Why the Eighth Day?

59 So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. 60 His mother answered and said, "No; he shall be called John."

The Bible is an amazing book. Over 2,000 times it claims divine inspiration with wording such as "Thus says the Lord." The godly delight in Scripture, but the skeptic reads the Bible without delight. He consumes the Word of God like a man (with serious psychological problems) eats fish. He pushes aside that which would benefit him, and instead swallows the bones. No wonder he chokes on almost every page.

But for those who love and trust God, the Bible is an encouraging source of sustenance. Take for instance the fact that John the Baptist was circumcised on the eighth day. The procedure (whether you think it barbaric or not) was done on that particular day for a reason. In Genesis 17:12, God specifically told Abraham to circumcise newborn males on the eighth day. Why did He choose the eighth day? Why not the seventh or the ninth?

In recent years scientists have discovered that vitamin K is responsible for the production prothrombin. If the vitamin is deficient there will be a prothrombin deficiency and hemorrhaging may occur. It has been discovered that only on the fifth through the seventh days of the newborn male’s life, that vitamin K is present in adequate quantities. Without it and prothrombin, the blood will not clot. It was Holt and McIntosh, in, Holt Pediatrics, who said that an infant has "peculiar susceptibility to bleeding between the second and fifth days of life.... Hemorrhages at this time, though often inconsequential, are sometimes extensive; they may produce serious damage to internal organs, especially to the brain, and cause death from shock and exsanguination" (1953, pp. 125-126).

Obviously, then, if vitamin K is not produced in sufficient quantities until days five through seven, it would be wise to postpone any surgery until some time after that. So why did God instruct Abraham to perform circumcision on day eight? It was because on the eighth day, the amount of prothrombin present is elevated above one-hundred percent of normal—and is the only day in the male’s life in which this will be the case under normal conditions. It is then that vitamin K and prothrombin levels are at their peak, and scientists didn't discover this until recent years.

To the skeptic, this isn’t the slightest indication that the Book he is reading is divinely inspired. Such a thought is pushed side in preference for more bones upon which he may choke. But to the godly, such a truth is no big deal. It’s just another tasty piece of information in his daily meal of the wonderful Word of God.