determining candidates for Christian baptism. The covenant of circumcision distinguishes between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female. In these antithetical pairs, those described by the first member of the pair have an obligation to be circumcised in a Jewish community while those described by the second member do not.34 Although not obligated, the Greek and the free person may choose to become circumcised, but the female may not. This feature of the circumcision legislation probably explains