Intersecting religion and culture: A comparative study of circumcision rites in the Old Testament and Yorùbá culture

The study explores circumcision in both the Old Testament and Yorùbá tradition, examining how the ritual conveys and perpetuates communal identity, religious meaning, and cultural belonging. The Old Testament provides the main focus, where in Genesis 17, circumcision is established as a divinely instituted covenantal sign marking Israel's identity as God's chosen people. Within this framework, circumcision becomes a theological symbol of obedience, purity, and inclusion in the covenant community, further enhanced by texts like Leviticus 12, which associated it with ritual holiness. Drawing on a qualitative, literature-based methodology, the study examines biblical and theological sources alongside anthropological and historical materials on Yorùbá culture. Social Identity Theory and contextual theology provide interpretive lenses for analyzing circumcision both as a social boundary-marker and as a theological construct. While the Old Testament presents circumcision as a non-negotiable covenantal requirement, the Yorùbá understanding of circumcision is a cultural rite of passage tied to social belonging, ancestral continuity, and symbolic cleansing rather than divine mandate. The discussion demonstrates that the New Testament's spiritual reinterpretation of circumcision reorders its theological significance but does not eliminate its cultural relevance within African Christian life. The results make clear that the Old Testament's covenant theology provides the indispensable matrix for understanding the meaning of the ritual, which shapes both Jewish identity and how African Christians negotiate the continued cultural practice of the ritual. By locating Old Testament circumcision at the centre of the comparative discussion, the study makes a contribution to biblical scholarship, African Christian Theology, and African ritual, with specific reference to the Yorùbá culture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Bamidele, Titilayo Lydia

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• White, Peter
• Cezula, Ntozakhe

Language dc:language.iso

en

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135594

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135594