1
Barnabas turns to circumcision.
2
He argues that the deepest circumcision is of hearing and heart.
3
He gathers prophetic commands to hear, give ear, and circumcise the hardness of the heart.
4
He says outward circumcision alone cannot be the seal of covenant because Syrians, Arabians, Mitsrayim, and others also practice circumcision.
5
He then presents a Greek-letter interpretation of Avraham's three hundred and eighteen circumcised household members.
6
He reads the number eighteen through the Greek letters iota-eta as an abbreviation of the name of Yahushua, and three hundred through tau as the shape of the execution-tree.
7
This interpretation depends explicitly on Greek letter-number symbolism and is therefore a later Hellenistic interpretive layer, not an Ivrit derivation from Bereshiyt.
8
He says he offers it because he believes the readers are capable of receiving the interpretation.