Uncircumcision
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Ἀκροβυστία literally refers to foreskin and commonly functions as the designation uncircumcision, especially for Gentile identity in contrast with Jewish circumcision. Acts records Jewish believers criticizing Peter for entering and eating with uncircumcised men.
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Full entry for ἀκροβυστία (G203) · Open the biblical lexicon
Ἀκροβυστία literally refers to foreskin and commonly functions as the designation uncircumcision, especially for Gentile identity in contrast with Jewish circumcision. Acts records Jewish believers criticizing Peter for entering and eating with uncircumcised men.
The BSB source-word alignment has 20 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include uncircumcised (6), uncircumcision (6), [before] (2), [he was still] uncircumcised (1), [the] uncircumcised (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 11:3. Its strongest book concentrations include Romans (11), Galatians (3), 1 Corinthians (2), Colossians (2).
This entry includes 2 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Ἀκροβυστία literally refers to foreskin and commonly functions as the designation uncircumcision, especially for Gentile identity in contrast with Jewish circumcision. Acts records Jewish believers criticizing Peter for entering and eating with uncircumcised men. Paul can say covenant-breaking conduct renders circumcision uncircumcision, showing that the physical sign cannot excuse disobedience.
He tells believers not to change bodily status as though it improved their calling, distinguishes gospel stewardship toward the uncircumcised and circumcised, and reminds Gentiles how they were once labeled and alienated. The term carries bodily, social, and covenantal force. It must be handled historically and theologically, never as a contemptuous label for an ethnicity or as proof of moral inferiority.
Ἀκροβυστία names uncircumcision and often Gentiles as a covenantally marked group. The gospel confronts exclusion, denies saving superiority to bodily status, and creates peace in Christ.
And said, “You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
Peter's table fellowship with uncircumcised Gentiles becomes a controversy until he recounts the Spirit's work, forcing the church to recognize God's gift of repentance.
Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
Paul relativizes possession of the sign when life contradicts God's law; covenant privilege cannot shield the unrepentant from impartial judgment.
Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when called? He should not be circumcised.
Calling in Christ does not require bodily status change, because neither circumcision nor uncircumcision determines worth before God or the validity of one's vocation.
On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted to preach the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.
Paul and Peter receive complementary missionary stewardship, not different gospels, toward Gentile and Jewish fields under the same grace.
Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—
Gentiles are told to remember both the contemptuous label and their former alienation so they can grasp the reconciling nearness Christ has made by His blood.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Metonymy for non-Jews; Paul's term emphasizing ritual status rather than ethnic identity.
Metonymy for non-Jews; Paul's term emphasizing ritual status rather than ethnic identity.
(perh. an Alexandrian form of cl. ἀκροποσθία; cf. MM, VGT, see word) [in LXX for עׇרְלָה ;] the prepuce, foreskin (LXX), hence abstr., uncircumcision: Act.11:3, Rom.2:25-27 3:30 4:10-12, 1Co.7:18-19, Gal.5:6 6:15, Col.2:13 3:11 By meton., the uncircumcised: Rom.4:9, Gal.2:7, Eph.2:11.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 20 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
foreskin
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 20 lexical occurrence verses.
ἀκροβυστία is built from this root:
Uncircumcision was not a neutral abstraction in the first-century church. It named bodily difference, covenant location, and often a socially charged Gentile identity. Acts 11 shows how table fellowship exposed the church's struggle to follow God's welcome. Romans denies that the physical sign can substitute for obedience, while First Corinthians refuses anxious status alteration after calling.
Galatians recognizes distinct mission fields under one gospel. Ephesians then remembers the alienation named by hostile labels so that Christ's achievement shines: those far away are brought near, dividing hostility is killed, and one new humanity is reconciled to God. Churches must teach this history without ethnic contempt, honoring Israel's covenants while confessing Gentile inclusion solely through Christ's blood and grace.
Acts.11.3
Ἀκροβυστία can denote the physical foreskin, the state of being uncircumcised, or collectively those called the uncircumcision. The rhetorical and covenantal setting determines its referent.
Circumcision begins with Abraham and marks Israel's covenant history, while prophets demand circumcised hearts. The apostolic gospel welcomes Gentiles without requiring ethnic conversion.