Jos 5:3 And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.

Jos 5:4 And this [is] the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, [that were] males, [even] all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.

Jos 5:5 Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people [that were] born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, [them] they had not circumcised.

Jos 5:6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people [that were] men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

Jos 5:7 And their children, [whom] he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. 

Circumcision was widely practiced in the ancient world, including the Egyptian and Canaanite cultures. But among these people the rite was performed at the beginning of puberty, or about 12 years of age, as a sort of initiation ceremony into manhood. 

In contrast, the Hebrew people performed circumcision on infants. This rite had an important ethical meaning to them. It signified their responsibility to serve as the holy people whom God had called as His special servants in the midst of a pagan world. 

The Hebrew people came to take great pride in circumcision; in fact, it became a badge of their spiritual and national superiority. This practice fostered a spirit of exclusivism instead of a missionary zeal to reach out to other nations as God intended.

Moses and the prophets used the term circumcised as a symbol for purity of heart and readiness to hear and obey. Through Moses, the Lord challenged the Israelites to submit to “circumcision of the heart,” a reference to their need for repentance. 

“If their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt,” God declared, “then I will remember My covenant,” (Lev. 26:41-42; also Deut. 10:16). 

In the New Testament circumcision was faithfully practiced by devout Jews as recognition of God’s continuing covenant with Israel. Both Joh the Baptist (Luke 1:59) and Jesus (Luke 2:21) were circumcised. 

But controversy over circumcision divided the early church (Eph. 2:11), which included believers from both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds. Gentile believers regarded their Jewish brethren as eccentric because of their dietary laws, Sabbath rules, and circumcision practices. Jewish believers tended to view their uncircumcised Gentile brothers as unenlightened and disobedient to the law of Moses. 

A crisis erupted in the church at Antioch when believers from Judea (known as Judaizers) taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1-2). 

In effect, the Judaizers insisted that a believer from a non-Jewish background (Gentile) must first become a Jew ceremonially (by being circumcised) before he could be admitted to the Christian brotherhood. 

A council of apostles and elders was convened in Jerusalem to resolve the issue (Acts 15:6-29). Among those attending were Paul, Barnabas, Simon Peter, and James, pastor of the Jerusalem church. To insist on circumcision for the Gentiles, Peter argued, would amount to a burdensome yoke (Acts 15:10). This was the decision handed down by the council, and the church broke away from the binding legalism of Judaism. 

Years later, reinforcing this decision, the apostle Paul wrote the believers at Rome that Abraham, “the father of circumcision” (Rom. 4:12), was saved by faith rather than by circumcision (Rom. 4:9-12). He declared circumcision to be of no value unless accompanied by an obedient spirit (Rom. 2:25, 26). 

Paul also spoke of the “circumcision of Christ” (Col. 2:11), a reference to His atoning death which “condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3) and nailed legalism “to the cross” (Col. 2:14). 

In essence, Paul declared that the new covenant of Christ’s shed blood has provided forgiveness to both Jew and Gentile and has made circumcision totally unnecessary. All that ultimately matters for both Jew and Gentile, Paul says, is a changed nature-a new creation that makes them one in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:14-18). 

Jos 5:8 And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole.

Jos 5:9 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.

Jos 5:10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.