Zeitschr. 1832, i, 104 sq.] refers it to the idea of separa- tion from heathendom, which is consistent with the en- tire sj'stem of Mosaism [comp. the Mishna, A^'ecZwr. iii, 11].) House-born (heathen) slaves were also to un- dergo the operation (Gen. xvii, 12), as a sign of par- ticipation in the covenant with Jehovah. (But chil- dren born of a heathen father and an Israelitish mtrthcr must not be circumcised, according to Yebam. Iv, 2; yet comp. Acts xvi, 3.) Every Israelite (Joseph. Ant. xii, 5, 4), generally the father of the house (Gen. xvii, 23 ; but, in cases of exigency, also women ; see Bux- tovf, Sgnagog.Jttd.\^.{)0• comp. Exod. iv, 25 : not iiea- thens, however ; yet see Aboda Sara. ed. Edzard, ii, 40 sq. In adults a physician was required, Joseph. yJ?^^ XX, 2, 5. In case two sons by the same mother died of the operation, the [later] rabbins allowed the cir- cumcision of the third son to be delayed till he was full grown ; Maimonides, Ilil. MUah, i, l.S), should per- form the rite, and they emploj'cd for the purpose a sharp knife (Quanat, Z'e cultris circumcisoi iis et .'teces- jjitis Ilebr. liegiom. 1714; also in Ugolini 7'hesaiirtts, xxii), earlier an edged stone or stone knife (Exod. iv, 25 ; Josh. V, 2 sq. ; comp. Herod, ii, 80 ; see Dougtffii Analect. i, 59 ; Abicht, De cidtris saa-cis, etc. Lips. 1712 ; also in Hasaji Thtsaur. i, 497 sq. ; and Gedsei Diss, de instrumeniis circwncis. Lips. 1098 ; also in the Nuv. the- saurus jihilol. i, 203 sq. ; and in Ugolino, xxii), as the Galli or priests of Cyl:ele castrated themselves v.ith a shell (" Samia testa," Pliny, xxxv, 40; comp. Catull. Ixiii, 5 ; Martial, iii, 8 ; see Arnobius, adv. Gent, v, 10), under the idea that healing was thereby promoted. The Christians of Abyssinia also performed the opera- tion with stone knives (Ludolf, Ilist. JEiLicp. iii, 1, 21). Modern Jews use for this purpose steel knives, and the operation is thus described b}- Otho (Le.r. Rahb. p. 133) : '■The circumcizer applies a rod to tlie organ, and draws the prepuce forward over it as for as possible ; then with a forceps he seizes a part of it; and cuts it off \\ith a razor. He next seizes the prepuce with his two thumbs, and rolls it back till the whole glans is exposed, after which l:e sucks out the blood (Mishna, Shabb. xix, 2) till the blood comes from the remoter parts of the bod}', and finally he applies a plaster to the wound." (Comp. Thevenot, Trar. i, 58; Chelius, Handb. d. Chirurg. II, i, 50; AVolfers, in Henke, Zeit- schr. f. Staatsarzncih. 1825, i, 205 sq. ; also in the Pn- cjjcl. Wvrterb. d. medic. Wissensch. v, 250 sq.) On Arab circumcision, see Arvieux, iii, 14G. That so severe and painful an operation (comp. Targ. Jom;th. on Gen. xxii, 1) could not well be performed on an infant less than eight days old is evident. The practice oi fe- male circumcision, or excision, referred to by several ancient and modern writers, as practiced by certain na- tions, may have consisted in removing the anterior flap of skin which in some actual specimens of Hotten- tots or Bushwomen has been found to cover the female genitals, apparently wholly distinct from the vaginal membrane (see the Penny Cyclopixdia, s. v. Circumcis- ion). As circumcision was a symbol of purification, the prepuce was a type of corruption ; hence the phrase "foreskin of the heart" (Dent, x, 10; Jer. iv, 10), to designate a carnal or heathenish state (Rom. ii, 29; compare Philo. ii, 258). See Uncircujicision. The part removed by circumcision thus naturally became one of the harshest terms of opprobrium (1 Sam. xvii, 26, 30; comp. Ludolf, Comment, in Hist. ypth. p. 274), like verjms among the Romans (Martial, vii, 82, 0). It was sometimes brought as a trophy of slain Gentiles (1 Sam. xviii, 25; 2 Sam. iii, 14), like scalps by the Nortli American savages. Paul, on the other hand, uses the ironical term "concision" (Phil, iii, 2) to stig- matize the extreme attachment of a Judaizing party to this ordinance. — Winer, 150. See Circumcision. FORESKINS, Hill of, a place near Gilgal, so call- ed from the circumcision of the Israelites at that spot before entering Canaan (Josh, v, 3). See Gibeah- Ha-araloth.
FOREST
620
FOREST
Forest is the. rendering in the Auth.Ycrs. of three jlistiiut Ik'b. words. See Topographical Terms.
1. Usually and most properlj' "1?]^, ya'ur, or iTl>'^ f/aa'rah (once rendere'l "wood," Deut. xix, 5), signi- fying a dense woods from its redundancy or luxuriance^ such as is seen in the growth of forest-trees, and in US3 restricted (with the exception of 1 Sam. xiv, 26, and Cant, v, 1, in which it refers to hone}') to an abun- dance of trees. It is the name given to all the great primeval forests of Syria, where the stately trees grew (Eecles. ii, (> ; Isa. xliv, 14), and where the wild beasts had their homes (Jer. v, 6 ; Mic. v, 8). Hosea (ii, 12) appears to use it as equivalent to the Aral)ic ya'tir, a rufjged and desolate place, like midbur or " wilderness." See Wood.
2. Tr"in, cho'resh, is appparently derived from a Chal- dee root, U)^n, to be entanc/led, and would therefore signify a thicket of trees or bushes, such as might af- ford a safe hiding-place (comp. 1 Sam. xxiii, 15), and such as is now often seen in Palestine on the sites of ruined cities (conip. Isa. xvii, 9). It applies to woods of less extent, the word itself, according to others, in- volving the idea of what is cut down (from ^^ri, Gesen. Thes. p. 530) : it is onlj'- twice (1 Sam. xxiii, 15 sq. ; 2 Chron. xxvii, 1) applied to woods properly eo called ; its sense, however, is illustrated in the oth- er passages in which it occurs, viz. Isa. xvii, 9 (A. V. " bough"), where the comparison is to the solitary relic of an ancient forest, and Ezek. xxxi, 3, wliere it ap- plies to trees or foliage sufficient to afford shelter (Yuli;. froridihus nemorosus ; A.V. "with a shadowing shroud"). The term occurs seven times in Scrip- ture, but is only once rendered ybre^^ — " In the forests (Sept. h' role cpvuoTc) he built castles and towers" (2 Chron. xxvii, 4). The locality here referred to ap- pears to be tlie south of Judah, where the mountains were formerly, and are in places still, clothed with dwarf oaks and tangled shrubberies. See Thicket.