The Mishnah teaches (Nedarim 31b): Rabbi Yishmael said: "Great is the mitzvah of milah for thirteen covenants were made over it. (The word "covenant" appears 13 times in connection with circumcision.)"

Rabbi Yosi said: "Great is the mitzvah of milah for it supercedes the severity of shabbat, (i.e. when the eighth day after birth is shabbat we perform the milah on that day, despite its necessitating many types of work that would otherwise be forbidden)."

Rabbi Yehoshua said: "Great is the mitzvah of milah for Moses was not given even an hour to delay it."

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha said: "Great is the mitzvah of milah for all the good deeds of Moses did not protect him when he delayed the milah (of his son Eliezer), as it says (Exodus, 4:24): ‘And G-d encountered him and sought to put him to death.’"

Rabbi Nechemia said: "Great is the mitzvah of milah for it overrides the laws of "Nega’im". (Nega’im are spiritual blemishes that are manifest in skin defects. Although it is strictly forbidden to remove such skin, if the effected skin is on the sight of the milah, we perform the milah despite the fact that it is resulting in the removal of the blemish.)

And Rebbi said: "Great is the mitzvah of milah because despite all of our forefather Abraham’s good deeds, he was still not called a complete person until he performed milah upon himself, as it says, only after his circumcision: ‘Walk before Me and be complete.’"

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