Moses didn't circumcise?

[nikolai_42]

Okay...so I was alerted to Joshua 5 recently and something was pointed out to me that a)I was not aware of and b)that I can't understand. Here's the passage:

At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.
And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Joshua 5:2-7

So the question is, why weren't those that were born in the wilderness circumcised? Sure, their parents were those that God consumed for their disobedience (so it is possible that they didn't circumcise their children) but Moses, surely, would have enforced it pretty well. Didn't he have a rather bloody encounter over the whole issue? Wouldn't it have been a big thing to him NOT to circumcise? So why was it just left alone until Joshua came along?

Seems kind of odd to me, but I'm interested what those who know more about this have to say.

[RBerman]

You may recall that there was a big deal about Moses not having his own son circumcised (Exodus 4), so it's actually consistent that he didn't enforce that rule on others during the wilderness wanderings.

[nikolai_42]

You may recall that there was a big deal about Moses not having his own son circumcised (Exodus 4), so it's actually consistent that he didn't enforce that rule on others during the wilderness wanderings.

Don't you think that adds to the wonder of the fact that Moses didn't enforce circumcision? Lack of circumcision almost cost Moses his life (and the life of his son?) - so you'd think that after that ordeal he'd be less likely to overlook the people's not circumcising their children.

[RBerman]

I don't know why I'd think that. It would hardly be uncommon for someone to make the same bad choice repeatedly, even when confronted with a bad outcome.

[Manwë Súlimo]

I don't know why I'd think that. It would hardly be uncommon for someone to make the same bad choice repeatedly, even when confronted with a bad outcome.

D'OH! I was going to say that.

[nikolai_42]

I don't know why I'd think that. It would hardly be uncommon for someone to make the same bad choice repeatedly, even when confronted with a bad outcome.

Not saying it's not possible...but it doesn't put Moses the man in a great light (which, of course, is more to the glory of God that He uses such men). I guess in the end, it's one psychological profile against another. Moses learns from his "mistakes" or he doesn't.

[Manwë Súlimo]

Not saying it's not possible...but it doesn't put Moses the man in a great light (which, of course, is more to the glory of God that He uses such men). I guess in the end, it's one psychological profile against another. Moses learns from his "mistakes" or he doesn't.

Remember that one of the biggest events in Moses' life was when he hit the rock with his staff instead of speaking to it. The punishment was that he could not enter the promised land.

He's a flawed man, as we all are.

[Tanakh Keeper]

Okay...so I was alerted to Joshua 5 recently ...(snip) ... So the question is, why weren't those that were born in the wilderness circumcised? Sure, their parents were those that God consumed for their disobedience (so it is possible that they didn't circumcise their children) but Moses, surely, would have enforced it pretty well. Didn't he have a rather bloody encounter over the whole issue? Wouldn't it have been a big thing to him NOT to circumcise? So why was it just left alone until Joshua came along?

Seems kind of odd to me, but I'm interested what those who know more about this have to say.

I came across your question and was intrigued. I didn't know the answer, so I did some research and got a bunch of answers.

1) The entire time that the Jewish people wandered the desert, the Clouds of G-d's Glory were guiding them. They never knew exactly when they were going to travel again, nothing was certain. It is considered dangerous to move the infant within the first three days of his circumcision. Since the resumption of travel could occur at any time, circumcisions were not performed during this time.

2) The atmospheric conditions necessary for healing the wound were absent for the entire 40 year period. The north wind necessary for this did not blow to avoid dispersing the guiding clouds.

3) Fatigue and weakness from constant travel made the operation dangerous. Since the Jews had to move with the pillar of cloud, they could not wait for the wound to heal. And moving too soon would be dangerous to the infants.

It is interesting. I guess the Jews would get their first permanent structure in 40 years, once they conquered Jericho.

[RBerman]

Mind you, the Jews didn't inhabit Jericho; they razed it. What "atmospheric conditions" are necessary for the healing of a genital laceration? Babies are normally swaddled to protect them from wind and sand.

[Tanakh Keeper]

Mind you, the Jews didn't inhabit Jericho; they razed it. What "atmospheric conditions" are necessary for the healing of a genital laceration? Babies are normally swaddled to protect them from wind and sand.

I don't know. I found all the answers to be a bit odd.

Such as, how could wind disperse a Cloud of G-d?
Why would G-d purposefully prevent us from fulfilling a mitvot?
Why is it just the North wind that causes the problems?
Was this the only operation that was affected?

Also, we know that G-d was annoyed at the original exiles from Egypt and decreed that none of them would enter Israel. Is preventing this mitvot from being performed a further punishment to them? That is, that they wouldn’t get to celebrate the Brit Malah? Maybe G-d wanted us to have all the celebrations right before the conquest as a morale booster of some sort? Though the soldiers would need some time to recover before fighting. Hmmm, maybe that's why G-d made it so easy for us at Jericho.