Actus 7:18

Jerome's Latin Vulgate

Circumcisus aliquis vocatus est? non adducat præputium. In præputio aliquis vocatus est? non circumcidatur.

Parallel Translations

Clementine Latin Vulgate (1592)
Scio enim quia non habitat in me, hoc est in carne mea, bonum. Nam velle, adjacet mihi : perficere autem bonum, non invenio.

Nova Vulgata (1979)
Circumcisus aliquis vocatus est? Non adducat praeputium! In praeputio aliquis vocatus est? Non circumcidatur!

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

being: Acts 15:1, Acts 15:5, Acts 15:19, Acts 15:24, Acts 15:28, Galatians 5:1-3, Colossians 3:11

Reciprocal: Genesis 17:10 - Every Genesis 17:23 - circumcised Acts 15:9 - put Romans 2:26 - General Romans 4:10 - not in circumcision 1 Corinthians 7:17 - as the

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Is any man called being circumcised?.... That is, if any man that is a Jew, who has been circumcised in his infancy, is called by the grace of God, as there were many in those days, and many of them in the church at Corinth:

let him not become uncircumcised; or "draw on" the foreskin; as some did in the times of Antiochus, for fear of him, and to curry favour with him, who, it is said, 1 Maccab. 1:15, "made themselves uncircumcised", and forsook the holy covenant; and so did Menelaus, and the sons of Tobias, as Josephus reports b; and there were many, in the days of Ben Cozba, who became uncircumcised by force,

משוכין, they had their foreskins drawn on by the Gentiles against their wills, and when he came to reign were circumcised again c; for, according to the Jews, circumcision must be repeated, and not only four or five times d, but a hundred times, if a man becomes so often uncircumcised e They make mention of several particular persons who voluntarily became uncircumcised, or, to use their phrase, and which exactly answers to the word used by the apostle,

מושך בערלתו "that drew over his foreskin"; as Jehoiachin f, Achan g, yea even the first Adam h; one guilty of this, they say, makes void the covenant i; it was accounted a very great sin, so great that he that committed it was reckoned k among them that shall have no part in the world to come, but shall be cut off and perish; physicians say, this may be done by the use of an instrument they call spaster, which has its name from the word used in the text. The apostle's sense is, that such as had been circumcised, and had now embraced the faith of Christ, had no reason to be uneasy, or take any methods to remove this mark from their flesh, because it was abolished by Christ, and now of no significance; since as it did them no good, it did them no hurt:

is any called in uncircumcision? let him not become circumcised?; that is, if a Gentile who was never circumcised is called by grace, let him not submit to circumcision, which is now abrogated, and is altogether unnecessary and unprofitable in the business of salvation; yea, hurtful and pernicious if done on that account, since it makes men debtors to do the whole law, and Christ of none effect unto them.

b Antiqu. l. 12. c. 5. sect. 1. c Hieros. Yebamot, fol. 9. 1. & Sabbat, fol. 17. 1. T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 72. 1. & Gloss. in ib. d Bereshit Rabba, sect. 46. fol. 41. 4. e T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 72. 1. f Vajikra Rabba, sect. 19. fol. 161. 1. g T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 44. 1. h Ib. fol. 38. 2. Zohar in Gen. fol. 27. 1. & 40. 4. i Hieros, Peah, fol. 16. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol. 27. 3. Bereshit Rabba, fol. 41. 4. k Maimon. Hilch. Teshuba, c. 3. sect. 6. & Milah, c. 3. sect. 8.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Is any man called? - Does anyone become a Christian? See the note at 1 Corinthians 1:26.

Being circumcised - Being a native-born Jew, or having become a Jewish proselyte, and having submitted to the initiatory rite of the Jewish religion.

Let him not become uncircumcised - This could not be literally done. But the apostle refers here to certain efforts which were made to remove the marks of circumcision which were often attempted by those who were ashamed of having been circumcised. The practice is often alluded to by Jewish writers, and is described by them; compare 1 Mac. 1 Corinthians 1:15. It is not decorous or proper here to show how this was done. The process is described in Cels. de Med. 7:25; see Grotuns and Bloomfield.

Is any called in uncircumcision? - A Gentile, or one who had not been circumcised.

Let him not be circumcised - The Jewish rites are not binding, and are not to be enjoined on those who have been converted from the Gentiles; see the notes at Rom 2:27-30.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 18. Is any man called being circumcised? — Is any man who was formerly a Jew converted to Christianity?

Let him not become circumcised. — Let him not endeavour to abolish the sign of the old covenant, which he bears in his flesh. The Greek words μη επισπασθω, let him not draw over, are evidently an elliptical expression: the word την ακροβυστιαν, the fore-skin, being understood; which, indeed, is added by the Armenian and the Itala, and several of the Latin fathers. It is a fact that it was possible by the assistance of art to do this; and Celsus himself prescribes the mode, De Medic. vii. 25. By frequent stretching, the circumcised skin could be again so drawn over, as to prevent the ancient sign of circumcision from appearing. Some in their zeal against Judaism endeavoured to abolish this sign of it in their flesh: it is most evidently against this that the apostle speaks. Many false Jews made use of this practice, that they might pass through heathen countries unobserved; otherwise, in frequenting the baths they would have been detected.

Let him not be circumcised. — Let no man who, being a Gentile, has been converted to the Christian faith, submit to circumcision as something necessary to his salvation.