necks any longer.” “Jehovah your God will have to circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, that you may love Jehovah your God with all your heart and all your soul for the sake of your life.” (Deut. 10:16; 30:6) Jeremiah reminded that wayward nation in his day of the same thing. (Jer. 4:4) ‘Circumcision of the heart’ means getting rid of anything in one’s affections or motives that is displeasing and unclean in Jehovah’s eyes and which makes the heart unresponsive. Similarly, ears that are not sensitive or responsive are spoken of as “uncircumcised.”—Jer. 6:10; Acts 7:51.

HYGIENIC BENEFITS

Characteristic of the various health regulations of the Mosaic law, there are numerous hygienic advantages resulting from circumcision. The folds of the foreskin allow accumulations to collect that, together with the warmth and moisture, provide a fertile breeding ground for microorganisms of various diseases. Circumcision removes such a condition. Cancer of both the male penis, and, in turn, of the wife’s cervex is drastically reduced. Reports Science News Letter (October 31, 1964, p. 281): “The reason for circumcision is cleanliness, to prevent accumulation of an irritating mixture called smegma in the narrow space between the male glans and the overlying foreskin. There is little cervical cancer among Jewish women, studies have shown, and this is believed due to the fact that Jewish males are customarily circumcised.” Recently, uncircumcision has also been implicated as a factor in epilepsy. These good health and sociological merits, therefore, were additional advantages enjoyed by the descendants of Abraham who respected God’s covenant and took upon themselves the sign or seal of circumcision.—Acts 7:8; Rom. 4:9-12.

CISTERN

An artificial underground cavity usually used for the storage of water. Cisterns, unlike wells that are dug down to tap natural underground water, are usually designed to catch and retain rainfall or the runoff from springs. Not open like pools, they are usually covered over at the top. The Hebrew word bohr, rendered “cistern,” is also translated “waterpit,” especially when it appears to be empty of water (Gen. 37:20-29; 2 Sam. 23:20), as “prison hole” when used for that purpose (Gen. 40:15), and as “pit” when it refers to or is in parallel with “Sheol.”—Ps. 30:3; Prov. 1:12; Ezek. 31:14, 16.

Cisterns were vital in Biblical Palestine. Frequently they were the only means of maintaining a sufficient water supply, because wells and springs were not plentiful in the mountainous country and, where found, often dried up toward the end of summer. These man-made water cisterns even permitted villages to spring up in places where the water supply was otherwise too scant, such as in the Negeb. Assuringly, Jehovah promised his people that they would find cisterns already dug when they entered the Promised Land. (Deut. 6:10, 11; Neh. 9:25) King Uzziah is mentioned as hewing out “many cisterns” throughout all Judah. (2 Chron. 26:1, 10) From upper Galilee down to the Negeb, cisterns numbered literally in the thousands, and multitudes of them have been discovered, practically honey-combing parts of the terrain. It seemed the desirable thing for each household to have its own cistern, even among the Moabites. Their tenth-century-B.C.E. king Mesha, according to the Moabite Stone, declared: “There was no cistern inside the town at Qarhoh, so I said to all the people, ‘Let each of you make a cistern for himself in his house!’” (Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 1955, p. 320) Sennacherib attempted to entice the inhabitants of Jerusalem by promising that if they capitulated to him, they would “drink each one the water of his own cistern.”—2 Ki. 18:31; Isa. 36:16.

Cisterns were most commonly hewn out of rock. If the rock was solid and without cracks, there was little problem with leakage, but in the porous limestone that covered much of Palestine, it was necessary to waterproof the inside walls with plaster. Cisterns dug in earth were lined with brick or stone and then plastered to give them solid walls. These cisterns were commonly pear-shaped, wider at the bottom and narrowing at the top; sometimes the mouth was only a foot or two across. When natural caves were modified or enlarged to serve as cisterns, pillars of native rock were allowed to support the roof, or, as in some of those discovered in the Negeb, arches were built inside the cistern to serve the same purpose. Channels in the hillside directed the runoff from rainfall into the underground reservoir. Illustrating the great size of some cisterns, one of several in the temple area in Jerusalem had a capacity of between two and three million gallons (c. 7,500 to 11,300 kiloliters); it was over 40 feet (12 meters) deep and 700 feet (213 meters) in circumference, and was fed by an aqueduct from Solomon’s pools.

Ecclesiastes 12:6 refers to “the water wheel for the cistern,” but usually the water was drawn up by means of jars suspended with ropes. Occasional breakage of such jars accounts for the pottery fragments that are found in the bottom of most cisterns. The primitive custom of throwing earth in a cistern having stagnant or polluted water in order to settle the scum explains in part why many are partially filled with dirt. Coverings over the openings guarded to some extent against contamination of the water, and prevented persons or animals from falling in, although a dead body that might accidentally fall in did not make the waters ceremonially unclean; the one removing the dead body, however, was unclean. (Ex. 21:33; Lev. 11:35, 36) Additionally, the cover on a cistern aided in keeping the water cool and reduced loss from evaporation. (Jer. 6:7) Some large cisterns had several openings from which the water was drawn. In cisterns of great size and depth, stairs led down into them as much as a hundred feet (30 meters) or more.

OTHER USES

There are a few instances where cisterns were used for purposes other than water storage. In dry locations, and if sealed against moisture, rats and insects, they were fine storage areas for grain, being also easily camouflaged against thievery; some cisterns found in terrain where there is no natural source of water were apparently built especially as granaries. Empty cisterns were sometimes employed as prisons. (Zech. 9:11) Joseph’s brothers threw him into such a waterpit (Gen. 37:20-24), and later he found himself in a similar prison hole (literally, “the cistern”) down in Egypt. (Gen. 40:15; 41:14) The tenth plague on Egypt reached “to the first-born of the captive who was in the prison hole [literally, “the house of the cistern”].” (Ex. 12:29) Jeremiah was imprisoned in “the house of the cistern,” and later was thrown into the miry pit itself. (Jer. 37:16; 38:6-13) Once when the Israelites were fleeing from the Philistines, some hid themselves in the cisterns (waterpits), and on another occasion, Asa’s large cistern became a burial tomb for seventy bodies. (1 Sam. 13:6; Jer. 41:4-9) Because of their permanent nature, some cisterns served as geographical markers.—1 Sam. 19:22; 2 Sam. 3:26; 2 Ki. 10:14.

In two noteworthy passages, “cistern” is used figuratively, Jehovah says that people who have forsaken him to worship false gods have actually left “the source of living water, in order to hew out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that cannot contain the water.” (Jer. 2:13) Solomon, admonishing marital fidelity, said: “Drink water out of your own cistern.”—Prov. 5:15.

CITIES OF REFUGE

Jehovah’s law on the sanctity of blood was very explicit. The shedding of human blood polluted the land in which Jehovah was residing and it could be atoned for only by the blood of the one shedding it. (Gen. 9:5, 6; Num. 35:33, 34) So, in the case of a murderer, the blood of his victim was avenged and the law of ‘life for life’ was satisfied when the murderer was put to death “without fail” by the avenger of blood. (Ex. 21:23; Num. 35:21) But what about the unintentional manslayer, the one, for example, who killed his brother when the axhead accidentally flew off while chopping wood? (Deut. 19:4, 5) For such unfortunate ones Jehovah lovingly provided cities of refuge, six in number, where the accidental shedder of blood could find protection and asylum from the avenger of blood.—Num. 35:6-32; Josh. 20:2-9.

LOCATIONS

Before his death Moses appointed three of these cities E of the Jordan. The first, Bezer, in the S on the tableland of the territory that belonged to the tribe of Reuben, was E of the northern end of the Dead Sea; the second, Ramoth, in Gilead, belonged to the tribe of Gad and was about in the middle of the eastern section of Palestine; the third, Golan, in Bashan, was to the N in the territory of Manasseh. (Deut. 4:43; Josh. 21:27, 36, 38) After the Israelites crossed over to the W side of the Jordan, Joshua designated three more cities of refuge: Hebron, to the S in Judah’s territory; Shechem, in the central mountainous regions of Ephraim; and, to the N, Kedesh, in the territory of Naphtali, which was later known as the region of Galilee. (Josh. 21:13, 21, 32) All these cities were Levite cities and one, Hebron, was a priestly city. Additionally, because of being set aside as cities of refuge, they received a sacred status.—Josh. 20:7.

LEGAL PROCEDURE

Upon reaching a city of refuge the fugitive was to state his case to the older men at the city gate, to be received hospitably. To prevent willful murderers from taking cover under this provision, the fleeing one, after entering the city, had to stand trial at the city gates in the city having jurisdiction where the killing occurred, in order to prove his innocence. If found innocent, he was returned to the city of refuge. However, his safety could be guaranteed only if he remained in the city the rest of his life or until the death of the high priest. No ransom could be accepted to alter these terms. (Num. 35:22-29, 32; Josh. 20:4-6) Even Jehovah’s sacred altar provided no protection for murderers, as was illustrated in the case of Joab.—Ex. 21:14; 1 Ki. 1:50; 2:28-34; see AVENGER OF BLOOD.

How different, then, Jehovah’s arrangement for the protection of unintentional manslayers was from the so-called cities of refuge and other sanctuaries set up by ancient pagan nations and by Christendom’s churches down through the ages! Whereas the latter sanctuaries offered shelter for criminals of every sort along with the innocent, and thus encouraged wanton killing, Israel’s cities of refuge gave protection to only the innocent and then only under restrictions, and thus promoted respect for the sanctity of life.

[Map on page 352]

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Cities of Refuge

Kedesh

Golan

Ramoth

Shechem

Bezer

Hebron

Jordan River

CITIZEN, CITIZENSHIP

A citizen is a native-born or naturalized inhabitant of a city or state who is entitled to certain rights and privileges denied others, and who, in turn, assumes the responsibilities attached to such rights by the authorities granting the citizenship. In the Bible the terms “citizen” and “citizenship” occur only in the Christian Greek Scriptures.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, though the terms “citizen” and “citizenship” are not found, nevertheless, the concept of citizen and noncitizen is there in terms such as “native” and “alien resident.” (Lev. 24:22) Under the Mosaic Law arrangement the congregation was in reality the commonwealth into which aliens could, with certain restrictions, be admitted, there to enjoy many benefits common to the natural-born Israelites. Naturalization, it might be said, came when a male alien resident became circumcised, thus granting him the opportunity of fully entering into the greater privileges in Jehovah’s worship, even to the extent of participating in the annual Passover festival.—Ex. 12:43-49; Num. 9:14; see ALIEN RESIDENT; FOREIGNER.

Roman citizenship secured for a person special rights and immunities recognized and honored throughout the empire. For example, it was illegal to torture or scourge a Roman citizen for the purpose of extracting a confession from him, these forms of punishment being considered very servile and fit only for slaves. At Jerusalem, Roman soldiers rescued Paul from a Jewish mob. Paul did not at first identify himself as a Roman citizen, but when he was about to be scourged, he said to an army officer standing by: “Is it lawful for you men to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned?” “Well,” the account continues, “when the army officer heard this, he went to the military commander and made report, saying: ‘What are you intending to do? Why, this man is a Roman.’” When the truth of the matter was learned, immediately “the men that were about to examine him with torture withdrew from him; and the military commander became afraid on ascertaining that he was a Roman and that he had bound him.”—Acts 21:27-39; 22:25-29; see also Acts 16:37-40.

Another advantage and privilege enjoyed under Roman citizenship was the right to appeal the decision of a provincial governor to the emperor of Rome in cases of capital offense. So it was, when arguing his case before Festus, that Paul declared: “I am standing before the judgment seat of Caesar, where I ought to be judged. . . . no man can hand me over to [the Jews] as a favor. I appeal to Caesar!” (Acts 25:10-12) Once the right of appeal to Rome was claimed and requested, it could not be withdrawn. So after reviewing Paul’s case, King Agrippa II said to Festus: “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.”—Acts 26:32.

Roman citizenship could be obtained in a number of ways. Sometimes the emperors extended this special favor to whole cities or districts, or to individuals, for services rendered. It was also possible at times to purchase citizenship outright for a sum of money, this being the case with the military commander, Claudius Lysias, who told Paul: “I purchased these rights as a citizen for a large sum of money.” Many Jews possibly were granted Roman citizenship by Julius Caesar for their services rendered to the state during the Egyptian war. This may have been the way the Jewish father of ‘Saul of Tarsus’ (Paul) became a Roman citizen, an honor and distinction he passed on as a hereditary privilege to his son. For this reason Paul countered Claudius Lysias’ response of having purchased citizenship rights, saying, “But I was even born in them.”—Acts 13:7; 22:28; 23:26.