περιτομή

G4061 is the noun for circumcision and can name the rite, the state of being circumcised, or people described collectively as the circumcision. Its thirty-six governed forms appear in John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Titus. The word is not an automatic moral verdict. Each passage must show whether it discusses Abraham's covenant sign, a social identifier, a mission audience, pressure placed on Gentile believers, heart obedience, or a Christ-centered metaphor.

Acts 7:8 names God's covenant of circumcision with Abraham, while Acts 10 and 11 use circumcision language for Jewish believers responding to Gentile inclusion. Romans 2 through 4 argues within Israel's Scriptures about law, faith, sign, and heart obedience. Romans 4:11 calls circumcision a sign and seal of the righteousness Abraham had by faith while uncircumcised. These arguments must not become contempt for Jewish identity or proof that God's promises to Israel were fraudulent. Romans 15:8 explicitly calls Christ a servant of the circumcised to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs.

Galatians confronts the demand that Gentile believers adopt circumcision as a condition of covenant standing. Paul also uses the noun for mission fields and for the group whose arrival frightened Peter into withdrawing from Gentile table fellowship. Ephesians remembers hostile naming and then announces peace in Christ. Philippians and Colossians use circumcision language christologically and spiritually. None of these passages authorizes anti-Jewish rhetoric, coerced bodily procedures, dismissal of culturally Jewish practice, or unchecked claims that the church has erased Israel. Medical, parental, cultural, and consent questions require their own qualified care and cannot be settled by the noun alone.

Thirty-six governed forms move through covenant history, Jewish and Gentile mission, Paul's scriptural arguments, table fellowship, justification, new-creation identity, and Christ-centered metaphor.