If the commandment to circumcise follows the female line why was Gershom circumcised by Zipporah at the inn?

Answer 1

Answer 1

There are two different ways to read the events of Gershom's circumcision.

View 1:

Judaism does not profess to make any laws concerning the behavior of non-Jews outside of the Seven Noahide Laws. As a non-Jew, therefore, Zipporah had every permission to choose whether or nor her child would be circumcised. Therefore, as a concession to her husband and to show her loyalty to his traditions, she circumcised the child of her own choice. While circumcision is mandatory for Jews, it is not discussed for non-Jews. They can make whatever choice they like about it.

View 2:

Prior to receiving the Torah, the Israelites were defined primarily as family/ethnicity and not as a faith group or a group bound by the covenant (aside from the Promised Land and the requirement to circumcise). The various Laws that would regulate conversion and whose study would be necessary in order to convert did not yet exist for the human followers. By marrying Moses, Zipporah had followed the historical convention that the male determines what clan or group Zipporah was. She was born a Midianite, but became an Israelite upon marriage to Moses. Therefore, Gershom was born as an Israelite to an Israelite mother and would need to undergo circumcision.

It is important to note that because we have the laws in the later period, marriage becomes insufficient to be a conversion on its own.

Answer 2

Before the Giving of the Torah, conversion to the Israelite religion meant abandoning idolatry and adopting Israelite behavior. Our tradition is that Joseph, Judah and Moses married their wives only after the wives did this.