Circumcision
"The first part is milah, the cutting away of the outer part of the foreskin. This is done with one sweep of the knife.
The second part, periah, is
the tearing away of the inner lining of the foreskin which still adheres
to the gland, so as to lay it wholly bare. This was (and is) done by
the operator – the mohel, the professional circumciser – with his thumb-nail and index finger.
The third and essential part of the ritual is mesisah, the sucking of the blood from the wound.
Since the 19th century, it has been
permissible to finish this part of the ritual with a swab, but in all
preceding centuries and certainly in the time of Paul it was necessary
for the mohel to clean the wound by taking the penis into his mouth.
In the case of a young adult male such as Timothy the bleeding would have been copious."
– A.N.Wilson, Paul, The Mind of the Apostle, p131.
