286 – עֳנִי signifying affliction; עֲנִי one humbled by affliction and
so, it was inferred, brought to obedience.
287 – Baehr on Herod. ii. 37. quotes with apparent approval
Wesseling’s opinion that in fact, though Herodotus does
not expressly state it, among the Egyptians only the
priests and those initiated in the mysteries received
circumcision. It is to this perhaps that S. Ambrose is
here alluding. See also the art. on ‘Circumcision’ in
Smith’s Dict. of the Bible.