Jesus was circumcised on “Eighth Day of Assembly”
Jesus was circumcised on the eight day of His life. The day directly following Tabernacles is called “Eighth Day of Assembly”. The day directly following that day is called “Day of Celebrating the Torah”
So that are 3 feasts grouped into 9 days.
Luke 2:21 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
Lev 12:2 Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives seed, and bears a man-
Lev 12:3 And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
Was that just a command? Or was it also a prophesy that Jesus would be circumcised on a Feast called “the eighth day’?
The Eighth Day of Assembly is also the eighth day Jesus was among/assembled with us.
Another name for this Feast is “Day of Celebrating the Torah”. Torah is another name for Word (of God). It can be said Jesus was the Torah made flesh. A Christian could read that as “Day of celebrating Jesus”.
“Day of Celebrating the Torah” is separate, ninth, day in most of the world. In Israel it’s celebrated on the eighth day.
As this article (click) shows the eight day of a baby boy’s life is the ideal day for circumcision because the prothrombin is exceptionally high on that day. High concentrations of prothrombin cause faster coagulation/blood clogging which reduces blood loss.
On the third day the prothrombin level is exceptionally low; making it the worst possible day for surgery.
In the previous section I suggested He was circumcised on the “Eighth Day of Assembly”. That’s the ninth day but in a way it can also be the eighth day.
God ordered circumcision on the eight day of a boys life because on that day the blood loss would be minimal. But did God really mean calendar days?
I’ll try to make part of my point with an extreme example.
- Boy-
A was born on the first of the month, 1 minute before dawn. His eighth day circumcision will be on the eighth of the month. - Boy-
B was born on the second of the month, 1 minute after dawn. His eighth day circumcision will be on the ninth of the month.
The calendar day changes at dawn, click. So the boys differ just 2 minutes in age. But their circumcision differs a full day. That said matter what system is chosen there is always a time that this full day difference occurs. So looking at the graph the ideal time would be exactly 8 days layer on the time of birth.
The Bible, just like we do, knows two days. A 24-
What if the eighth day is the eighth daylight-
Jesus was the Word of God and so is the Torah. On the eighth day the boy wasn’t only circumcised but the parents also revealed his name on that day. So the (name of the) Torah was celebrated/rejoiced that day.
Luke 1:59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
Luke 1:60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.
Luke 1:61 And they said to her, There is none of your kindred that is called by this name.
Luke 1:62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.
Luke 1:63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marveled all.
Luke 1:64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, and praised God.
Endnote for those trying to pinpoint the year of birth;
- The religious year of conception can’t be a leap year.
- The religious year before conception can’t be a leap year.