Chapter XLVII.

Now the reason why circumcision is practised among the Jews is not the same as that which explains its existence among the Egyptians and Colchians, and therefore it is not to be considered the same circumcision.  And as he who sacrifices does not sacrifice to the same god, although he appears to perform the rite of sacrifice in a similar manner, and he who offers up prayer does not pray to the same divinity, although he asks the same things in his supplication; so, in the same way, if one performs the rite of circumcision, it by no means follows that it is not a different act from the circumcision performed upon another.  For the purpose, and the law, and the wish of him who performs the rite, place the act in a different category.  But that the whole subject may be still better understood, we have to remark that the term for “righteousness”1154    δικαιοσύνη. is the same among all the Greeks; but righteousness is shown to be one thing according to the view of Epicurus; and another according to the Stoics, who deny the threefold division of the soul; and a different thing again according to the followers of Plato, who hold that righteousness is the proper business of the parts of the soul.1155    ἰδιοπραγίαν τῶν μερῶν τῆς ψυχῆς.  And so also the “courage”1156    ἀνδρεία. of Epicures is one thing, who would undergo some labours in order to escape from a greater number; and a different thing that of the philosopher of the Porch, who would choose all virtue for its own sake; and a different thing still that of Plato, who maintains that virtue itself is the act of the irascible part of the soul, and who assigns to it a place about the breast.1157    τοῦ θυμικοῦ μέρους τῆς ψυχῆς φάσκοντος αὐτὸ εἰναι ἀρετὴν, καὶ ἀποτάσσοντος αὐτῇ τόπον τὸν περὶ τὸν θώρακα.  And so circumcision will be a different thing according to the varying opinions of those who undergo it.  But on such a subject it is unnecessary to speak on this occasion in a treatise like the present; for whoever desires to see what led us to the subject, can read what we have said upon it in the Epistle of Paul to the Romans.

Τὸ δ' αἴτιον τῆς Ἰουδαίων περιτομῆς οὐ ταὐτόν ἐστι τῷ αἰτίῳ τῆς Αἰγυπτίων περιτομῆς ἢ Κόλχων· διὸ οὐχ ἡ αὐτὴ νομισθείη ἂν περιτομή. Καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ θύων οὐ τῷ αὐτῷ θύει, εἰ καὶ ὁμοίως θύειν δοκεῖ, καὶ ὁ εὐχόμενος οὐ τῷ αὐτῷ εὔχεται, εἰ καὶ τὰ αὐτὰ ἐν ταῖς εὐχαῖς ἀξιοῖ· οὕτως οὐδ' εἴ τις περιτέμνεται, ἀδιαφορεῖ πάντως τῆς πρὸς ἕτερον περιτομῆς. Ἡ γὰρ πρόθεσις καὶ ὁ νόμος καὶ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ περιτέμνοντος ἀλλοῖον ποιεῖ τὸ πρᾶγμα. Ἵνα δ' ἔτι μᾶλλον νοηθῇ τὸ κατὰ τὸν τόπον, λεκτέον ὅτι τὸ τῆς δικαιο σύνης ὄνομα ταὐτὸν μέν ἐστι παρὰ πᾶσιν Ἕλλησιν· ἤδη δὲ ἀποδείκνυται ἄλλη μὲν ἡ κατ' Ἐπίκουρον δικαιοσύνη, ἄλλη δὲ ἡ κατὰ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς, ἀρνουμένους τὸ τριμερὲς τῆς ψυχῆς, ἄλλη δὲ κατὰ τοὺς ἀπὸ Πλάτωνος, ἰδιοπραγίαν τῶν μερῶν τῆς ψυχῆς φάσκοντας εἶναι τὴν δικαιοσύνην. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἄλλη μὲν ἡ Ἐπικούρου ἀνδρεία, ὑπομένοντος πόνους διὰ φυγὴν πόνων πλειόνων, ἄλλη δ' ἡ τοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς, δι' αὐτὴν αἱρουμένου πᾶσαν ἀρετήν, ἄλλη δ' ἡ [τοῦ] ἀπὸ Πλάτωνος, τοῦ θυμικοῦ μέρους τῆς ψυχῆς φάσκοντος αὐτὴν εἶναι ἀρετὴν καὶ ἀποτάσσοντος αὐτῇ τόπον τὸν περὶ τὸν θώρακα. Οὕτως δ' εἴη ἂν κατὰ τὰ διάφορα τῶν περιτεμ νομένων δόγματα διάφορος ἡ περιτομή, περὶ ἧς ἐν τοιούτῳ συγγράμματι οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον νῦν λέγειν· ὅτῳ γὰρ φίλον ἰδεῖν τὰ κινήσαντα ἡμᾶς εἰς τὸν τόπον, ἀναγνώτω περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς εἰς τὴν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ἐπιστολὴν Παύλου πραγματευθεῖσιν ἡμῖν.