Original Word: ἀκροβυστία
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: akrobustia
Pronunciation: ak-rob-oos-TEE-ah
Phonetic Spelling: (ak-rob-oos-tee'-ah)
Definition: Uncircumcision, foreskin
Meaning: (a technical word of Jewish use) foreskin, prepuce: used sometimes as a slang term by Jews, of Gentiles.

Word Origin: From the Greek words ἄκρον (akron, meaning "tip" or "extremity") and βύσσος (bussos, meaning "linen" or "fine cloth"), though in this context, it refers to the foreskin.

Corresponding Greek / Hebrew Entries: The Hebrew equivalent often associated with the concept of uncircumcision is עָרֵל (arel), Strong's Hebrew 6189, which also refers to the foreskin or the state of being uncircumcised.

Usage: In the New Testament, "akrobustia" is primarily used to denote the state of being uncircumcised. It is often used metaphorically to refer to Gentiles or those who are not part of the Jewish covenant community, which was marked by the physical sign of circumcision. The term is used to discuss the spiritual implications of circumcision and uncircumcision in the context of the new covenant in Christ.

Cultural and Historical Background: In Jewish culture, circumcision was a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham, as described in Genesis 17. It was a physical mark that set the Jewish people apart from other nations. In the Greco-Roman world, circumcision was not commonly practiced and was often viewed with disdain. The early Christian church, which included both Jewish and Gentile believers, faced significant theological debates regarding the necessity of circumcision for salvation and inclusion in the covenant community.

203 akrobystía – properly, uncircumcised; (figuratively) a person outside of God's covenant, i.e. who does not belong to the Seed (Christ, the Messiah).

Physical circumcision is the visible sign of God's covenant, representing the opportunity from God to belong to Him by personally receiving His offer of salvation – through the Seed (Jesus Christ, the Messiah).

[203 /akrobystía literally means "what covers the extreme end," referring to the part of the male foreskin not removed by circumcision. The duty of physical circumcision of course did not relate to women.]

Word Origin
of uncertain origin
Definition
the prepuce, foreskin, hence uncircumcision
NASB Translation
uncircumcised (10), uncircumcised man (1), uncircumcision (8), without being circumcised (1).

STRONGS NT 203: ἀκροβυστία

ἀκροβυστία, (ας, ἡ (a word unknown to the Greeks, who used ἡ ἀκροποσθία and τό ἀκροπόσθιον, from πόσθη i. e.membrum virile. Accordingly it is likely that τήν ποσθην of the Greeks was pronounced τήν βύστην by the Alexandrians, and ἀκροβυστία said instead of ἀκροπόσθια — i. e. τό ἄκρον τῆς πόσθης; cf. the acute remarks of Fritzsche, Commentary on Romans, vol. i., 136, together with the opinion which Winer prefers 99 (94) (and Cremer, 3te Anti. under the word)), in the Sept. the equivalent of עָרְלָה the prepuce, the skin covering the glans penis;

a. properly: Acts 11:3; Romans 2:25, 26{b}; 1 Corinthians 7:19; Galatians 5:6; Galatians 6:15; Colossians 3:11; (Judith 14:10; 1 Macc. 1:15); ἐν ἀκροβυστία ὤν having the foreskin (Tertullianpraeputiatus), uncircumcised i. e. Gentile, Romans 4:10; ἐν ἀκροβυστία, namely, ὤν, 1 Corinthians 7:18; equivalent, to the same is δἰ ἀκροβυστίας, Romans 4:11; ἡ ἐν τῇ ἀκροβυστία πίστις the faith which one has while he is uncircumcised, Romans 4:11f,

b. by metonyny, of the abstract for the concrete, having the foreskin is equiv. to a Gentile: Romans 2:26{a}; ; Ephesians 2:11; ἡ ἐκ φύσεως ἀκροβυστία, one uncircumcised by birth or a Gentile, opposed to a Jew who shows himself a Gentile in character, Romans 2:27; εὐαγγέλιον τῆς ἀκροβυστίας gospel to be preached to the Gentiles, Galatians 2:7.

c. in a transferred sense: ἡ ἀκροβυστία τῆς σαρκός (opposed to the περιτομή ἀχειροποίητος or regeneration, Colossians 2:11), "the condition in which the corrupt desires rooted in the σάρξ were not yet extinct," Colossians 2:13 (the expression is derived from the circumstance that the foreskin was the sign of impurity and alienation from God (cf. B. D. under the word )).

uncircumcision, uncircumcised

From akron and probably a modified form of posthe (the penis or male sexual organ); the prepuce; by implication, an uncircumcised (i.e. Gentile, figuratively, unregenerate) state or person -- not circumcised, uncircumcised (with echo), uncircumcision.

see GREEK akron

see GREEK echo

ακροβυστια ακροβυστία ἀκροβυστία ἀκροβυστίᾳ ακροβυστίαις ακροβυστιαν ακροβυστίαν ἀκροβυστίαν ακροβυστιας ακροβυστίας ἀκροβυστίας ακροβυστιών ακρόβυστοι akrobustia akrobustian akrobustias akrobystia akrobystía akrobystíāi akrobystian akrobystían akrobystias akrobystíasInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts