Abstract

The verb "to circumcise" in Gen 17:24, and elsewhere in that chapter, appears in the niphal form, entailing a passive meaning, and the agent of the action remaining unknown. At the same time, Abraham’s circumcision plays a central role in Judaism. It is not simply the prototype of all subsequent instances of a ritual that is central to Jewish identity; but it is also the starting point of a recursive chain of ceremonies by which any later circumcision acquires its religious significance. Hence, the importance of the agent of the first circumcision. First, I describe how this ritual is embedded in the network of concepts, entities, narratives, precepts and further mental representations in Judaism. Subsequently, I shall present a selection of answers from various traditions to the question posed in the title. Then, I introduce a network of meanings, which shall serve as a linguistic model interpreting the agent-less niphal forms of the verb ‘to circumcise’ in Gen 17. This model yields different interpretations under various conditions, corresponding to various traditions. Consequently, it is argued to describe the computation taking place in the human mind, which is able to produce alternative interpretive traditions.