1986. epispaomai
Lexical Summary
epispaomai: To draw over, to pull over, to cover

Original Word: ἐπισπάομαι
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: epispaomai
Pronunciation: eh-pee-SPAH-oh-my
Phonetic Spelling: (ep-ee-spah'-om-ahee)
KJV: become uncircumcised
Word Origin: [from G1909 (ἐπί - over) and G4685 (σπάω - drew)]

1. to draw over, i.e. efface the mark of circumcision (by recovering with the foreskin)
{(with G203 implied)}

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
become uncircumcised.

From epi and spao; to draw over, i.e. (with akrobustia implied) efface the mark of circumcision (by recovering with the foreskin) -- become uncircumcised.

see GREEK epi

see GREEK spao

see GREEK akrobustia

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 1986: ἐπισπάω

ἐπισπάω, ἐπίσπω: from Aeschylus down; to draw on: μή ἐπισπάσθω, namely, ἀκροβυστίαν, let him not draw on his foreskin (Hesychius μή ἐπισπάσθω. Μή ἑλκυέτω τό δέρμα) (A. V. let him not become uncircumcised), 1 Corinthians 7:18. From the days of Antiochus Epiphanes () down (1 Macc. 1:15; Josephus, Antiquities 12, 5, 1), there had been Jews who, in order to conceal from heathen persecutors or scoffers the external sign of their nationality, sought artificially to compel nature to reproduce the prepuce, by extending or drawing forward with an iron instrument the remnant of it still left, so as to cover the glans. The rabbis called such persons מְשׁוּכִים, from מָשַׁך to draw out, see Buxtorf, Lex. Talm., p. 1274 ((edited by Fischer ii., 645f). Cf. BB. DD. under the word , especially McClintock and Strong's Cyclopaedia, ibid. II. 2.)

STRONGS NT 1986a: ἐπισπείρωἐπισπείρω: 1 aorist ἐπεσπειρα; to sow above or besides: Matthew 13:25 L T Tr WH. (Herodotus, Theophrastus, (others).)

Topical Lexicon
Occurrence in Scripture

The verb appears once, in 1 Corinthians 7:18. “Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not seek to reverse his circumcision. Was a man still uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised.” (Berean Standard Bible)

Historical Setting of Circumcision Reversal

In the Hellenistic and Roman worlds, public gymnasia and baths demanded full nudity. Circumcision, a visible covenant mark for Jews, became a source of scorn among Gentiles who prized an intact foreskin as a symbol of cultural refinement. Jewish men often resorted to a painful surgical procedure—documented by 1 Maccabees 1:15 and by medical writers such as Celsus—to stretch remaining skin and appear uncircumcised. By the first century the practice was common enough that Paul could refer to it matter-of-factly when writing to the believers in Corinth, a bustling port city steeped in Greco-Roman values.

Paul’s Pastoral Concern in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians addresses believers wrestling with their place in Christ while living amid social pressures regarding marriage, servitude, and ethnic identity. By prohibiting circumcision reversal, Paul does not re-enthrone the ritual itself; rather, he confronts the heart-level motive to seek human approval through bodily alteration. His counsel fits the wider passage’s call to “remain in the situation” in which God’s grace found each believer (1 Corinthians 7:20), trusting that status before God depends on the cross, not on conformity to cultural expectations.

Theological Emphases

1. Grace over ritual: Justification rests on faith, not on the surgical presence or absence of foreskin (Galatians 5:6).
2. Contentment in calling: God’s providence governs each believer’s life; anxious adjustments for acceptance betray a lack of trust (1 Corinthians 7:24).
3. Unity in Christ: “There is neither Jew nor Greek” (Galatians 3:28); erasing Jewish marks or imposing them on Gentiles alike deny gospel equality.
4. Stewardship of the body: The body is “a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19); mutilation for social status conflicts with that stewardship.

Ministry and Discipleship Applications

• Equip believers to withstand cultural demands that require altering God-given physical traits for acceptance.
• Emphasize “circumcision of the heart” (Romans 2:29) as the true mark of the new covenant, fostering inward holiness over outward conformity.
• Address both legalism and assimilation: external observances neither add to salvation nor need erasure for full fellowship in Christ.
• Cultivate churches that honor ethnic heritage without elevating it above the gospel.

Related Biblical Themes and References

Romans 2:28-29; Acts 15:1-11; Galatians 2:3-5; Galatians 5:1-12; Ephesians 2:11-18; Colossians 2:11-13; Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4; Philippians 3:2-3.

Summary

Strong’s Greek 1986 captures a moment when the early church confronted intense social pressure to reshape bodies in pursuit of cultural prestige. Paul’s single use of the verb stands as a timeless reminder that believers’ identity is secured by Christ, not by surgical modification or ritual observance. The gospel liberates from both the compulsion to acquire religious marks and the urge to erase them, calling every follower of Jesus to find contentment and unity in the unchanging grace of God.

Forms and Transliterations
επεσπάσατο επίσπασαι επισπασθω επισπάσθω ἐπισπάσθω επισπεύδοντες επισπλαγχνιζόμενος επισπουδαζομένη επισπουδαστής επισπώμενοι epispastho epispasthō epispástho epispásthō
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Englishman's Concordance
1 Corinthians 7:18 V-PMM/P-3S
GRK: ἐκλήθη μὴ ἐπισπάσθω ἐν ἀκροβυστίᾳ
NAS: [when he was already] circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone
KJV: not become uncircumcised. Is
INT: was called not let him be uncircumcised in uncircumcision

Strong's Greek 1986
1 Occurrence


ἐπισπάσθω — 1 Occ.

1985
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