Abstract:
Until after the era of exile, (male) circumcision was not widely practiced in Israel nor did it possess any religious or specific cultic significance. Only in very late texts of the Old Testament, dating to the end of the first millennium BC, a theologization and, especially, a sacralisation are attested. This development led to a comprehensive dissemination of the practice of circumcision in Judaism (and Islam).
Vetus Testamentum, Profanität und Sakralisierung der Beschneidung im Alten Testament ,Volker Wagner
Until after the era of exile, (male) circumcision was not widely practiced in Israel nor did it possess any religious or specific cultic significance. Only in very late texts of the Old Testament, dating to the end of the first millennium BC, a theologization and, especially, a sacralisation are attested. This development led to a comprehensive dissemination of the practice of circumcision in Judaism (and Islam).
Vetus Testamentum, Profanität und Sakralisierung der Beschneidung im Alten Testament ,Volker Wagner