Sign And Promise

Jam tunc propter peregrinationem futuram, ne commisceretur semen ejus inter gentres, datur ei circumcisio in signum his verbis: Circumcideter in bovis omne masculum. Infans octo dierum circumcidetur in vobis, tam vernaculus quam emptitius. Masculus autem, cujus praeputii caro circumcisa non fuerit, delebitur anima illa de populo suo, quia pactum meum irritum fecit. Sed et Sarai non vocabitur Sarai, sed Sara, et dabo tibi ex ea filium, et benedicam illum, et erit in nationes, et reges gentium ex eo erunt. Hic jam declaratur promissio de vocatione gentium in Isaac filio promissionis, quo significatur gratia, non natura, quia de sene patre et sterili matre. Et quia hoc non per generationem, quae est in Ismaele, sed per regenerationem futurum erat, ideo imperata est circumcisio, quod de Sara promittitur filius typo Ecclesiae, non quando Ismael, qui typum gerit Judaeorum. Quid enim aliud circumcisio significat, nisi renovatam naturam per baptsimum post expoliationem veteris hominis? Et quid est octavus dies, nisi Christus, qui hebdomada completa, hoc est, post Sabbatum resurrexit? Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Genesim, Caput XIII Source: Migne PL 83.242b-c

Then because of future wanderings, lest his mix his seed with the nations, circumcision is given to Abraham as a sign, with these words: 'Let every male be circumcised in the foreskin. Let the child be circumcised on the eighth day among you, he who is house born and he who is bought. The male who does not have his flesh circumcised wil have his soul removed from among his people, because he has violated my covenant.' 2 'But even Sarai will not called Sarai but Sarah, princess, and I shall give to you a son from her, and I shall bless him and he shall be among the nations, and the kings of the peoples shall come from him.' 2 Here is declared the promise concerning the calling of the nations in Isaac, the son of promise, by which is signified grace, not nature, because he came from an aged father and a barren mother. And because this is not through generation, which is in Ismael, but for the regeneration that is to come, therefore circumcision is commanded, that from Sarah is the promised son who is a type of the Church, and not from Ismael who bears the type of the Jews. What indeed does circumcision signify, unless the renewel of nature through baptism after the casting off of the old man? 3 And what is the eighth day, unless Christ who completes the seven days, that is, He who after the Sabbath is resurrected? Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Genesis, Chap 13 1 Gen 17.10-12 2 Gen 17.15 3 Ephes 4.22

Two Paternities

Υἰου Δαβὶδ υἰου Ἀβραάμ  Ἀβραὰμ ἐν ἀκροβυστίᾳ ὤν, ἐπίστευσε τῷ Θεῷ· εἶτα δεξάμενος τὰς ὑποσχέσεις καὶ περιμηθεὶς ἀλώβητον τὴν πίστιν διετήρησεν. Εἰκότως τοίνυν ἀναχθήσεται τὸ ῥητὸν εἰς ἕτερόν τι θεώρημα περὶ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἐκκλησίας τῆς τε ἐκ περιτομῆς καὶ τῆς ἐξ ἐθνῶν. Τύπος γὰρ ἧν, ὡς εἰκὸς, τῶν δύο λαῶν τῶν εἰς Χριστὸν πεπιστευκότων. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖ μὲν προτέρα ἡ ἀκροβυστία, ἐντολῆς δὲ καὶ νόμου ἡ περιτομή. Φύσεως γὰρ ἔργον ἡ ἀκροβουστία, ἐντολῆς δὲ καὶ νόμου ἡ περιτομή· διὰ τοῦτο ἐκείνη ταύτης προηγήσατο· καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα εἰς αὐτὴν ἡ περιτομὴ ἀνακάμπτει· ἐπεὶ καὶ βέλτιόν ἐστι φύσις ἅμα καὶ νόμος, ἢ τὸ διεστηκέναι ἀπ' ἀλλήλων χωρίς. Ἀλλὰ καὶ Δαβὶδ τύπος ἧν τοῦ Χριστοῦ· τοῦ γὰρ Σαοὺλ ἐκβληθέντος ἀντεισήχθη Δαβίδ· οὕτω καὶ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ διὰ τὴν παρακοὴν τῆς Ἐδὲμ διωχθέντος ὁ δεύτερος ἀντεισήχθη Ἀδὰμ, ὡς ἂν πρὸς τὴν ἀρχαίαν τάξιν τὸν Ἀδὰμ τὸν πρῶτον ἀποκαταστήσῃ. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Source: Migne MG 72.365

'Son of David, son of Abraham.' 1   When Abraham was uncircumcised he believed in God, then receiving the promises and being circumcised he kept the faith inviolate. Whence this may fittingly be understood as a certain insight concerning the church of Christ, which is gathered from those of the circumcision and the Gentiles. For this was a type, it seems, of the two peoples before they believed in Christ. For before there was uncircumcision and then with the command of the law circumcision. For uncircumcision is the work of nature, and circumcision is of the commandment of the law. Therefore rightly the former preceded the latter. However, at the last, to uncircumcision circumcision returned, for  better it was to gather together nature and the law which were separated from one another. And David is a type of Christ, because for Saul's fall he was prepared, as even on account of Adam's disobedience which cast him out of Eden so the second Adam was prepared that he restore the first to his original state. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 1.1

Circumcision and The Eighth Day

Εἴ τις μὴ περιτμηθῇ, φησὶ, τῇ ὀγδόῃ ἡμέρᾳ, ἐξολοθρευθήσεται. Οὐχι τὸ ἄκακον καὶ ἀνόητον νήπιον κολάζεται, μὴ περιτμηθέν· μᾶλλον γὰρ ἐχρῆν τοὺς γονεῖς τιμωρεῖσθαι. Ἀλλ' αὐτὸς κολάζει, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, ἐὰν μὴ διὰ πίστεως καὶ εὐχῆς περιτμηθῇς τὴν κακίαν· νηπιάζειν γὰρ τῇ κακίᾳ κελεύει ὁ Ἀπόστολος. Ἑαυτοὺς τοίνυν περιτέμνωμεν τῇ μαχαίρᾳ τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἀποβλέποντες εἰς τὴν ὀγδόην ἡμέραν, τουτέστιν εἰς τὸν μέλλοντα αἰῶνα. Περιτεμνώμεθα δὲ πᾶν σαρκικὸν φρόνημα, καὶ λόγον καὶ ἔργον παράνομον, ἵνα μὴ ἐξολοθρευθῶμεν, καὶ ἀλλοτριωθῶμεν ἐκ μέσου τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν σωζομένων διὰ Χριστοῦ. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΙΓ', Πτολεμαιῳ

'If someone is not circumcised,' He says, 'on the eighth day, he shall be exterminated.' 1 An innocent and unthinking child is not to be chastised if uncircumcised, but rather let the parents be punished. And He chastises, O man, if by faith and prayer you are not circumcised from vice; for infants in evil we should be, the Apostle exhorts. 2 Let us, then, be circumcised with the sword of the Holy Spirit, considering this the eighth day, that is, the future age. And let us circumcise every sort of thought and word of flesh and iniquitous work, lest we be destroyed, even cast out from the midst of the people of God who are saved through Christ. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 13, To Ptolemaius 1 Gen 17. 14 2 1 Cor 14. 20