Early Greek writers were very interested in the practice of circumcision, and they all agreed that circumcision was a very old practice and that the Jews did not actually "invent" it, but received it from the Egyptians.
This was probably confirmed by Herodotus (5th century BC), who clearly identified the Colchians, Egyptians and Ethiopians as the first peoples to practice circumcision.
The Phoenician and Palestinian Syrians admit that they learned this custom from the Egyptians and the Corchians.
The next author to mention this custom was Diodorus, whose exposition is derived from Hecatenius: they (the Egyptians) also say that those who set out with Danaeus were also from Egypt, the Jewish people located between Arabia and Syria.
It was a colony founded by certain immigrants from their country, which is why in both peoples circumcision of their boys was a long-standing custom that came from Egypt.
The Greek historian Strabo combined the Jewish practice of circumcision with what they called Egyptian ancestry, making the same argument: "One of the customs that Egyptians most zealously observed was that they raised every child born and circumcised their men and women, which was also the custom of the Jews, who were also of Egyptian origin".
The account of the Egyptian origins of the Jews, which Strabo refers to here, is his version of the story of Exodus.
Strabo did not hide his dislike of Jews, especially circumcision and asceticism, which he said was a manifestation of Jewish political depravity and robbery.
There is a similar aphorism about writing Laecania, in which Matthiar complains that her slave is always present in her bath, and that his "sexual organs are covered with a patch of black flesh", and she praises her slave: But my slave, Dicania, has the weight of a Jew under his naked skin.
There is no doubt that "Jewish weight" is an obscene allusion to Jewish sexual ability.
The above statements strongly reflect the widespread discrimination that circumcision encountered at the time, and in the view of Greco-Roman writers, circumcision was a unique Jewish custom that must be experienced in order to be a Jew, in terms of circumcision determining and defining "Jewishness".
It emphasizes the essence of Judaism: difference, exclusivity, and misanthropy, which prevents Judaism from integrating into the Greco-Roman world and prevents the Greco-Romans from truly understanding Judaism.
The content of the prohibition of pork is more of a tolerance psychology of pagan writers, Jews do not eat pork, just as Syrians do not eat fish, Phoenicians do not eat cattle, and the worship of pigs is likely to come from the pig teaching Jews to cultivate the land.
Although much of the argument was sympathetic to the content of the ban on pork, Jewish dietary laws that prevented them from eating at the table with non-Jews deepened non-Jewish misunderstandings about Jews.
The Sabbath of working six to seven days without doing anything was strongly criticized by the pagan world, and the Jews lost Jerusalem because they did not defend themselves, and their state of doing nothing was seen by Greco-Roman writers as a symbol of laziness and stupidity.
Some writers believe that the Sabbath is also a fasting day, but Jewish fasting is dark and melancholy, far removed from their joyful view of holidays, so they do not like the Jewish Sabbath.
Circumcision is anti-humanitarian, but only through circumcision can you become a true Jew, and the discussion and views on the practice of circumcision are mixed by writers of the pagan world, but the voices of opposition are louder than sympathetic, and the anti-Jewish attitude of the pagan world can also be seen through the practice of circumcision.
The conversion of Jews to Judaism in the Greco-Roman world through sermons caused strong opposition from the Greco-Roman world, and Judaism was expelled because of its influence, and most of the pagan writers who sympathized with preaching became devout Jews.
The customs of Judaism are complex and mysterious, and Judaism attracts conversions from the pagan world because of its difference, but more often it rejects and opposes.
The Jews, as a people with their own cultural traditions but living in a foreign cultural environment, in the face of pressure from the powers around them, have no other way to maintain their purity and independence than to strengthen their beliefs and laws as a boundary.
This practical need became the driving force behind the rise of exclusionist tendencies in Judaism.
It in turn inspired anti-Semitic rhetoric among the Greco-Romans.
Therefore, there seems to be an invisible barrier between these two heterogeneous civilizations, and the two sides are forced to develop along two parallel straight lines, and the dialogue, communication and reconciliation between them have not only not been realized, but the hostility between the two sides has deepened in the confrontation.
Resources:
[1] Song Lihong, Political and Religious Characteristics of Jews in Hellenistic and Roman Periods: An Investigation Centered on Ancient Jewish Coins[J], Historical Research, No. 3, 2013.
[2] Song Lihong, Ancient Jewish Inscriptions[J], Historical Research, No. 6, 2005.
