And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins; and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
All Commentaries on Genesis 17:11 Go To Genesis 17
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Abraham is ordered to circumcise himself when he is about to receive the inheritance of a true progeny. Is it not evident that “circumcision of the flesh” is the precept of chastity, that one should remove the passions of the flesh and curb the desires that unbridled lust renders indomitable? Indeed, the very word circumcision prescribes this, that every stench of impurity be wiped away and that the stimulus of the passions be removed. .