Yigal Bin-Nun

The practice of foreskin removal likely originated in a popular belief rooted in the fear of harm caused by demons during journeys through the desert, and in the necessity of protecting uncircumcised adults from such magical attacks before their departure. A reference to this practice of demonic origin appears in the episode of the “bloody bridegroom,” recounted in the Book of Exodus (chapter 4, verses 24–26), where the author describes Moses’s journey from his father-in-law’s house in Midian toward Egypt to reunite with his kinsmen.

The rationale behind Yahweh’s decision to kill Moses becomes comprehensible when Zipporah, his wife, chooses to circumcise “his foreskin” (and not “the foreskin of his son”), thus saving her husband from imminent death. The use of the phrase spoken by a mother to her son—“for you are a bridegroom of blood to me”—appears nonsensical when addressed to a child. The term “bridegroom” clearly refers to adults, not children, and also evokes the idea of marriage, possibly even of nuptial blood. It follows that this term is associated with virility and that the ritual was originally performed prior to marriage.

Furthermore, the intervention of the “son” to save the father from death appears inappropriate and illogical. The solution I propose consists of removing the word “his” and adding the letter vav to the word “foreskin,” resulting in the phrase “and she cut his foreskin,” thereby rendering the narrative more coherent. The transformation from “his foreskin” to “the foreskin of his son” occurred much later, when infant circumcision was established on the eighth day after birth as a symbol of the covenant between Yahweh and his people, in accordance with a new ritual norm, despite the lingering textual inconsistencies. This also reveals the discomfort experienced by Judean society in the face of practices imbued with a demonic imaginary.

Stories involving demons, divine beings, or Satan were widespread in antiquity. The theme of a demon attacking uncircumcised travelers in the desert was so common that it persisted long after the biblical texts were composed, as evidenced by a passage in the Talmud (Nedarim 9b; Leviticus 32a): “Rabbi Yehuda bar Bizna said: When Moses, our teacher, neglected circumcision, the angels Af and Hema came and swallowed him up to his foreskin, leaving only his feet. Zipporah took a sharp knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and drove them away. How did she know Moses’s life was at risk because of circumcision? In truth, the angel had come and swallowed him from head to foreskin. As soon as she saw that he was being swallowed only up to the foreskin, she understood that the threat was related to circumcision, so she cut off her son’s foreskin” (Midrash Shemot Rabbah). “And it came to pass on the way, at the lodging place, that Elohim met him and sought to kill him. Zipporah immediately took a sharp stone, cut off her son’s foreskin, and cast it at his feet, saying: You are a bridegroom of blood to me” (Midrash Aggadah). “The angel transformed into a serpent to devour the newborn up to the foreskin. Immediately, she understood that this was related to circumcision; she took a stone and cut off her son’s foreskin” (Midrash Hagadol).

In 1933, at the archaeological site of Arsalan-Tash (Haddatu) in northern Syria, two Canaanite amulets bearing seven inscriptions were discovered. These amulets, meant to be worn as pendants, bear inscriptions dating to the 7th century BCE, close to the period when the Book of Deuteronomy was written. One of them features a hybrid creature with a human body, scorpion legs, and a serpent’s head. The creature appears to be devouring a man down to his genital organ. The second amulet shows a crawling beast devouring a man, with only his legs protruding from its mouth. These two artifacts attest above all to the widespread diffusion of this popular belief and the means employed to ward off demons. The scene of a demon devouring a man from head to genitals was so widespread that it inspired European artists in the 13th and 14th centuries, including Coppo di Marcovaldo and Giotto di Bondone, in their depictions of the Last Judgment. These ancient visual representations, coupled with legendary accounts in the Talmud, reinforce the demonological interpretation of circumcision.........

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