#Leviticus 19:23-25
Forbidden fruit
Sorry - not as sexy as it sounds. Like, literal forbidden fruit: no fruit from trees less than four years old can be eaten. Fine agricultural practice I’m sure - more interesting is the word for “forbidden” here: elsewhere, “uncircumcised.”
Forbidden fruit
Sorry - not as sexy as it sounds. Like, literal forbidden fruit: no fruit from trees less than four years old can be eaten. Fine agricultural practice I’m sure - more interesting is the word for “forbidden” here: elsewhere, “uncircumcised.”
Same word used in both cases of literal circumcision (like Abraham in Gen 17) and some famous figurative language: Moses talking about his mouth, Jeremiah about people’s hearts and ears, etc.
I’m here to suggest that “uncircumcised” isn’t the base meaning of the word, but is a specialized (if common) application of a broader term meaning “covered, blocked.” Moses’s mouth, Jeremiah’s hearts and ears…and of course these premature fruit trees.
Which is just to say that when interpreting these non-literal-circumcision texts, we don’t need to try and work the idea of circumcision, or any of the theological concepts attached to it, into our readings. That’s creating a funny semantic circle.
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