
wrought by Christ through his Spirit. Its Author is not Moses orAbraham,
but Christ himself, by virtue of our union with him. The formation of Christ
in the soul as the Author of a new spiritual life is "the circumcisionof Christ;"
it is the new birth, which, under the power of the Holy Spirit, casts offthe
powerof corruption. It is wrought by the Lord the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18),
and is the result of Christ dwelling in us by faith (Galatians 2:20;Ephesians
2:5-8). This is the true circumcision, "whose praise is not of man, but of God."
- T. C.
Biblical Illustrator
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcisionmade without hands.

Colossians 2:11-12
Christian circumcision
G. Barlow.
I. IS INWARD AND SPIRITUAL.
II. IS COMPLETE. Manualcircumcisionwas the cutting awayof only a small
part of the flesh. But the spiritual circumcisionconsists in putting off the
whole body of our corrupt nature — the entire fleshly principle.
III. IS DIVINE. "By the circumcisionof Christ." It is wrought, without hands,
by the inward powerof the Divine Spirit of Christ.
IV. IS REALIZED BY THE THOROUGH IDENTIFICATION OF THE
BELIEVER WITH CHRIST IN HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION.
V. IS WROUGHT IN THE SOUL BY A SPIRITUAL BAPTISM. "Buried
with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him."
VI. IS RECEIVED BY FAITH. "Throughthe faith of the operationof God,
who hath raisedHim from the dead." Faith is not a natural product of the
human heart. It is a Divine gift, bestowedonman by a Divine operation.
(G. Barlow.)
The circumcisionof Christ
J. Spence, D. D.
I. EVERY REAL CHRISTIAN HAS EXPERIENCED THE TRUE
CIRCUMCISION. The argument is that circumcisionwas unnecessary, since
the Colossians hadundergone the new birth which it signified.
1. It is spiritual, and plainly distinguished from that which was made with
hands. The idea was not a novel one (Deuteronomy 10:16;Deuteronomy 30:6;
Jeremiah9:26; Ezekiel44:7; Acts 7:51; Romans 2:28-29).

2. The true characterof the operationis the putting off of the body of the
flesh, "the old man," corrupt human nature, with all its carnalinstincts and
tendencies. Manualcircumcision cut off only a small part of the flesh, the
spiritual is an entire transformation of the whole man. Old habits are
abandoned, evil associations forsaken, and the soulis usheredinto a new life,
with new thoughts, affections, etc. It is a putting on of the new man.
3. It is Divine, "the circumcisionof Christ," ordained and communicated by
Him, with Him for its author and model.
II. THIS TRUE CIRCUMCISION IS REALIZED ONLY IN UNION WITH
CHRIST IN HIS DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION.
1. The Saviour died for us, and when the anxious sinner trusts Christ he is
regardedas having died with Him.
2. The reality of death is evincedby burial, and the death of the believer with
Christ is the casting off of the body of the flesh. The old man is sepulchred.
3. The soul in regenerationarises withChrist to a new and holy life.
III. THIS UNION IS REALIZED IN THE BAPTISM. It is generallyassumed
that the allusion here is to immersion.
1. But it is difficult to see any resemblance betweenthis and the depositing of
Christ's body in a rock-hewnsepulchre. The reference is to the baptism of the
Spirit — the Washing of regeneration(1 Corinthians 12:13, cf. 1 Corinthians
1:14). The theory of immersion is that it is the professionof a regeneration
which has already takenplace; but with St. Paul the burial and resurrection
are coincidentwith the baptism. It is quite possible to die and rise with Christ
without waterbaptism, but not without the baptism of the Spirit.
2. Why does Paul speak disparaginglyof "hand-wrought" circumcision, and
proclaim its needlessness, if he is to pass immediately to speak ofthe efficacy
of "hand-wrought" baptism? To introduce that would be to introduce the
very element of ceremonialismwhich he is denouncing.
IV. THE PRINCIPLE THROUGH WHICH THIS SPIRITUAL BAPTISM IS
RECEIVED — "through faith."

1. It is surprising that so many should regardthe baptism in which the
disciple is said to rise with Christ as that of water. No one is raisedout of
waterby faith, but by the arms which immersed him. The baptism of the
Spirit is receivedby faith: an unbeliever cannot receive it.
2. "In the operationof God" does not mean that that is the origin but the
objectof faith. If I believe in the powerthat raised Christ, I believe in the
powerwhich has acceptedHis suretyship for me. This faith regards Christ's
resurrectionas the keystone ofChristianity, the centre of confidence, the only
basis of hope.
(J. Spence, D. D.)
The true circumcision
A. Maclaren, D. D.
There are two tendencies everat work to corrupt religion. One is of the
intellect, the temptation of the cultured few, which turns religion into
theologicalspeculation;the other of the senses, thatof the vulgar many, which
turns religion into a theatricalspectacle. Butopposite as these are they were
united at Colossae. To the teaching of the necessityof circumcision —
I. The apostle opposes the position that ALL CHRISTIAN MEN BY VIRTUE
OF THEIR UNION WITH CHRIST HAVE RECEIVED THE TRUE
CIRCUMCISION, ofwhich the outward rite was the shadow, and therefore
now obsolete.
1. The language points to a definite past time. When they became Christians a
change passedoverthem parabled by circumcision,(1)It is not made with
hands, i.e., it is not a rite but a reality, not transactedin the flesh but in the
Spirit, not a removal of ceremonialimpurity, but a cleansing of the heart
(Deuteronomy 30:6).(2)It consists in the putting off of the body of the flesh
"the sins of" is an interpolation — a complete stripping off from oneself, as of
clothes, in contrastwith a removal of a small part of the body. It is true that
Christian men, alas!realize this by slow degrees;but on the Divine side it is

complete. Christ gives perfect emancipation, and if it is only partial it is
because we have not takenthe things that are freely given. The foe may keep
up a guerilla warfare after he is substantially defeated, but his entire
subjugation is certain if we keephold of the strength of Christ.(3)It is of
Christ; not that He submitted to it, but instituted it.
2. What is the bearing of this statement on the apostle's purpose? That
circumcisionis an anachronism, "as if a flowershould shut, and be a bud
again."(1)The true centre of gravity, of Christianity, then, is in moral
transformation. Surely Christ who gives men a new life by union with Himself
by faith has delivered man from the "yoke of bondage," if He has done
anything at all. How far awayfrom Paul's conception, then, are those which
busy themselves with punctilios of observance!But the hatred of forms may
be as completelya form as the most elaborate ritual. We need to have our eyes
turned awayto the far higher thing, the service of the transformed nature.(2)
The conquestof the animal nature is the certainoutcome of union with Christ
and that alone. Pauldid not regardmatter as evil, as the Colossianteachers
did, nor the body as the source ofall sin. But he knew that the fiercest
temptations came from it, and that the foulest stains upon the consciencewere
splashedfrom the mud which it threw. It is a matter of life and death to find
some means of taming the animal that is in us all. We all know of wrecked
lives which have been driven on the rocks by the wild passions ofthe flesh;
and when we come to add its weaknesses, limitations, and needs, and
remember how high purposes are frustrated by its shrinking from toil, and
how often mists born from its undrained swamps darken the vision of truth
and God, we do not need to be Gnosties to believe that goodness requires the
flesh to be subdued. But no asceticisms orresolves willdo what we want.
Much repressionmay be affectedby force of will, but it is like a man holding a
wolf by the jaws. The arms begin to ache and the grip to grow slack, and he
feels his strength ebbing, and knows that as soonas he lets go the brute will be
at his throat. Nothing tames the wild beastin us but Christ. He binds it in a
silkenlash, and that gentle constraintis strong because the fiercenessis gone.
Christianity would be easywere it a round of observances. Anybody canfast
or weara hair shirt, but the putting off of the body of the flesh is a harder
thing. Emotion, theology, ceremonial, may have their value, but a religion that

includes them all and leaves out the subjugation of the flesh is worthless. If we
are in Christ we shall not live in the flesh.
II. Paul meets the false teaching by a reference to CHRISTIAN BAPTISM AS
BEING THE CHRISTIAN SIGN OF THE INWARD CHANGE.
1. The form of expressionin the Greek implies that the circumcisionand
burial with Christ in baptism are contemporaneous. Youhave been baptized
— does not that express all that circumcisionmeant and more?(1) This
reference is quite consistentwith the subordinate importance of ritual. Some
forms are necessaryto a visible Church, and Christ has given us two: one
symbolizing the initial spiritual act of Christian life, and the other the
constantly repeatedprocess ofChristian nourishment.(2) The form here
presupposedis immersion.(3) There are but two theories:the one is that
baptism effects the change, and elevates it into more than the importance of
which Paul sought to deprive circumcision, confuses the distinction between
the Church and the world, lulls men into a false security, obscures the central
truth of Christianity that faith makes a Christian, gives the basis for a
portentous sacer-dotalism, and is shivered to pieces againstthe plain facts of
daily life. But it is conclusivelydisposed of by the words, "through faith in the
operation," etc. What remains, then, but that baptism is associatedwith the
change, because in the Divine order it is meant to be its outward symbol?
2. Note the thoroughness of the change. It is more than a circumcision; it is
burial and resurrection.(1)We partake of Christ's death inasmuch as —
(a)we ally ourselves to it by our faith as the sacrifice forour sins;
(b)by the powerof His Cross we are drawn to slay our old nature, dying to the
habits, desires, etc., in which we lived.(2) If we are thus made conformable to
His death, we shall know the powerof His resurrection.
(a)It will be a guarantee of our own.
(b)The sealof His perfect work on the Cross, and shall know it as a token of
God's acceptance;
(c)the type of our spiritual resurrectionnow.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Buried with Him
The believer's identification with Christ
Bishop Alexander.
It was with St. Paul a principle that the whole Christian life is a following of
the blessedsteps of one holy life, an imitation of Christ. We are in Him —
I.CONCEIVED AND BORN (Galatians 4:19).
II.CRUCIFIED (Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:5).
III.DEAD (Romans 6:3; Romans 7:4; cf. 1 Peter4:1).
IV.BURIED (Romans 6:4).
V.RISEN (Romans 6:5; Colossians 3:1).
VI.ASCENDED AND REIGNING (Ephesians 2:4-6).Whatis done or suffered
by Him historically is done in us analogouslyand mystically now, and will be
completed historically and actually hereafter. This is the underlying principle
of the order of the Christian year.
(Bishop Alexander.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(11) The circumcisionmade without hands.—This abrupt introduction of the
idea of circumcisionwould be difficult to understand, were it not for the
knowledge ofthe enforcementof Jewishobservance so strangelymixed with

this “philosophy” at Colossæ. (Comp. Ephesians 2:11, “Ye who are called
Uncircumcision by that which is calledCircumcision in the flesh made with
hands.”) The phrase “made without hands” is so constantlyused of heavenly
realities (as in Mark 14:58;2Corinthians 5:1; Hebrews 9:11; Hebrews 9:24),
as opposedto earthly symbols, that it comes to have the positive sense of
“spiritual.” It is defined below as “the circumcisionof Christ”—thatwhich
Christ has given us in Himself—in contradistinction to the old circumcision
which is now “nothing.” (On the treatment of this subject in the Epistles of
this period, comp. with this passage Ephesians2:11-12;Philippians 3:2-3, and
see Notes there.)
In putting off the body . . .—The words “ofthe sins” are not found in the best
MSS. They are, no doubt, an explanatory gloss to soften the harshness of the
phrase “the body of the flesh.” (1) What “the body of the flesh” is we see
clearly by Colossians 3:9, “having put off the old man.” It is, like the “body of
sin” (in Romans 6:6) and the “body of death” (in Romans 7:24), the body so
far as it is, in the bad sense of the word “flesh,” fleshly. The body itself is not
“put off:” for it is not evil; it is a part of the true man, and becomes the temple
of God. It is only so far as in it the flesh rebels againstthe spirit, and the “old
man is gradually corrupted by the lusts of deceit” (Ephesians 4:22), that it is
to be “put off.” (2) But why the “body of the flesh,” and not the “flesh”
simply? The answeris, no doubt, that which Chrysostomhere gives, that the
bodily circumcision was but of one member, in mere symbolism of one form of
purity; the spiritual circumcision is the putting awayof the whole of the
powerof the flesh, and that, too, not in symbol, but in reality.
BensonCommentary
Colossians 2:11-12. In whom also ye are circumcised — Ye have receivedthe
spiritual blessings signifiedof old by circumcision;with the circumcision
made without hands — Namely, an internal, spiritual circumcision;in putting
off — Not a little skin, but the whole body of the sins of the flesh — All the
sins proceeding from your corrupt nature; by the circumcision of Christ —
The circumcisionof the heart, which Christ requires and effects. Buriedwith

him, &c. — That is, which he wrought in you when you were, as it were,
buried with him in baptism — The ancient manner of baptizing by immersion
is as manifestly alluded to here, as the other manner of baptizing by
sprinkling, or pouring of water, is, Hebrews 10:22. But no stress is laid on the
age of the baptized, or the manner of performing it, in one or the other place;
but only on our being quickened, or renewed, through the powerful operation
of his Spirit in the soul, which we cannot but know assuredly, if we really are
so:and if we do not experience this, our baptism has not answeredthe end of
its institution. Wherein — Or rather, by which; ye are risen with him — From
the death of sin, to the life of righteousness;through the faith of the operation
of God — Faith wrought in you by God: see on Ephesians 2:8; or, through
faith in the energyof God, as some render δια της πιστεως της ενεργειας του
Θεου;who raised him from the dead — They who put this latter sense upon
the passage explainit thus: “The circumcisionwhich Christ performs being
accomplishedby the influence of the doctrines of the gospelupon the minds of
believers, and their belief of these doctrines being founded on their belief of
the resurrectionof Christ, their belief of that great miracle is justly
representedas the means whereby they are made new creatures.” The
doctrines of the gospel, however, will produce no such effect, unless they be
accompaniedby the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
2:8-17 There is a philosophy which rightly exercisesour reasonable faculties;
a study of the works of God, which leads us to the knowledge ofGod, and
confirms our faith in him. But there is a philosophy which is vain and
deceitful; and while it pleases men's fancies, hinders their faith: such are
curious speculations aboutthings above us, or no concernto us. Those who
walk in the way of the world, are turned from following Christ. We have in
Him the substance ofall the shadows of the ceremoniallaw. All the defects of
it are made up in the gospelof Christ, by his complete sacrifice for sin, and by
the revelationof the will of God. To be complete, is to be furnished with all
things necessaryforsalvation. By this one word complete, is shown that we
have in Christ whateveris required. In him, not when we look to Christ, as
though he were distant from us, but we are in him, when, by the power of the
Spirit, we have faith wrought in our hearts by the Spirit, and we are united to

our Head. The circumcision of the heart, the crucifixion of the flesh, the death
and burial to sin and to the world, and the resurrectionto newness of life, set
forth in baptism, and by faith wrought in our hearts, prove that our sins are
forgiven, and that we are fully delivered from the curse of the law. Through
Christ, we, who were dead in sins, are quickened. Christ's death was the death
of our sins; Christ's resurrectionis the quickening of our souls. The law of
ordinances, which was a yoke to the Jews, and a partition-wall to the Gentiles,
the Lord Jesus took outof the way. When the substance was come, the
shadows fled. Since every mortal man is, through the hand-writing of the law,
guilty of death, how very dreadful is the condition of the ungodly and unholy,
who trample under foot that blood of the Son of God, whereby alone this
deadly hand-writing can be blotted out! Let not any be troubled about bigoted
judgments which related to meats, or the Jewishsolemnities. The setting apart
a portion of our time for the worship and service ofGod, is a moral and
unchangeable duty, but had no necessarydependence upon the seventh day of
the week, the sabbath of the Jews. The first day of the week, orthe Lord's
day, is the time kept holy by Christians, in remembrance of Christ's
resurrection. All the Jewishrites were shadows ofgospelblessings.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
In whom - In connectionwith whom, or in virtue of whose religion.
Ye are circumcised- You have receivedthat which was designedto be
representedby circumcision - the putting awayof sin; Notes, Philippians 3:3.
With the circumcisionmade without hands - That made in the heart by the
renunciation of all sin. The Jewishteachers insistedon the necessityof the
literal circumcision in order to salvation (compare Ephesians 2:11); and
hence, this subjectis so often introduced into the writings of Paul, and he is at
so much pains to show that, by believing in Christ, all was obtained which was
required in order to salvation. Circumcisionwas an ordinance by which it was
denoted that all sin was to be cut off or renounced, and that he who was
circumcisedwas to be devoted to Godand to a holy life. All this, the apostle
says, was obtained by the gospel;and, consequentlythey had all that was
denoted by the ancient rite of circumcision. What Christians had obtained,

moreover, related to the heart; it was not a mere ordinance pertaining to the
flesh.
In putting off the body of the sins of the flesh - That is, in renouncing the
deeds of the flesh, or becoming holy. The word "body," here, seems to be used
with reference to circumcision. In that ordinance, the body of the FLesH was
subjectedto the rite; with Christians, it is the body of Sin that is cut off.
By the circumcisionof Christ - Not by the factthat Christ was circumcised,
but that we have that kind of circumcisionwhich Christ established, to wit,
the renouncing of sin. The idea of the apostle here seems to be, that since we
have thus been enabled by Christ to renounce sin, and to devote ourselves to
God, we should not, be induced by any plausible arguments to return to an
ordinance pertaining to the flesh, as if that were needful for salvation.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
11. Implying that they did not need, as the Judaizers taught, the outward rite
of circumcision, since they had already the inward spiritual reality of it.
are—rather, as the Greek, "Ye were (once for all) circumcised(spiritually, at
your conversionand baptism, Ro 2:28, 29; Php 3:3) with a (so the Greek)
circumcisionmade without hands"; opposed to "the circumcisionin the flesh
made by hands" (Eph 2:11). Christ's own body, by which the believer is
sanctified, is said to be "not made with hands" (Mr 14:58; Heb 9:11; compare
Da 2:45).
in putting off—rather as Greek, "in your putting off"; as an old garment
(Eph 4:22); alluding to the putting off the foreskinin circumcision.
the body of the sins of the flesh—The oldestmanuscripts read, "the body of
the flesh," omitting "ofthe sins," that is, "the body," of which the prominent
feature is fleshiness (compare Ro 8:13, where "flesh" and "the body"
mutually correspond). This fleshly body, in its sinful aspect, is put off in
baptism (where baptism answers its ideal) as the sealof regenerationwhere
receivedin repentance and faith. In circumcisionthe foreskinonly was put
off; in Christian regeneration"the body of the flesh" is spiritually put off, at

leastit is so in its ideal conception, howeverimperfectly believers realize that
ideal.
by—Greek, "in." This spiritual circumcision is realized in, or by, union with
Christ, whose "circumcision," wherebyHe became responsible for us to keep
the whole law, is imputed to believers for justification; and union with whom,
in all His vicarious obedience, including His circumcision, is the source ofour
sanctification. Alford makes it explanatory of the previous, "a circumcision
made without hands," namely, "the circumcisionbrought about by your
union with Christ." The former view seems to me better to accordwith Col
2:12; 3:1, 3, 4, which similarly makes the believer, by spiritual union with
Christ, to have personal fellowshipin the severalstates ofChrist, namely, His
death, resurrection, and appearing in glory. Nothing was done or suffered by
our Mediatoras such, but may be actedin our souls and representedin our
spirits. Pearson's view, however, is that of Alford. Joshua, the type (not Moses
in the wilderness), circumcisedthe Israelites in Canaan(Jos 5:2-9) the second
time: the people that came out of Egypt having been circumcised, and
afterwards having died in the wilderness;but those born after the Exodus not
having been so. Jesus, the Antitype, is the author of the true circumcision,
which is therefore called"the circumcisionof Christ" (Ro 2:29). As Joshua
was "Moses'minister," so Jesus, "ministerof the circumcision for the truth of
God" unto the Gentiles (Ro 15:8).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcisionmade without hands:
he removes what they who are addicted to superstition might suggest,as if
there were somewhatdefective to a completeness in Christ, by showing there
was no need of any addition to what he required in the gospel;for that they
might most plausibly urge of circumcision, as being the sealof the old
covenant, and an obligation to the whole law, Galatians 5:3, which some
pressedas necessaryto salvation, Acts 15:1,24, he here shows was altogether
needless now, that they were sanctified and had the thing signified by it, the
circumcisionof the heart, Romans 2:28,29 Php 3:3, and were complete in
Christ without it; yea, that the urging of that and other ceremonies now, was a
pernicious error, tending to annihilate the cross ofChrist, and overthrow the

whole mystery of his grace. It is true it was appointed to the Jews, a figure of a
thing absent; they therefore who retain that figure after the coming of Christ,
deny that to be complete which it doth figure, and so abolish the presence of
the truth; by stickling for the shadow, they let go the substance, viz. the
circumcisionnot made by the operation of man, but of God; not with the knife
of Moses, but the word of Christ, sharper than any two-edgedsword, Hebrews
4:12: and if we compare this with the verse following, and Philippians 3:3, the
apostle intimates that baptism is the same to us Christians which circumcision
was to the Jews;and that is often ascribedto the external administration, that
is only the internal operationof the Spirit, as Romans 6:3,4 Ga 3:27,28 Tit 3:5
1 Peter3:21. Now though there was during the shadow of it, Hebrews 10:1,
under the Old Testament, the circumcisionof the heart, as well as under the
New, Deu10:16 30:6 Jeremiah4:4; yet under the New TestamentChrist the
substance (who was only before in the promise) being now exhibited, having
abolishedthe old symbol and instituted baptism in the room of it; that with
the hands in the flesh, Ephesians 2:11, which they who receivednot the
promise, i.e. the Messiahpromised, used, Hebrews 11:39, was to be no more
urged, now the benefit by the merit of his obedience unto the death of the
cross, wherebyhe circumciseth from sin, might be enjoyed, as was signified by
baptism, appointed to this end, Matthew 28:19 Acts 2:38 Romans 6:3,4 Ga
3:27 1 Peter3:21.
In putting off the body of the sins of the flesh: hence he doth illustrate this
spiritual circumcisionby describing the parts of it, beginning with the
mortification of the old man, corrupted nature, containing not only the body
and senses,but the soul tainted with the defilements of sin, Colossians 3:5
Romans 6:6 Galatians 5:19-21,24 Eph4:22. The body of sins which do mostly
exert themselves in the flesh, every member and power while unregenerate
being active in the committing of sin, till the new man be put on, Ephesians
4:24, and the dominion of it be subdued; not by any natural part which a man
hath of himself for that purpose, but by the circumcisionof Christ, not
properly that whereby he himself was circumcisedin the flesh the eighth day,
but that which he hath indispensably required to have admission into his
kingdom, John 3:3, and which he himself is the workerof, doth procure by his

merit, and effectby his Spirit, which all the suasionof the sublimest
philosophers, and devotion of superstitious ones, cannotdo.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
In whom also ye are circumcised,.... This is said to prevent an objection that
might be made to the perfectionof these Gentile believers, because they were
not circumcised;for the Jews thought that perfectionlay in circumcision, at
leastthat there could be no perfection without it:
"greatis circumcision(say they (x)), for notwithstanding all the commands
which Abraham our father did, he was not calledperfect until he was
circumcised;as it is written, Genesis 17:1;"walk before me, and be thou
perfect:"
which objection the apostle anticipates, by observing, that they were
circumcisedin Christ their head, who is made unto them sanctification;and
by him as the meritorious and efficient cause oftheir regenerationand
conversion, or internal circumcision, the antitype and perfection of
circumcisionin the flesh; for the former, and not the latter, is here meant:
these believers were circumcisedin Christ, or by him; not with external
circumcision, which was peculiar to the Jews, the natural seedof Abraham,
prefigured Christ, and had its accomplishmentin him, the body and substance
of all the shadows of the ceremoniallaw; and so was now nothing, either to
Jew or Gentile: as for the Gentiles, they never were obliged unto it; and as for
the Jews, itwas an insupportable yoke to them, binding them to keepthe
whole law of Moses, whichthey could not do, and so it made nothing perfect;
but Christ the substance ofthat, and the end of the whole law, has, the head of
the body the church, in whom all the members of it are complete, and are
circumcised:
with the circumcisionmade without hands: which is that of the heart, in the
spirit; every man, though he may be circumcisedin the flesh, is uncircumcised
in heart, until he is circumcisedby Christ and his Spirit; which is done, when
he is pricked to the heart, and thoroughly convincedof sin, and the exceeding
sinfulness of it; when the callousnessandhardness of his heart is takenoff and
removed, and the iniquity of it is, laid open, the plague and corruption in it

discerned, and all made nakedand bare to the sinner's view; and when he is
in pain on accountof it, is brokenand groans under a sense of it, and is filled
with shame for it, and loathing and abhorrence of it: now this is effectednot
"by the hand of man", as the Ethiopic versionreads it, as outward
circumcisionwas;this is not done by any creature whatever; not by angels,
who rejoice at the repentance of sinners, but cannot produce it; nor by
ministers of the Gospel, who at most are but instruments of regenerationand
conversion;nor by men themselves;this is not by might or power of man, by
the strength of his free will, but by the Spirit of God: for though men are
sometimes exhorted to circumcise themselves, as in Deuteronomy10:16, in
order to convince them of the corruption of their nature, and the need they
stand in of spiritual circumcision;yet whereas there is an utter disability in
them to effect it, and they need the powerand grace ofGod for that purpose,
the Lord has graciouslypromised his people to do it himself for them,
Deuteronomy 30:6; so that this circumcisionis in the name sense made
without hands, as the human nature of Christ is said to be a tabernacle not
made with hands, that, is of men, but of God, being what Godhas pitched,
and not man; and it stands opposedto circumcision in the flesh, which was
made with hands, Ephesians 2:11; and by some instrument, as a sharp knife
or stone:
in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh. The Vulgate Latin version
leaves out the word "sins", and so the Alexandrian copy and some others;and
the Syriac version the word "body": by "the flesh" is meant corrupt nature,
which is born of the flesh, and propagatedin a carnal way, and is the source
and spring of all sin; by "the sins" of it are intended the works ofthe flesh, the
inward motions of sin in the members, and the outward actions of it: these are
said to be a "body", because sinconsists ofvarious parts and members, as a
body does;and these united together, and which receive frequent and daily
additions; and which are committed and yielded to by the members of the
natural body; and which body and bulk of sins arising from the corruption of
nature are compared to a garment, and a very filthy one it is; in the putting
off of which lies spiritual circumcision:this is done severalways;partly by
Christ's wrapping himself in the sins of his people, bearing them in his body,
and becoming a sacrifice for them, whereby the old man was crucified, and

the body of sin destroyed; and by an application of his blood, righteousness,
and sacrifice, to the consciences ofhis people, whereby their iniquities are
causedto pass from them, and they are clothed with change of raiment; and
by the powerof his Spirit, laying sin under the restraints of grace, not
suffering it to have dominion, but causing grace to reign through
righteousness;and by the saints themselves, under the influence of grace, who
put off the old man with his deeds, according to the former conversation:
by the circumcisionof Christ; not that with which Christ was circumcisedat
eight days old, that he might appear to be truly man, and a sonof Abraham,
and under the law, and to fulfil all the righteousness ofit, but that which he by
his Spirit is the author of, and what is before expressed,
(x) Misn. Nedarim, c. 3. sect. 11.
Geneva Study Bible
{9} In whom also ye are circumcisedwith the circumcisionmade without
hands, in putting off the {p} body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of
Christ:
(9) Now he deals preciselyagainstthe third type, that is to say, againstthose
who urged the Jewishreligion: and first of all, he denies that we have need of
the circumcisionof the flesh, seeing that without it we are circumcisedwithin,
by the powerof Christ.
(p) These many words are used to show what the old man is, whom Paul in
other places calls the body of sin.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Colossians 2:11. Respecting the connectionand its reference to the false
teachers, so faras they “Iegemevangelio miscebant” (Calvin), see on
Colossians 2:10.

ἐν ᾧ] like ἐν αὐτῷ in Colossians 2:10 : on whom it also causallydepends that
ye, etc. This applies to the point of time of their entrance into the union with
Christ, as is clearfrom the historical περιετμ., which took place on them
through their conversion(comp. Colossians 2:12).
καί]also circumcisedwere ye. The καί is the simple also, which, however, does
not introduce an element included under πεπληρωμ. ἐστε (Hofmann), but to
the previous relative statement(ὅς ἐστιν κ.τ.λ.)appends another; comp.
Colossians 2:12. Hofmann’s objection, that the foregoing relative statement
has indeed reference to the readers, but is made without reference to them, is
an empty subtlety, which is connectedwith the erroneous rendering of πάσης
ἀρχῆς κ. ἐξουσ.
περιτομῇ ἀχειροπ.]is not supplementary and parenthetical (Hofmann), as if
Paul had written περιτομῇ δὲ ἀχειροπ., but appends immediately to
περιετμηθ. its characteristic, wherebyit is distinguished from what is
elsewhere meantby circumcision; hence the thought is: “in your union with
Christ there has also takenplace a circumcisionupon you (Gentiles), which is
not (like the Jewishcircumcision)the work of hands;” comp. Ephesians 2:11.
On the word ἀχειροπ. itself (which is similar to ἀχειρούργητος,Poll. ii. 154), in
analogous antitheticalreference, comp. Mark 14:58;2 Corinthians 5:1; and
on the idea of the inner ethicalcircumcision, of which the bodily is the type,
comp. Deuteronomy10:16; Deuteronomy 30:6; Ezekiel44:7; Acts 7:51. See
Michaelis in loc., and the expositors on Romans 2:29; Schoettgen, Hor. I. p.
815.
ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει κ.τ.λ.]This characteristic περειτμήθητε περιτ. ἀχειρ. took
place by means of the putting off of the body of the flesh, which was
accomplishedin your case (observe the passive connection), i.e. in that the
body, whose essenceand nature are flesh, was takenoff and put awayfrom
you by God.[96]With reference to ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει κ.τ.λ., which is to be

coupled not merely with ΠΕΡΙΕΤΜΉΘΗΤΕ(Hofmann), but with the entire
specificallydefined conception of circumcisionΠΕΡΙΕΤΜ. ΠΕΡΙΤ.
ἈΧΕΙΡΟΠ., it is to be noticed: (1) that the genitive Τῆς ΣΆΡΚΟς is the
genitivus materiae, as in Colossians 1:22;(2) that the σάρξ here is not
indifferent, but means the flesh as the seatof sin, and of its lusts and strivings
(Romans 7:23; Romans 7:25; Romans 8:3; Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:16;
Ephesians 2:3; Colossians3:5, et al.); so that Paul (3) might have conveyedthe
idea of τὸ σῶμα τῆς σαρκ. also by ΤῸ ΣῶΜΑ Τῆς ἉΜΑΡΤΊΑς (Romans 6:6),
but the description by Τῆς ΣΑΡΚΌς was suggestedto him by the thought of
the circumcision(Romans 2:28; Ephesians 2:11). (4) The significant and
weighty expressionἈΠΕΚΔΎΣΕΙ (the substantive used only here, the verb
also in Colossians 2:15;Colossians 3:9;Josephus, Antt. vi. 14. 2) is selectedin
contrastto the operationof the legalcircumcision, which only wounded the
σῶμα τ. σαρκός and removed a portion of one member of it; whereas the
spiritual circumcision, divinely performed, consistedin a complete parting
and doing awaywith this body, in so far as God, by means of this ethical
circumcision, has takenoff and removed the sinful body from man (the two
acts are expressedby the double compound), like a garment which is drawn
off and laid aside. Ethically circumcised, i.e. translated by conversionfrom the
estate of sin into that of the Christian life of faith and righteousness (see
Colossians 2:12), consequentlyborn againas καινὴ κτίσις,[97]as a καινὸς
ἄνθρωπος createdafter God (Ephesians 4:24), man has no longerany σῶμα
τῆς σαρκός at all, because the body which he has is rid of the sinful ΣΆΡΞ as
such, as regards its sinful quality; he is no longer ἘΝ Τῇ ΣΑΡΚΊ as
previously, when lust ἘΝΗΡΓΕῖΤΟ ἘΝ ΤΟῖς ΜΈΛΕΣΙΝ (Romans 7:5; comp.
Colossians 2:23);he is no longerΣΆΡΚΙΝΟς, ΠΕΠΡΑΜΈΝΟς ὙΠῸ ΤῊΝ
ἉΜΑΡΤΊΑΝ (Romans 7:14), but is dead for sin (Romans 6:11); he has
crucified the ΣΆΡΞ (Galatians 5:24), and no longerwalks ΚΑΤᾺ ΣΆΡΚΑ, but
ἘΝ ΚΑΙΝΌΤΗΤΙ ΠΝΕΎΜΑΤΟς (Romans 7:6); by the law of the Holy Spirit
he is freed from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2), ἘΝ ΠΝΕΎΜΑΤΙ
(Romans 8:9), dead with Christ (Galatians 2:19; 2 Corinthians 5:14;
Colossians 3:3), and risen, so that his members are ὍΠΛΑ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΎΝΗς
Τῷ ΘΕῷ (Romans 6:13). This Christian transformation is representedin its
ideal aspect, which disregards the empirical imperfection, according to which
the σάρξ is still doubtless even in the regenerate atvariance with the

ΠΝΕῦΜΑ (Galatians 5:17). Our dogmatists well describe regenerationas
perfecta a parte Dei, but as imperfecta a parte hominum recipientium. To
take σῶμα in the sense of massa oraggregate(Calvin, Grotius, Calovius, and
others, including Steigerand Bähr[98]), is opposedas wellto the context, in
which the discourse turns upon circumcisionand (Colossians 2:12)upon
burial and resurrection, as also to the linguistic usage of the N. T. In classic
authors it expresses the notion in question in the physical sense, e.g.Plat. Tim.
p. 32 C: τὸ τοῦ κόσμου σῶμα (comp. p. 31 B, Hipp. maj. p. 301 B), and in later
writers may also denote generallya whole consisting ofparts (comp. Cicero,
ad Att. 2:1. 4). In opposition to the erroneous assumptionthat σῶμα must
have a figurative meaning here, as Julius Müller, v. d. Sünde, I. p. 459 f., still
in the 5th ed., thinks,[99]see on Romans 6:6; comp. also Hofmann,
Schriftbew. I. p. 560 f.
ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ τοῦ Χ.] by means of the circumcisionof Christ, parallel to the
previous ἐν τῇ ἀπεκσύσει κ.τ.λ., naming specifically(as different from that of
the Old Testament)the circumcisiondescribed previously according to its
nature. The genitive τοῦ Χριστοῦ is to be rendered: the circumcision, which is
produced through Christ. The context requires this by the further explanation
of the thing itself in Colossians2:12. Comp. above, ἐν ᾧ. But Christ is not
conceivedof as Himself the circumciser, in so far, namely, as by baptism
(Theophylact, Beza, and others), or by His Spirit (Bleek), He accomplishesthe
cleansing and sanctificationof man (see on
Expositor's Greek Testament
Colossians 2:11. The reference to circumcisionseems to come in abruptly. But
probably it stands in close connexionwith what has gone before. Forthe
return to the principalities and powers in Colossians 2:15 shows thatPaul is
not passing here to a new sectionof his subject. Judaism, of which
circumcisionwas the most characteristic feature, was regardedas under
angelic powers, and the removal of them meant its abolition. It seems
probable that the false teachers seta high value on circumcision, and urged it
on the Colossians, notas indispensable to salvation, in which case Paulwould

have definitely attackedthem on this point, but as conferring a higher
sanctity. There seems to be no suggestionthat it was regardedas a charm
againstevil spirits. The Apostle does not merely leave them with the statement
that they have been made full in Christ, which rendered circumcision
unnecessary, but adds that they have already receivedcircumcision, not
material but spiritual, not the removal of a fragment of the body, but the
complete putting off of the body of flesh.—ἐνᾧ καὶ περιετμήθητε. A definite
historicalfact is referred to, as is shownby the aorist. This was their
conversion, the inward circumcisionof the heart, by which they entered on
the blessings ofthe New Covenant. The outward signof this is baptism, with
which Paul connects it in the next verse. But it cannot be identified with it, for
it is not made with hands. The circumcisionof the heart is a prophetic idea
(Deuteronomy 10:16;Deuteronomy 30:6, Jeremiah 4:4; Jeremiah9:25,
Ezekiel44:7; Ezekiel44:9). In Paul it occurs Romans 2:28-29, Php 3:3.—
περιτομῇ ἀχειροποιήτῳ:“with 2 circumcision not wrought by hands,” i.e.,
spiritual, ethical(cf. Ephesians 2:11, οἱ λεγόμενοι ἀκροβυστία ὑπὸ τῆς
λεγομένης περιτομῆς ἐν σαρκὶ χειροποιήτου).—ἐντῇ ἀπεκδύσει τοῦ σώματος
τῆς σαρκός:“in the stripping from you of the body of the flesh”. The
expressionσῶμα τ. σαρκὸς is unusual. It means the body which consists of
flesh, and of flesh as the seatof sin. By the removal of the home in which sin
dwelt sin itself was removed. It is one of those casesin which the sense of
σῶμα approximates to that of σάρξ. This body of flesh is removed from the
Christian at his conversion.—ἐντῇ περιτομῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. This cannot be the
circumcisionendured by Christ in His infancy, for that was wrought by
hands, and such a reference would be most unfortunate for the polemic
againstceremonies andaltogetherun-Pauline. Usually it is explained as the
circumcisionof our hearts which comes from Christ. But this has no parallel
in the N.T.;further, it practically repeats ἐν ᾧ κ. περιετ.; and, coming
betweenthe removal of the body of the flesh and the burial with Christ,
breaks the connexion. Accordingly Schneckenburger(followedby Kl[13],
Sod., Haupt) suggestedthat it was really an expressionfor the death of Christ.
(His view that ἀπεκ. τ. σ. τ. σ. was to be taken similarly has met with no
acceptance.)In favour of this it may be said that in the immediate context
Paul goes onto speak ofburial and resurrectionwith Christ, and a reference
to the death would naturally precede. And circumcision is a happy metaphor

for Christ’s death to sin (Romans 6:10). Meyer’s objectionthat it is
inappropriate since Christ endured actual circumcisionis not serious, for, if
sound, it should have excluded the choice ofthese ambiguous words
altogether, which naturally suggesta circumcisionsuffered by Christ. But
what creates a grave difficulty is that the thought does not seemto run on
connectedly. There is a transition from the death of Christ on the cross to the
burial of Christians with Him in their ownpersonal experience. Perhaps this
interpretation involves taking περιετμήθητε of the death of Christians with
Christ on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:14), for it doubles the difficulty if Paul
passes from the personalexperience of the Christian to the cross, and from
the cross back to personalexperience. This suggests the possibility that περ. Χ.
might be interpreted on the analogyof θλίψεων τ. Χριστοῦ (Colossians 1:24)
as the circumcisionof Christ in the believer. This would give a good
connexion, and one that would suit the apparent identification of the
circumcisionof Christ with the putting off of the body of the flesh. The
phrase, however, is so strange, and the idea that Christ dies with us so
questionable (we die with Him), that it seems unsafe to adopt it. It is,
therefore, best to mitigate the difficulty by the view that in these words Paul
interpolates, in a concise andobscure expression, a reference to the greatfact
which underlay the spiritual experiences of which he is speaking. This
circumcision, he would say, that is the removal of the flesh, was first
experiencedby Christ on the cross, and what happened to you ideally then is
realisedthough union with Him now.
[13] Klöpper.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
11. in whom] The truth of the holy Union of members and Head is againin
view. What he is about to speak of was done by the fact of, by virtue of, their
oneness with Christ.

are circumcised]Better, were circumcised, when you entered “into Christ.”
They already had that Divine Reality, the sacredbut obsolete type of which
the new teachers now pressedupon them. As regardedorder, ceremonial,
deed and sealof conveyance, theyacquired this in their Baptism; as regarded
inward and ultimate reality they acquired it by believing on the name of the
Son of God. See John1:12; cp. 1 John 5:1.—Baptismis the Sacramentof
Faith, and never, in principle and idea, to be dissociatedfrom its Thing (Res),
as if its work was done where the Thing is not truly present.
made without hands] It is a thing of the spiritual, eternal, order, the
immediate work of the will of God.—Cp. 2 Corinthians 5:1.—Is this
“circumcision” simply holy Baptism? No, surely, but that “inward and
spiritual grace” ofwhich Baptism is the sacramentalSeal, “a deathunto sin
and a new birth unto righteousness”(Church Catechism). It is vital union
with Christ, through faith, by the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 6:17), viewed
as our separationfrom the condemnation (Romans 6:11) and power (ib., 12,
13) of sin, and so our realentrance into a position of covenantedpeace
(Romans 5:1) and a condition of covenantedgrace. In both these aspects it is
the Antitype of the type Circumcision, and the Reality under the sealBaptism.
the putting off] The Greek is one strong compound word; “the entire
stripping off.” It was, in principle and as regardedthe calland grace of God, a
total break with the old position and condition; not a reform but a revolution
of the man’s standing and state.—The physicalimagery is drawn of course
from the severe Abrahamic rite.
the body of the sins of the flesh] Omit, on goodevidence, the words “of the
sins” which appearto be a (very intelligible) gloss orcomment.

What is “the body of the flesh”? Elsewhere in St Paul the word “body”
appears never to mean anything but the physical frame, save in passages
referring to the Church; but (in passagesatall akin to this) it is that frame
viewed as in some sense the vehicle of sin, or rather of temptation. Cp.
Romans 6:6; Romans 7:24; Romans 8:10-11;Romans 8:13. As God’s
handiwork, the body is good, and on its way, in Christ, to glorification. As the
body of man in the Fall, and as man’s means of contactwith a sinful external
world, if in no other way, it is so conversantwith and affectedby evil as to be
(in that respect)an evil. As such it is “the body of the flesh,” that is, the body
conditioned by, and reacting upon, our nature fallen and unregenerate.—See
our notes on Romans 8:4 and Ephesians 2:3, on the word “flesh.”
In Christ, “by the Spirit,” the Christian is empoweredto “mortify the
practices ofthe body” (Romans 8:13). In Christ, “the body is for the Lord,
and the Lord for the body” (1 Corinthians 6:13). In this respectthe man,
while still liable to physical weaknessand weariness, and truly capable of
temptation, and as a factnever so using his “fulness” in Christ as to be wholly
free (whateverhis consciousness)from the burthen of evil in and through “the
body of the flesh,” yet stands on such a ground of vantage over the powerof
that body as to find by faith a noble practicalreality in the strong words of
this verse.—See further, on the other hand, notes on Colossians3:5.
by the circumcisionof Christ] Lit., in &c.; “as united to, interestedin.”—
What is this circumcision? that given by Christ, or that undergone by Christ?
Much may be saidfor the latter. Our Lord was “circumcisedfor man,” as the
sacramentalSealofHis “subjectionto the law for man”; and so His historical
Circumcision has a deep connexion with our possession, through Him, of
acceptanceand sanctification, the fruit of His Righteousnessand Merits. But
in this context the other reference is preferable. We have but just read of a
“circumcisionnot made with hands”; surely the same is in view here. Christ,
Messiah(the word here is not Jesus, whichmight have better suggestedthe

historicalreference), gives us spiritual circumcisionwhen He joins us to
Himself (see notes above), and so the circumcisionis “His.”
Bengel's Gnomen
Colossians 2:11. Καὶ) also. Paulnow enumerates the steps in the progress of
those, who have become partakers ofthe fulness of Christ.—περιετμήθητε,ye
are circumcised)As circumcision, so baptism, refers to initiation.—περιτομῇ,
with the circumcision)of the heart.—ἀχειροποιήτῳ, notmade with hands) An
epithet very suitable for the New Testament;comp. Ephesians 2:11; Hebrews
9:11; Hebrews 9:24.—ἀπεκδύσει)a word most significant; Colossians2:15.—
τοῦ σώματος, of the body) This, as a whole, is opposed to the part,
uncircumcision: ἀπέκδυσις σώματος, the putting (stripping) off the body, a
mild definition of death. It is different therefore from baptism: it is the
circumcisionof the heart; it is death spiritual, in a goodsense, whereas
baptism is compared to burial. [Communion with (joint participation in) the
death and burial and resurrectionof Christ is described in this and the
following verse.—V.g.]—τῆς σαρκὸς, ofthe flesh) There is an apposition
betweenthe body of sins and the flesh [not the body of the sins of the flesh, as
Engl. Vers., but the body of the sins, that is to say, the flesh].—ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ
τοῦ Χριστοῦ) by the circumcision of Christ, which accords with the New
Testament;a circumcision, to which that of Moses, in the flesh, gives place.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 11. - In whom also ye were circumcised, with a circumcisionnot
wrought by hands (Ephesians 2:11; Philippians 3:3; Galatians 5:2-6;
Galatians 6:12-15;Romans 2:25-29;Romans 4:9-12;1 Corinthians 7:18; Acts
15:l, 5; Deuteronomy30:6). Circumcision was insistedon by the new
"philosophical" teacheras necessaryto spiritual completeness;but from a
different standpoint, and in a manner different from that of the Pharisaic
Judaizers of Galatia and of Acts 15:1. By the latter it was preachedas matter
of Law and external requirement, and so became the critical point in the
decisionbetweenthe opposing principles of "faith" and "works."Bythe
philosophical schoolit was enjoined as matter of symbolic moral efficiency. So
Philo speaks ofcircumcision('On the Migrationof Abraham,' § 16) as

"setting forth the excisionof all the pleasures and passions, andthe
destruction of impious vain opinion" (see also his treatise 'On Circumcision').
From this point of view, baptism is the Christian circumcision, the new
symbolic expressionof the moral change which St. Paul and his opponents
alike deemed necessary, though they understood it in a different sense from
him (see vers. 20-23). In this respectthe Christian is already complete, for his
circumcisiontook place in the stripping off of the body of the flesh, in the
circumcisionof Christ (Colossians3:5, 8, 9; Ephesians 4:22-25;Romans 6:6;
Romans 7:18-25;Romans 13:12; 1 Peter2:1; 1 Peter4:1, 2). The inserted "of
the sins" is an ancient gloss. Ἀπ(έκ(δυσις, a double compound, found only in
this Epistle (see corresponding verb in ver. 15; Colossians 3:9), denotes both
"stripping off" and "putting away." "The stripping off of the body" was the
ideal of the philosophicalascetics (seenote on "body," ver. 23, and quotations
from Philo). The apostle adds "ofthe flesh;" i.e. of the body in so far as it was
the body of the flesh (vers. Colossians2:13, 18, 23;Colossians3:5). "The
flesh" (in Colossians 1:22 that which Christ had put on; here that which the
Christian puts off: comp. Romans 8:3) is "the flesh of sin," of Romans 8:3;
Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 2:3, etc. "The body," while identified with this
"flesh," is "the body of sin" and "of death" (Romans 6:6; Romans 7:24; see
Meyer, Godet, or Beet);sin inhabits it, clothes itself with it, and presents itself
to us in its form; and this being the normal condition of unregenerate human
nature, the sinful principle is naturally calledthe flesh. So "the (bodily)
members" become "the members that are upon the earth," employed in the
pursuit of lust and greed, till they become practicallyone with these vices
(Colossians3:5, see note; also Romans 7:5, 23). Yet "the body" and "the
(sinful) flesh," while in the natural man one in practice, are in principle
distinguishable (ver. 23:comp. Colossians 1:22], and separable (Romans
6:12). The deliverance from the physical acts and habits of the old sinful life,
experiencedby him who is "in Christ" (ver. 10; Romans 8:1-4; 2 Corinthians
5:17), is "the circumcisionaccording to the Christ," or here more pointedly
"of Christ" - a real and complete, instead of a partial and symbolic, putting
awayof the organic life and domination of sin which made the body its seat
and its instrument. The genitive" of Christ "is neither objective ("undergone
by Christ"), nor subjective ("wrought by Christ"), but stands in a mere

generalrelation - "belonging to Christ," "the Christian circumcision." The
occasionofthis new birth in the Colossians was theirbaptism -
Vincent's Word Studies
Not made with hands
Compare Mark 14:58;2 Corinthians 5:1. In allusion to the literal
circumcisioninsisted on by the false teachers.
In the putting off (ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει)
Only here in the New Testament;and the kindred verb ἀπεκδύομαι to put off
only Colossians 2:15 and Colossians3:9. The verb ἐκδύομαι means to strip off
from one's self, as clothes or armor; ἐκ out of, having the force of getting out
of one's garments. By the addition to the verb of ἀπό from, there is added to
the idea of getting out of one's clothes that of getting awayfrom them; so that
the word is a strong expressionfor wholly putting awayfrom one's self. In the
putting off, is in the actor process of. Notby.
The body of the sins of the flesh (τοῦ σώματος τῶνἁμαρτιῶντῆς σαρκὸς)
Omit of the sins. The body of the flesh (compare on Colossians 1:22)is the
body which consists ofthe flesh, flesh having its moral sense of that material
part which is the seatand organof sin, "the flesh with its passions andlusts"
(Galatians 5:24; compare 1 John 2:16). See on Colossians 1:24. Forthe
distinction betweenσῶμα body and σάρξ flesh, see on flesh, Romans 7:5, sec.
3.
In the circumcisionof Christ (ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ)
The spiritual circumcisioneffectedthrough Christ. See Ephesians 2:11;
Philippians 3:3; Romans 2:29. In, as above. The fleshly circumcisionremoved
only a portion of the body. In spiritual circumcision, through Christ, the
whole corrupt, carnalnature is put awaylike a garment which is taken off
and laid aside.

BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcisionmade without hands.
Colossians 2:11-12
Christian circumcision
G. Barlow.
I. IS INWARD AND SPIRITUAL.
II. IS COMPLETE. Manualcircumcisionwas the cutting awayof only a small
part of the flesh. But the spiritual circumcisionconsists in putting off the
whole body of our corrupt nature — the entire fleshly principle.
III. IS DIVINE. "By the circumcisionof Christ." It is wrought, without hands,
by the inward powerof the Divine Spirit of Christ.
IV. IS REALIZED BY THE THOROUGH IDENTIFICATION OF THE
BELIEVER WITH CHRIST IN HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION.
V. IS WROUGHT IN THE SOUL BY A SPIRITUAL BAPTISM. "Buried
with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him."
VI. IS RECEIVED BY FAITH. "Throughthe faith of the operationof God,
who hath raisedHim from the dead." Faith is not a natural product of the
human heart. It is a Divine gift, bestowedonman by a Divine operation.
(G. Barlow.)
The circumcisionof Christ
J. Spence, D. D.
I. EVERY REAL CHRISTIAN HAS EXPERIENCED THE TRUE
CIRCUMCISION. The argument is that circumcisionwas unnecessary, since
the Colossians hadundergone the new birth which it signified.

1. It is spiritual, and plainly distinguished from that which was made with
hands. The idea was not a novel one (Deuteronomy 10:16;Deuteronomy 30:6;
Jeremiah9:26; Ezekiel44:7; Acts 7:51; Romans 2:28-29).
2. The true characterof the operationis the putting off of the body of the
flesh, "the old man," corrupt human nature, with all its carnalinstincts and
tendencies. Manualcircumcision cut off only a small part of the flesh, the
spiritual is an entire transformation of the whole man. Old habits are
abandoned, evil associations forsaken, and the soulis usheredinto a new life,
with new thoughts, affections, etc. It is a putting on of the new man.
3. It is Divine, "the circumcisionof Christ," ordained and communicated by
Him, with Him for its author and model.
II. THIS TRUE CIRCUMCISION IS REALIZED ONLY IN UNION WITH
CHRIST IN HIS DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION.
1. The Saviour died for us, and when the anxious sinner trusts Christ he is
regardedas having died with Him.
2. The reality of death is evincedby burial, and the death of the believer with
Christ is the casting off of the body of the flesh. The old man is sepulchred.
3. The soul in regenerationarises withChrist to a new and holy life.
III. THIS UNION IS REALIZED IN THE BAPTISM. It is generallyassumed
that the allusion here is to immersion.
1. But it is difficult to see any resemblance betweenthis and the depositing of
Christ's body in a rock-hewnsepulchre. The reference is to the baptism of the
Spirit — the Washing of regeneration(1 Corinthians 12:13, cf. 1 Corinthians
1:14). The theory of immersion is that it is the professionof a regeneration
which has already takenplace; but with St. Paul the burial and resurrection
are coincidentwith the baptism. It is quite possible to die and rise with Christ
without waterbaptism, but not without the baptism of the Spirit.
2. Why does Paul speak disparaginglyof "hand-wrought" circumcision, and
proclaim its needlessness, if he is to pass immediately to speak ofthe efficacy

of "hand-wrought" baptism? To introduce that would be to introduce the
very element of ceremonialismwhich he is denouncing.
IV. THE PRINCIPLE THROUGH WHICH THIS SPIRITUAL BAPTISM IS
RECEIVED — "through faith."
1. It is surprising that so many should regardthe baptism in which the
disciple is said to rise with Christ as that of water. No one is raisedout of
waterby faith, but by the arms which immersed him. The baptism of the
Spirit is receivedby faith: an unbeliever cannot receive it.
2. "In the operationof God" does not mean that that is the origin but the
objectof faith. If I believe in the powerthat raised Christ, I believe in the
powerwhich has acceptedHis suretyship for me. This faith regards Christ's
resurrectionas the keystone ofChristianity, the centre of confidence, the only
basis of hope.
(J. Spence, D. D.)
The true circumcision
A. Maclaren, D. D.
There are two tendencies everat work to corrupt religion. One is of the
intellect, the temptation of the cultured few, which turns religion into
theologicalspeculation;the other of the senses, thatof the vulgar many, which
turns religion into a theatricalspectacle. Butopposite as these are they were
united at Colossae. To the teaching of the necessityof circumcision —
I. The apostle opposes the position that ALL CHRISTIAN MEN BY VIRTUE
OF THEIR UNION WITH CHRIST HAVE RECEIVED THE TRUE
CIRCUMCISION, ofwhich the outward rite was the shadow, and therefore
now obsolete.
1. The language points to a definite past time. When they became Christians a
change passedoverthem parabled by circumcision,(1)It is not made with
hands, i.e., it is not a rite but a reality, not transactedin the flesh but in the

Spirit, not a removal of ceremonialimpurity, but a cleansing of the heart
(Deuteronomy 30:6).(2)It consists in the putting off of the body of the flesh
"the sins of" is an interpolation — a complete stripping off from oneself, as of
clothes, in contrastwith a removal of a small part of the body. It is true that
Christian men, alas!realize this by slow degrees;but on the Divine side it is
complete. Christ gives perfect emancipation, and if it is only partial it is
because we have not takenthe things that are freely given. The foe may keep
up a guerilla warfare after he is substantially defeated, but his entire
subjugation is certain if we keephold of the strength of Christ.(3)It is of
Christ; not that He submitted to it, but instituted it.
2. What is the bearing of this statement on the apostle's purpose? That
circumcisionis an anachronism, "as if a flowershould shut, and be a bud
again."(1)The true centre of gravity, of Christianity, then, is in moral
transformation. Surely Christ who gives men a new life by union with Himself
by faith has delivered man from the "yoke of bondage," if He has done
anything at all. How far awayfrom Paul's conception, then, are those which
busy themselves with punctilios of observance!But the hatred of forms may
be as completelya form as the most elaborate ritual. We need to have our eyes
turned awayto the far higher thing, the service of the transformed nature.(2)
The conquestof the animal nature is the certainoutcome of union with Christ
and that alone. Pauldid not regardmatter as evil, as the Colossianteachers
did, nor the body as the source ofall sin. But he knew that the fiercest
temptations came from it, and that the foulest stains upon the consciencewere
splashedfrom the mud which it threw. It is a matter of life and death to find
some means of taming the animal that is in us all. We all know of wrecked
lives which have been driven on the rocks by the wild passions ofthe flesh;
and when we come to add its weaknesses, limitations, and needs, and
remember how high purposes are frustrated by its shrinking from toil, and
how often mists born from its undrained swamps darken the vision of truth
and God, we do not need to be Gnosties to believe that goodness requires the
flesh to be subdued. But no asceticisms orresolves willdo what we want.
Much repressionmay be affectedby force of will, but it is like a man holding a
wolf by the jaws. The arms begin to ache and the grip to grow slack, and he
feels his strength ebbing, and knows that as soonas he lets go the brute will be

at his throat. Nothing tames the wild beastin us but Christ. He binds it in a
silkenlash, and that gentle constraintis strong because the fiercenessis gone.
Christianity would be easywere it a round of observances. Anybody canfast
or weara hair shirt, but the putting off of the body of the flesh is a harder
thing. Emotion, theology, ceremonial, may have their value, but a religion that
includes them all and leaves out the subjugation of the flesh is worthless. If we
are in Christ we shall not live in the flesh.
II. Paul meets the false teaching by a reference to CHRISTIAN BAPTISM AS
BEING THE CHRISTIAN SIGN OF THE INWARD CHANGE.
1. The form of expressionin the Greek implies that the circumcisionand
burial with Christ in baptism are contemporaneous. Youhave been baptized
— does not that express all that circumcisionmeant and more?(1) This
reference is quite consistentwith the subordinate importance of ritual. Some
forms are necessaryto a visible Church, and Christ has given us two: one
symbolizing the initial spiritual act of Christian life, and the other the
constantly repeatedprocess ofChristian nourishment.(2) The form here
presupposedis immersion.(3) There are but two theories:the one is that
baptism effects the change, and elevates it into more than the importance of
which Paul sought to deprive circumcision, confuses the distinction between
the Church and the world, lulls men into a false security, obscures the central
truth of Christianity that faith makes a Christian, gives the basis for a
portentous sacer-dotalism, and is shivered to pieces againstthe plain facts of
daily life. But it is conclusivelydisposed of by the words, "through faith in the
operation," etc. What remains, then, but that baptism is associatedwith the
change, because in the Divine order it is meant to be its outward symbol?
2. Note the thoroughness of the change. It is more than a circumcision; it is
burial and resurrection.(1)We partake of Christ's death inasmuch as —
(a)we ally ourselves to it by our faith as the sacrifice forour sins;
(b)by the powerof His Cross we are drawn to slay our old nature, dying to the
habits, desires, etc., in which we lived.(2) If we are thus made conformable to
His death, we shall know the powerof His resurrection.

(a)It will be a guarantee of our own.
(b)The sealof His perfect work on the Cross, and shall know it as a token of
God's acceptance;
(c)the type of our spiritual resurrectionnow.
(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
CALVIN
11. In whom ye also are circumcised. From this it appears, that he has a
controversywith the false apostles, who mixed the law with the gospel, and by
that means made Christ have, as it were, two faces. He specifies, however, one
instance by way of example. He proves that the circumcisionof Moses is not
merely unnecessary, but is opposedto Christ, because it destroys the spiritual
circumcisionof Christ. Forcircumcision was given to the Fathers that it might
be the figure of a thing that was absent:those, therefore, who retain that
figure after Christ's advent, deny the accomplishment of what it prefigures.
Let us, therefore, bear in mind that outward circumcisionis here compared
with spiritual, just as a figure with the reality. The figure is of a thing that is
absent: hence it puts awaythe presence ofthe reality. What Paul contends for
is this -- that, inasmuch as what was shadowedforth by a circumcisionmade
with hands, has been completedin Christ, there is now no fruit or advantage
from it. [371]Hence he says, that the circumcisionwhich is made in the heart
is the circumcisionof Christ, and that, on this account, that which is outward
is not now required, because, where the reality exists, that shadowyemblem
vanishes, [372]inasmuch as it has no place exceptin the absence ofthe reality.
By the putting off of the body. He employs the term body, by an elegant
metaphor, to denote a mass, made up of all vices. Foras we are encompassed
by our bodies, so we are surrounded on all sides by an accumulation of vices.
And as the body is composedof various members, eachof which has its own

actings and offices, so from that accumulationof corruption all sins take their
rise as members of the entire body. There is a similar manner of expressionin
Romans 6:13.
He takes the term flesh, as he is wont, to denote corrupt nature. The body of
the sins of the flesh, therefore, is the old man with his deeds; only, there is a
difference in the manner of expression, for here he expressesmore properly
the mass of vices which proceedfrom corrupt nature. He says that we obtain
this [373]through Christ, so that unquestionably an entire regenerationis his
benefit. It is he that circumcises the foreskinof our heart, or, in other words,
mortifies all the lusts of the flesh, not with the hand, but by his Spirit. Hence
there is in him the reality of the figure.
PULPIT COMMENTARY
Colossians 2:11
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcisionmade without hands,
in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcisionof Christ:
Verse 11. - In whom also ye were circumcised, with a circumcisionnot
wrought by hands (Ephesians 2:11; Philippians 3:3; Galatians 5:2-6;
Galatians 6:12-15;Romans 2:25-29;Romans 4:9-12;1 Corinthians 7:18; Acts
15:l, 5; Deuteronomy30:6). Circumcision was insistedon by the new
"philosophical" teacheras necessaryto spiritual completeness;but from a
different standpoint, and in a manner different from that of the Pharisaic
Judaizers of Galatia and of Acts 15:1. By the latter it was preachedas matter
of Law and external requirement, and so became the critical point in the
decisionbetweenthe opposing principles of "faith" and "works."Bythe
philosophical schoolit was enjoined as matter of symbolic moral efficiency. So
Philo speaks ofcircumcision('On the Migrationof Abraham,' § 16) as
"setting forth the excisionof all the pleasures and passions, andthe

destruction of impious vain opinion" (see also his treatise 'On Circumcision').
From this point of view, baptism is the Christian circumcision, the new
symbolic expressionof the moral change which St. Paul and his opponents
alike deemed necessary, though they understood it in a different sense from
him (see vers. 20-23). In this respectthe Christian is already complete, for his
circumcisiontook place in the stripping off of the body of the flesh, in the
circumcisionof Christ (Colossians3:5, 8, 9; Ephesians 4:22-25;Romans 6:6;
Romans 7:18-25;Romans 13:12; 1 Peter2:1; 1 Peter4:1, 2). The inserted "of
the sins" is an ancient gloss. Ἀπ(έκ(δυσις, a double compound, found only in
this Epistle (see corresponding verb in ver. 15; Colossians 3:9), denotes both
"stripping off" and "putting away." "The stripping off of the body" was the
ideal of the philosophicalascetics (seenote on "body," ver. 23, and quotations
from Philo). The apostle adds "ofthe flesh;" i.e. of the body in so far as it was
the body of the flesh (vers. Colossians2:13, 18, 23;Colossians3:5). "The
flesh" (in Colossians 1:22 that which Christ had put on; here that which the
Christian puts off: comp. Romans 8:3) is "the flesh of sin," of Romans 8:3;
Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 2:3, etc. "The body," while identified with this
"flesh," is "the body of sin" and "of death" (Romans 6:6; Romans 7:24; see
Meyer, Godet, or Beet);sin inhabits it, clothes itself with it, and presents itself
to us in its form; and this being the normal condition of unregenerate human
nature, the sinful principle is naturally calledthe flesh. So "the (bodily)
members" become "the members that are upon the earth," employed in the
pursuit of lust and greed, till they become practicallyone with these vices
(Colossians3:5, see note; also Romans 7:5, 23). Yet "the body" and "the
(sinful) flesh," while in the natural man one in practice, are in principle
distinguishable (ver. 23:comp. Colossians 1:22], and separable (Romans
6:12). The deliverance from the physical acts and habits of the old sinful life,
experiencedby him who is "in Christ" (ver. 10; Romans 8:1-4; 2 Corinthians
5:17), is "the circumcisionaccording to the Christ," or here more pointedly
"of Christ" - a real and complete, instead of a partial and symbolic, putting
awayof the organic life and domination of sin which made the body its seat
and its instrument. The genitive" of Christ "is neither objective ("undergone
by Christ"), nor subjective ("wrought by Christ"), but stands in a mere
generalrelation - "belonging to Christ," "the Christian circumcision." The
occasionofthis new birth in the Colossians was theirbaptism -

PRECEPT AUSTIN RESOURCES
Colossians 2:11 and in Him you were also circumcised(API) with a
circumcisionmade without hands in the removal of the body of the flesh by
the circumcisionof Christ (NASB: Lockman)
Greek:En ho kaiperietmêthête (2PAPI) peritome acheiropoieto ente
apekduseitou somatos tes sarkos,ente peritome tou Christou,
Amplified: In Him also you were circumcisedwith a circumcisionnot made
with hands, but in a [spiritual] circumcision[performed by] Christ by
stripping off the body of the flesh (the whole corrupt, carnalnature with its
passions and lusts). (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
Barclay:In him you have been circumcisedwith a circumcisionnot made by
man’s hands, a circumcisionwhich consists in putting off the whole of that
part of you which is dominated by sinful human nature, which you were able
to do by the circumcisionwhich belongs to Christ. (WestminsterPress)
Lightfoot: In him too you have the true circumcision—the circumcision which
is not made with hands but wrought by the Spirit—the circumcisionwhich
divests not of a part only but of the whole carnal body—the circumcision
which is not of Moses but of Christ.
Phillips: In Christ, you were circumcised, not by any physical act, but by
being set free from the sins of the flesh by virtue of Christ's circumcision.
(Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: in Whom you were circumcisedby a circumcisionnot effectedby
hand, in the putting off and awayfrom yourselves the body of the flesh in the
circumcisionof Christ,

Young's Literal: in whom also ye were circumcisedwith a circumcisionnot
made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh in the
circumcisionof the Christ,
AND IN HIM YOU WERE ALSO CIRCUMCISED WITHA
CIRCUMCISION MADE WITHOUT HANDS: En ho kaiperietmêthête
(2PAPI) peritome acheiropoieto:
Ezek 44:7,9
Acts 7:48;17:24; Eph 2:11; Heb 9:24
Colossians 2 Resources -Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
Colossians 2:8-23 The Sufficiency of Christ - John MacArthur
Colossians 2:8-23 The Sufficiency of Christ Alone - John MacArthur
Colossians 2:10-15:Complete in Christ - John MacArthur
In Him also you were circumcisedwith a circumcisionnot made with hands,
but in a [spiritual] circumcision [performed by] Christ (Amp)
In union with Christ you were circumcised, not with the circumcisionthat is
made by human beings, but with the circumcisionmade by Christ, which
consists ofbeing freed from the power of this sinful self. (GNB)
It was a spiritual procedure—the cutting awayof your sinful nature (NLT)
in Him you have been circumcisedwith no material circumcision that cuts
flesh from the body (Moffatt)
In him also you were circumcisedwith a spiritual circumcision(NRSV)
in the putting off of the sinful nature (NIV)
RelatedResourcesonCircumcision:
"Spiritual Circumcision" - Circumcision Of the Heart
Scriptures on Circumcision

Circumcision by R K Harrison
Circumcision by R A Torrey
What Does the Bible Say about Circumcision?
Is baptism the New Covenantequivalent of circumcision?
American Tract SocietyCircumcision
BridgewayBible Dictionary Circumcision
CARM TheologicalDictionaryCircumcision
Easton's Bible Dictionary Circumcision
FaussetBible Dictionary Circumcision
Holman Bible Dictionary Circumcision
Hastings'Dictionary of the Bible Circumcision
Hastings'Dictionary of the NT Circumcision, Circumcision
Morrish Bible Dictionary Circumcision
Hawker's PoorMan's Dictionary Circumcision
People's Dictionaryof the Bible Circumcision
Smith Bible DictionaryCircumcision
Wilson's Bible Types Circumcision
WebsterDictionary Circumcision
Watson's TheologicalDictionaryCircumcision
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica Circumcision
CondensedBiblical Cyclopedia Covenantof Circumcision
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Circumcision
Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia Circumcision

McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia Circumcision
The Nuttall Encyclopedia Circumcision
The JewishEncyclopedia Circumcision
In Colossians2:9-15 Paul explains that a believer has been made complete in
Christ through identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of
Christ (Col2:11, 12), out of which arise some significantbenefits (Col 2:13, 14,
15). When confrontedwith false teaching, most of us attack it and try to point
out what is wrong with it. Paul's approach is to "accentuate the positive" and
thus he reviews what the saints already possessin Christ. You will never
possessanymore of Christ than you do the moment of salvation, so the
question is what more does a saint need to "succeed" in this life? For most of
us the answeris that we need to discovermore of what it means to be "in
Christ" and to have Christ in us "the hope of glory", which is a lifelong
process. The conceptofthe believer's indissoluble union with Christ, made
real in personalexperience, takes lifeless theoryout of refrigerationand sets it
in the full blaze of the warmth of intimate fellowshipwith the Son. I would
add that since it is the Holy Spirit Whose job it is to glorify Christ, for
believers to truly possess theirpossessions ("complete in Christ") we must
become very sensitive to the vital role the Spirit of Jesus plays in enabling us
to achieve our "Christ potential" (cp similar ideas - progressive
sanctification, growthin holiness, present tense salvation). We need to realize
that even the God-Man Jesus lived the supernatural life in dependence upon
the Holy Spirit. Below are some articles that expand on this important topic
(there is some overlap):
Spirit-Filled Believers Are Like Artesian Wells
The Holy Spirit-Walking Like Jesus Walked!
Our Anointing - The Holy Spirit
A Spirit Filled Church
Ephesians 5:18 Commentary
Make Disciples 1

Make Disciples 2
Make Disciples 3
Make Disciples 4
Make Disciples 5
Make Disciples 6
Make Disciples 7
Make Disciples 8
In Him in union with Christ or identified with Christ, we too were
"circumcised". Thus the JewishNT has "Also it was in union with Him that
you were circumcised"
Were circumcised(4059)(peritemno from perí = around + témno = cut off -
see study of peritome) means literally to cut something off or away("to cut off
around"), signifying a removal of that which has been cut away.
In Col 2:11 Paul is using the well knownprocedure of circumcisionnot to
describe the physical actbut to describe spiritual circumcision ("without
hands") that is wrought by the Spirit and results in spiritual rebirth. Paul
used the conceptof circumcisionsimilarly in Romans 2:24-29, addressing the
Jews who had the Law and physical circumcisionand yet transgressedthe
Law, because theywere not spiritually circumcised.
TDNT - Non-biblical Use. Attested from the days of Homer, peritémnō means
“to cut around,” “to make incisions,” “to encircle with a view to robbing”
(e.g., cattle or lands), and then, as a ritual technicalterm, “to circumcise.”
Thayer - to circumcise, cut off one's prepuce (used of that well-knownrite by
which not only the male children of the Israelites, on the eighth day after
birth, but subsequently also `proselytes of righteousness'were consecratedto
Jehovahand introduced into the number of his people.
Peritemno - 17xin 15v - circumcise(4), circumcised(10), circumcision(1),
receive circumcision(1), receives circumcision(1).

Note the predominance of uses in Galatians - correctteaching on circumcision
was a crucialissue in that epistle to counter the false teaching that one could
only be saved by "Christ plus" something, in this case circumcision(see Acts
15:1, 5).
Luke 1:59 And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the
child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father.
Luke 2:21 And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His
name was then calledJesus, the name given by the angelbefore He was
conceivedin the womb.
John 7:22 "Forthis reasonMoseshas given you circumcision (not because it is
from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man.
Acts 7:8 "And He gave him the covenantof circumcision(Ge 17:11 says it is
the signof the covenant); and so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and
circumcisedhim on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and
Jacobof the twelve patriarchs.
Acts 15:1 Some men came down from Judea (to the church at Antioch) and
beganteaching the brethren, "Unless you are circumcisedaccording to the
custom of Moses,you cannotbe saved."
Comment: These "Judiazers" came downbecause theygot wind of the
Gentile conversions from the First MissionaryJourney - and they demanded
they added "circumcision" to salvationby faith alone! This spurred the
pivotal JerusalemCouncilto address this heresy.
Acts 15:5 But some of the sectof the Pharisees who had believed stoodup,
saying, "It is necessaryto circumcise them and to direct them to observe the
Law of Moses."(ReadPeter's strong refutation of this deadly, heretical
teaching - Acts 15:7-11)
Acts 16:3 Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and
circumcisedhim because ofthe Jews who were in those parts, for they all
knew that his father was a Greek.

Acts 21:21 and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the
Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses,telling them not to
circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.
1 Corinthians 7:18 Was any man calledwhen he was already circumcised? He
is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been calledin uncircumcision?
He is not to be circumcised.
Galatians 2:3 But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek,
was compelledto be circumcised.
Galatians 5:2 Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision,
Christ will be of no benefit to you.
3 And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under
obligation to keepthe whole Law. (Ed: Something that no one can do, except
Jesus!)
Galatians 6:12 Those who desire to make a goodshowing in the flesh try to
compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecutedfor
the cross ofChrist.
13 For those who are circumciseddo not even keepthe Law themselves, but
they desire to have you circumcisedso that they may boastin your flesh.
Colossians 2:11 and in Him you were also circumcisedwith a circumcision
made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the
circumcisionof Christ;
Peritemno - 41xin 37v in the non-apocryphal Septuagint -
Gen 17:10-14, 23-27;21:4; 34:15, 17, 22, 24; Ex 4:25; 12:44, 48; Lev 12:3;
Deut 10:16; Josh5:2-4, 7, 8; 21:42; 24:30;Esther 8:17; Jer4:4; 9:25
Of these Jews, Pauldeclares
"he is not a Jew who is one outwardly (or just because one is born of Jewish
parents and is a descendantof Abraham, has gone through the Jewish
ceremonyof circumcisionand externally conforms to the Law like the
Pharisees);neither is circumcisionthat which is outward (external, a physical

thing, something visible, that which may be seen)in the flesh. But he is a Jew
who is one inwardly; and circumcisionis that which is of the heart, by the
Spirit, not by the letter (not by the written code, a spiritual and not a literal
matter, real circumcisionis heart- circumcision); and his praise is not from
men, but from God." (Ro 2:28-29-note)
The NLT paraphrases it
"No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcisionis
not a cutting of the body but a change of heart produced by God's Spirit.
Whoeverhas that kind of change seekspraise from God, not from people."
In Philippians Paul wrote that true believers (Jew and Gentile)
"are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in
Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh" (Php 3:3-note)
Again Paul reminds the Galatians that
neither is circumcisionanything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation("the
result of a new birth and a new nature in Christ Jesus, the Messiah"
Amplified) (Gal 6:15)
The NLT paraphrase says
"It doesn'tmake any difference now whether we have been circumcisedor
not. What counts is whether we really have been changedinto new and
different people."
Paul's instruction regarding spiritual circumcisionwas not new, but was
taught repeatedlyin the Old Testament.
Although circumcision was required by the Mosaic law, the rite was neglected
during the days when the people of Israelwandered in the wilderness.
Perhaps this was a signthat the nation had broken their covenantwith God
through their disobedience. The rite was resumedwhen they enteredthe land
of Canaan, with Joshua performing the ritual on the generationborn in the
wilderness (Joshua 5). The Hebrew people came to take greatpride in
circumcision; in fact, it became a badge of their spiritual and national

superiority. This practice fosteredan exclusivistmentality instead of a
missionary zeal to reachthe Gentiles which was God's original intent for His
"chosen" people.
A daily prayer of a strict Jewishmale was to thank God that he was neither a
woman, a Samaritan, nor a Gentile. Gentiles came to be regardedby the Jews
as the “uncircumcision,” a term of disrespectimplying that non-Jewish
peoples were outside the circle of God’s love. As discussedbelow, Godapplied
the very same term ("uncircumcised")to describe His "chosen"people. The
terms “circumcised” and “uncircumcised” became emotionallycharged
symbols to Israel and their Gentile neighbors. This issue later brought discord
into the fellowship of the New Testamentchurch and especially caused
confusionabout how one obtained genuine salvation.
The Jews shouldhave known the true meaning of circumcisionfor Moses and
the prophets used the term “circumcised” as a symbol for purity of heart and
readiness to hear and obey. For example, through Moses the Lord challenged
the Israelites to submit to
Circumcise then your heart (clearly speaking ofa inward, spiritual work not
an external fleshly work), and stiffen your neck no more. (Dt 10:16).
An uncircumcisedheart reflecteda will that was hardened toward God’s
commands.
Circumcision as first prescribedin (Ge 17:10, 11, 12, 13, 14) meant to cut
awaythe fleshly part of the male sexualorgan, that part which might hold
disease in its folds and so potentially might pass the disease onto the wives.
Thus physical circumcision had an important role in the preservationof
God’s people physically.
Nelson's Study Bible has an interesting thought on physical circumcision
noting that
Since the Canaanite worshipsystem involved sexual excess, the distinctive sign
on the body of the male Hebrew would be a significantreminder not to
participate in the rituals of the Canaanites. (Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., &
House, H. W. The NelsonStudy Bible: NKJV. Nashville: Thomas Nelson)

In any event, the more significantmeaning of circumcisionwas as a symbol of
the need for the heart to be cleansedfrom sin’s deadly disease. This "cutting"
needed to happen internally, for God was calling for the removal of the "body
of flesh", which was the predisposition to sin (inherited from Adam) and
which kept man from being spiritually devoted to God. It seems that God
selectedthe reproductive organas the locationof the symbol for man’s need
of cleansing for sin, because it is the instrument most indicative of his
depravity, since by it he reproduces generations ofsinners. In any event,
physical circumcisionwas a sign of being under God’s covenant with
Abraham, a covenantthat was entered into by faith, not by works. We find
Abraham entering that unconditional covenantwith Jehovahin (Gen 15:6)
where Moses records that Abraham "believed(he "leanedhis whole weight
upon", he saidin essence "Amen, Lord" or "so be it Lord") in the LORD and
He reckoned[God imputed Christ's righteousness orplacedit on Abraham's
account]it to him as righteousness."
In the midst of a series of warnings to Israel regarding punishment for
disobedience to the LORD, Moses records a ray of hope in God's gracious
promise that
If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their
unfaithfulness which they committed againstMe, and also in their acting with
hostility againstMe— I also was acting with hostility againstthem, to bring
them into the land of their enemies—orif their uncircumcised heart becomes
humbled (conveys the basic sense ofbeing lowly, meek)so that they then make
amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenantwith Jacob, and
I will remember also My covenantwith Isaac, and My covenantwith
Abraham as well, and I will remember the land (this is the same covenant
Abraham entered into by faith not works). (Lev 26:40, 41, 42)
The cause ofIsrael’s rebellion was an “uncircumcised heart,” a heart that had
never been changedby the Lord and one which refused to bow (to be
humbled) before Him.
In Deuteronomy Moses commands Israel

"Circumcise then your heart (clearly speaking of a inward, spiritual work not
an external fleshly work), and stiffen your neck no more." (Dt 10:16)
Without circumcisionof heart, true fear of God and true love of God are both
impossible. Again in Deuteronomy Mosesgives a prophesy that the day will
come when
the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your
descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your
soul, in order that you may live. (Dt 30:6)
What God's law demanded, God's grace would enable. This verse primarily
refers to the future salvationof Jews alive at the return of Christ, when by
faith they will have their hearts circumcised. In the intervening centuries, God
has partially fulfilled this promise, as there have always beenphysical Jews
who by faith receivedGod's promise of new life in Christ.
In the OT, they were looking forward to the Cross, whereasin the NT they
(and all believers today) look back to the finished work of Christ on the Cross.
Thus circumcisionof heart defines an internal work by Godand is another
description of true salvation, a salvation that imparts to that individual a new
will that now desires to to obey Godinstead of to rebel againstHim. This
promise of a new heart would allows the Israelites to love the Lord with all
their heart and soul, and receives it fullest expressionin the New Covenant
(see Jer31:31, 32, 33, 34, Ezek 11:19, 36:26 discussedin the topic New
Covenantin the Old Testament).
This internal circumcisionis what Jesus was referring to when He declared
"You blind Pharisee, first cleanthe inside of the cup and of the dish, so that
the outside of it may become cleanalso." (Mt23:26)
Jeremiahaddressing faithless, unbelieving Judah and Jerusalemdeclared
"Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskins of your heart,
men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lestMy wrath go forth like fire
and burn with none to quench it." (Jer 4:4)

As Biblical history records they refused to heed the warning and were utterly
defeatedby Nebuchadnezzar.
Jeremiahcharacterizedrebellious Israel as having “uncircumcised” ears
declaring
"To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their
ears are closed(Hebrew literally = uncircumcised) and they cannot listen.
Behold, the word of the LORD has become a reproachto them." (Jer6:10)
Through Jeremiah the LORD later says
"Behold, the days are coming, that I will punish all who are circumcisedand
yet uncircumcised(i.e., physically circumcisedbut not spiritually circumcised
- then he mentions even some Gentile lands which practicedphysical
circumcisionand puts "Judah" in the midst of these nations they loathe!)--
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the sons of Ammon, and Moab, and all
those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the
nations are uncircumcised (referring to the fact that most of the Gentiles were
physically uncircumcised), and all the house of Israelare uncircumcisedof
heart. (referring to spiritual circumcision)" (Jer9:25-26)
The Jews boastedin the covenantsign of circumcision, but it was only in their
flesh. The true spiritual circumcision God desiredhad never reachedtheir
hearts. In a similar way, people today who depend on baptism and some other
church sacrament(ordinance), and yet who have never repented and trusted
Christ, are in the same situation as the Jews in Jeremiah’s day - they think
they’re a part of the divine covenant, but their confidence is false and they
stand deceivedand in imminent danger of entering into a Christ-less eternity.
Due to the passing down of teaching from one rabbi to another over the
centuries ("traditions of men" = paradosis)the true meaning and requirement
of circumcision specifiedin Ge 17:11 had been lost. And so by the first century
we find rabbinical "traditions" (which were consideredon a plane with the
inspired Word) teaching such fallacies as:
“No circumcisedJewishman will see hell”

“Circumcisionsaves us from hell.”
The Midrash (non-inspired Jewishwritings after return from Babylon with
the purpose being to "fill in the gaps" ofthe Torah - and here is an example of
their gross misinterpretation of the Word of Truth) says “Godswore to
Abraham that no one who was circumcisedwould be sent to hell. Abraham
sits before the gate of hell and never allows any circumcisedIsraelite to
enter.”
In Acts Stephen infuriated his Jewishaudience with the indictment that
"You men who are stiff-necked(literally "hard necked" and thus obstinate,
stubborn, rebellious) and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting
the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did." (Acts 7:51)
Comment: Their uncircumcision in heart and ears marks the Jews as just like
the unsaved Gentiles (who were often referred to as the "uncircumcision").
Their sin had never been forgiven. They were as unclean before God as the
uncircumcised Gentiles they detestedand they therefore stoodthemselves
condemned before God.
A crisis erupted in the church at Antioch when Paul and Barnabas returned
from the First MissionaryJourney (Acts 13:4, Second= Acts 15:35, Third =
Acts 18:23), and gave a report of numerous Gentile conversions (men who
were physically uncircumcised - and this was the point of contention)...
“some men (Judaizers) came down from Judea and beganteaching the
brethren, "Unless you are circumcisedaccording to the customof Moses, you
cannot be saved." (Acts 15:1)
(At the Jerusalemcouncil that followedthe events of Acts 15:1 we read) But
certain ones of the sectof the Pharisees who had believed, stoodup, saying, “It
is necessaryto circumcise them, and to direct them to observe the Law of
Moses.” (Acts 15:5)
Comment: Circumcisionand keeping the Law was the supposedmeans of
obtaining perfect righteousness before Godwere the two great errors of first
century Judaism

The Judaizers insisted that a believer from a non-Jewishbackground
(Gentile) must first become a Jew ceremonially(by being circumcised)before
he could be admitted to the Christian brotherhood. A councilof apostles and
elders was convened in Jerusalemto resolve the issue (Acts 15:6-29). Among
those attending were Paul, Barnabas, Simon Peter, and James, a leaderof the
Jerusalemchurch. To insist on circumcisionfor the Gentiles, Peterargued,
would amount to a burdensome yoke (Acts 15:10,19). This was the decision
handed down by the council, and the church broke awayfrom the binding
legalismof Judaism which demanded physical circumcisionand obedience to
the Law.
In Romans 2 Paul discussed(and refuted) the false belief that obedience to the
Law saves (Ro 2:12-24)and the false belief that physical circumcision saves
(Ro 2:25-29). In Romans 2:28, 29 discussedearlier, Paulteaches that there is a
difference betweenbeing Abraham’s physical descendants and Abraham’s
spiritual children. Jesus had said the same thing to the Pharisees,
“I know that you are Abraham's (physical) offspring” (Jn 8:37).
But then He went on to say,
"If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham (believe like
Abraham did and become his spiritual children also).” (Jn 8:39).
MacArthur has an interesting comment that "Godselectedthe reproductive
organas the locationof the symbol for man’s need of cleansing for sin,
because it is the instrument most indicative of his depravity, since by it he
reproduces generations ofsinners. (MacArthur Study Bible)
Paul's use of the metaphor of circumcisionimplies that the "persuasive
arguments" in Colossianshad an element of Jewishtraditions of men (Col
2:16, 17-notes)Paulleaves no doubt that the Colossianswere freedfrom this
physical rite which only removed a portion of the body. In contrastthe
"circumcisionby Christ" has resulted in removal of the (entire) body of the
flesh.
Due to the passing down of teaching from one rabbi to another over the
centuries ("traditions of men") the true meaning and requirement of

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