I am trying to get to the bottom of what the word מהול means in the context of being circumcised.
I can't find it used in Mishna or Talmud, but by the Rishonim and Medrashim it is commonly used to mean someone who was circumcised. I did not search gaonic works.
My question is twofold. If there is a dikduk reason, and this is simply a version of מילה, I'm curious what the rule is and why the word was seemingly never used by chazzal.
Possibly the word implies something else. Here are a couple of suggestions.
In Nach the word is found in Yeshaya 1 22 where Rashi comments:
מהול מעורב ואין לו דמיון במקרא ומ''א פותר לשחוק אמרתי מהולל ( קהלת ב' ב' ) מעורבב :
Which would work as far as the person with the mila is now mixed into society.
In maseches דמאי the phrase מחל ושותה is used which Bartenura in one explenation ties back to that verse in Yeshaya and says מיחל is the same as מיהל and it means מוזג. I guess that is similar enough to Rashi.
This is all just a suggestion. My question stands as what is the source and meaning to the usage of this word in this context.
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