. The pictorial history of Palestine and the Holy land including a complete history of the Jews. ed were muchsubject in that climate. Apion, an Egyptian,who had written against the Jews, sneering attheir circumcision among other things, is an-swered by Josephus, that the Egyptians them-selves were circumcised ; but that all of themwere not so, appears from his adding, that thisApion himself was obliged to be circumcised inhis old age, on account of an ulcer. And forthese reasons, many of the common Egyptianswere circumcised, although the rite was obli-gatory only on the class we have indicated
. The pictorial history of Palestine and the Holy land including a complete history of the Jews. ed were muchsubject in that climate. Apion, an Egyptian,who had written against the Jews, sneering attheir circumcision among other things, is an-swered by Josephus, that the Egyptians them-selves were circumcised ; but that all of themwere not so, appears from his adding, that thisApion himself was obliged to be circumcised inhis old age, on account of an ulcer. And forthese reasons, many of the common Egyptianswere circumcised, although the rite was obli-gatory only on the class we have indicated. It also appears that the Egyptians did notperform the rite until the age of puberty, andthat they circumcised females as well as males ;and, upon the whole, the differences in every-thing, except the simple surgical operation,were so very great, that the learned Origen,himself a native of Egypt, and well acquaintedwith its usages, was unable to see anything incommon between the Jewish and Egyptianobservances.* We do not know for certainty that theEgyptians employed flint-knives in perform-. [Egyptiau Flint-knives.] the operation of circumcision; but as theygenerally used svich knives for incisions on the * Stralio, 1. xvii.; Philo. .Tud. de Circumcisione, 810; Jo-leyh. contra Apion, ii. 13 ; Clement. Alexaud. Stromata, 1. i;l)iigen in Kom. ii. 13, ct ix. 24 ; Ambros. 1. ii. de Abra->am, c. 2. VOL. I. human person, it is more than likely they usedthem for this service. It is hence remarkablethat, while the Hebrews were in, and againwhen they had lately left, Egypt, we read oftheir employing flint-knives in circumcision,*and such are employed by many of the OrientalJews to this day. This may be supposed, forobvious reasons, to have been adopted, as anindifferent practice, from the Egyptians, andwas generally relinquished when their exampleceased to operate; for the Jews hold, in prin-ciple, that any instrument of any material maybe employed. This small analogy,
Size: 932px × 2683px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1844
