CHAPTER 12*<\/p>\n
The Last Act (vv. 1\u201351)<\/p>\n
This chapter is a very complex composition. It divides into a number of clearly differentiated literary units, each centering on various aspects of the Exodus events. Some of these units deal with immediate concerns, such as the last-minute preparations for the departure from Egypt; others relate to the enduring impact of the events in shaping the future course of Israel\u2019s life as a people. Appropriately, the entire complex is framed by the phrase \u201cthe whole community of Israel\u201d (vv. 3, 47). Another salient feature of this composition is the sevenfold repetition of the Hebrew stem sh-m-r, \u201cto observe, guard, preserve.\u201d There is considerable overlap among the various units but no exact duplication. The repetition amplifies the preceding data in various ways, either by the addition of explanatory material or by supplementary details or instructions. Without doubt, the chapter is a composite of several strands of tradition.<\/p>\n
1. in the land of Egypt The location is given because this chapter is an exception to the rule that all the laws were promulgated in the wilderness. The institution of the annual Passover celebration antedates the events it is to commemorate.<\/p>\n
THE REFORM OF THE CALENDAR (v. 2)<\/p>\n
The impending Exodus is visualized as the start of a wholly new order of life that is to be dominated by the consciousness of God\u2019s active presence in history. The entire religious calendar of Israel is henceforth to reflect this reality by numbering the months of the year from the month of the Exodus.<\/p>\n
This month Elsewhere termed \u201cthe month of Abib,\u201d1 literally \u201cwhen the ears of barley ripen,\u201d the spring (March\/April), now known as Nisan. In other words, the calendar is lunisolar, the lunar reckoning being accommodated to the needs of agricultural life.<\/p>\n
first of the months The Hebrew months, like the days of the week, are given in ordinal numbers. The absence of names for either is probably due to a desire to avoid any confusion with the polytheistic calendars that associate days and months with astral bodies or pagan deities and rituals. There is evidence that at least some months once had names, for the biblical sources refer to the months of Ziv, Ethanim, and Bul.2 The Hebrew month names now used by Jews were borrowed from the Babylonian calendar during the first exile.3<\/p>\n
THE PASCHAL OFFERING (vv. 3\u201313)<\/p>\n
The laws relating to the sacrificial meal that is to occur immediately before the Exodus are now set forth in elaborate detail.<\/p>\n
3. community of Israel Hebrew \u02bfedah is the premonarchic technical term for the people of Israel acting as a corporate political entity, a sort of people\u2019s assembly.4<\/p>\n
the tenth of this month The completion of the first decade of the lunar month apparently held some special significance. Yom Kippur, the most sacred day in the religious calendar, falls on the tenth of the seventh month, and in ancient times this same date ushered in the Jubilee year. Joshua chose the tenth of the first month to cross the Jordan.5<\/p>\n
a lamb As verse 5 and Deuteronomy 14:4 indicate, Hebrew seh covers both a lamb and a kid of the goats.6 In light of the assertion in 8:22, this act broke the code of fear enforced by the Egyptian bondage and thereby removed the psychological barrier to liberation. According to a tradition in Shabbat 87b, that day was a Sabbath, which is one of the reasons adduced for entitling the Sabbath before Passover \u201cthe Great Sabbath\u201d (Heb. shabbat ha-gadol).7<\/p>\n
a family Hebrew bet \u02beavot, literally \u201ca house of fathers,\u201d is a subunit of a tribe.8 It comprises a man, his wife or wives, unmarried daughters, and sons with their wives and unmarried children.<\/p>\n
a household The original festival was a domestic celebration. Later it became a pilgrimage festival held at the central sanctuary.9<\/p>\n
4. too small According to Josephus, a minimum quorum of ten participants was required for this ritual in Second Temple times.10 The actual slaughtering of the animal was performed in groups of no fewer than thirty.11<\/p>\n
in proportion to the number12<\/p>\n
will eat The consumption of the animal is an indispensable element of the ritual. By means of this sacrificial meal, kinship ties are strengthened, and family and neighborly solidarity is promoted, while communion with God is established.<\/p>\n
5. without blemish A defective gift is an insult to the recipient; hence, the harmony between the devotee and his God would be impaired by such a donation. The physical perfection of the sacrificial animal is therefore repeatedly demanded in the sacrificial regulations.13 An extension of this principle is the rabbinic precept of hiddur mitsvah, the obligation to perform an act designated a mitsvah in the most elegant and choice manner.14<\/p>\n
a yearling Rather, \u201cone within the first year\u201d of life. An animal is acceptable as an offering once it is eight days old.15<\/p>\n
6. keep watch The animal, selected on the tenth of the month, is to be carefully protected from blemish for four days until it is slaughtered. No reason for the interval is given. It may be an act of defiance of the Egyptians\u2014in light of 8:22\u2014and a time of testing for Israel.<\/p>\n
at twilight Hebrew bein ha-\u02bfarbayim16 literally means \u201cbetween the two settings.\u201d Rabbinic sources take this to mean \u201cfrom noon on.\u201d17 According to Radak,18 the first \u201csetting\u201d occurs when the sun passes its zenith just after noon and the shadows begin to lengthen, and the second \u201csetting\u201d is the actual sunset. Josephus testifies that the paschal lamb was slaughtered in the Temple between 3 and 5 P.M.19<\/p>\n
7. It is clear from verse 22 that the blood of the slaughtered lamb was first collected in a basin. According to verses 13 and 23, the daubing at the entrances served to identify the houses of the Israelites, for the blood is designated \u201ca sign.\u201d Blood was a readily available coloring substance; it also possessed symbolic significance because it was looked upon as the life essence.20 There is no warrant for the theory that it played a magic, apotropaic role, that is, as a means of averting or overcoming evil or danger. The deliverance of Israel is ascribed solely to divine decision.
\nThe lintel and doorposts form the demarcation between the sacred Israelite interior and the profane world outside.<\/p>\n
8\u20139. The roasting is an indispensable requirement21 either because it is the quickest means of preparation when time is short or because it is the most effective way of extracting the blood, the consumption of which is strictly forbidden.22<\/p>\n
unleavened bread Hebrew matsot (sing. matsah) is introduced without definition and without explanation. The implication, justified by biblical texts, is that matsah is already well known and, hence, a product independent of the Exodus events. The contexts suggest a kind of flat cake that can be speedily prepared for unexpected guests.23 The present verse witnesses the integration of the originally distinct matsot festival with the Passover celebration, on which see Comment to verses 14\u201320.<\/p>\n
bitter herbs Hebrew merorim (sing. maror) is a generic term and probably referred originally to the kind of pungent condiment with which pastoral nomads habitually season their meals of roasted flesh. Mishnah Pesa\u1e25im 2:6 specifies five kinds of herbs subsumed under the term maror. Traditionally, the preferred plant has been lettuce, in Hebrew \u1e25assah, a vegetable known to have been cultivated in ancient Egypt.24 This choice allows for word play with Hebrew \u1e25-w-s, \u201cto have compassion,\u201d one of the meanings of the root of pesa\u1e25 (Passover). According to Rabban Gamaliel, the maror is a tangible symbol of the bitterness of the servitude endured by the Israelites, as related in Exodus 1:14 (Heb. va-yemareru).25<\/p>\n
10. A sacrificial animal is devoted in its entirety to a sacred purpose. This is so even when the offering is of the kind that is eaten by the worshipers and not wholly burnt on the altar. The intentional act of eating at the designated time is an indispensable part of the ritual. Any leftovers (Heb. notar) retain their sacred status but can no longer be consumed and must therefore be burnt.26 In rabbinic terminology sacrificial flesh that the officiant even intended to eat beyond the allotted time is called piggul,27 \u201crepugnant, offensive,\u201d that is, to God.<\/p>\n
11. loins girded The standard dress consisted of a flowing shirtlike garment that was tightened by a sash wrapped around the waist when greater maneuverability was called for. Since the climactic moment of liberation is imminent, the Israelites must be ready for immediate departure.<\/p>\n
hurriedly Hebrew \u1e25ippazon expresses a sense of haste informed by anxiety. The noun is used only in connection with the Exodus.28 The prophet Isaiah (52:12) implicitly contrasts the future unhurried and unagitated redemption of Israel from exile with the circumstances of the Exodus: \u201cFor you will not depart in haste [\u1e25ippazon],\/Nor will you leave in flight.\u201d<\/p>\n
a passover offering Hebrew pesa\u1e25 has given birth to the English adjective \u201cpaschal,\u201d used to designate both the Passover lamb and Easter. Like matsah, pesa\u1e25 is assumed to be an immediately intelligible term, so it too must have a history antedating the Exodus. Three traditions about the meaning of the stem p-s-\u1e25 have survived.29 The oldest, and apparently the most reliable, is \u201cto have compassion\u201d;30 another is \u201cto protect\u201d;31 a third is \u201cto skip over.\u201d32 Although this last is the interpretation that has gained the widest currency, it is the least likely because the term was originally independent of the Exodus events. Strictly speaking, as noted below in the Comment to verses 14\u201320, only the fourteenth day of the month can be called pesa\u1e25, but in the course of time this term was extended to cover the entire week of the festival.<\/p>\n
to the LORD The frequency with which this modifier occurs with the paschal sacrifice33 reinforces the conclusion that a pre-Israelite technical term has been adapted, transformed, and monotheized\u2014and thus wholly disengaged from any previous association.<\/p>\n
12. I will go through An anthropomorphism, or ascription to God of human activity, in order to make His active Presence in history more vividly and dramatically perceived.34<\/p>\n
to all the gods of Egypt God\u2019s power to take Israel out of Egypt manifests His own exclusivity, mocks the professed divinity of the pharaoh, and exposes the deities of Egypt as nongods.35<\/p>\n
13. This first section of the chapter is rounded out with an assurance that no harm will befall the Israelites. This is needed because fulfillment of the foregoing instructions is fraught with peril, and the ensuing period of inaction engenders anxiety.<\/p>\n
when I see the blood See Comment to verse 7. Ba\u1e25ya ben Asher explains this as follows: \u201cThe blood does not thwart the plague nor does its absence occasion it. Scripture teaches that the one who had perfect faith and confidence in God, and was not perturbed by Pharaoh\u2019s terror and evil decree but publicly sacrificed what to Egypt was an abomination, and who daubed the blood of the paschal offering on the doorposts and lintels\u2014such a one was a righteous person, having confidence in God, and was worthy of divine protection from the plague and the destroyer.\u201d<\/p>\n
destroy you See Comment to verse 23.<\/p>\n
THE FESTIVAL OF MATSOT (vv. 14\u201320)<\/p>\n
The foregoing rites relate solely to the specific situation at that time\u2014the Passover of Egypt. In this section the events of the Exodus become an experience indelibly stamped for all time on Israel\u2019s memory and imagination, permanently shaping its religious consciousness and practice. Verse 14 establishes an annual commemorative festival; the succeeding verses explain how it is to be observed.
\nThe focus is on the festival of matsot, unleavened bread. Without doubt, throughout the biblical period this remained a distinct celebration separate from the one-day paschal rite. Witness the fact that the next chapter (13:6\u20138) features the laws of matsot without so much as a mention of the paschal sacrifice. Leviticus 23:5\u20136 similarly differentiates the one from the other: \u201cIn the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a passover offering to the LORD, and on the fifteenth day of that month the LORD\u2019s Feast of Unleavened Bread.\u201d During the Babylonian exile Ezekiel (45:21) likewise ordains: \u201cOn the fourteenth day of the first month you shall have the passover sacrifice; and during a festival of seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten.\u201d Finally, we are told in Ezra 6:19\u201322 that when the exiles returned from Babylon they \u201ccelebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month,\u201d and then \u201cjoyfully celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.\u201d36
\nThe paschal sacrifice is characteristically rooted in the life of the pastoral nomad who follows a lunar calendar; the matsah is grounded in the life of the soil and the farmer, which is governed by a solar calendar. Since the two festivals occurred in close propinquity to each other, and both coincided with the time of the Exodus, all three elements merged and were fused into a unified entity. The pre-Israelite ingredients were stripped of their former content and were invested with completely new associations and meanings connected with the events of the Exodus.<\/p>\n
14. remembrance Hebrew zikkaron involves action. See Comment to 2:24.<\/p>\n
throughout the ages Literally, \u201cfor your generations,\u201d that is, for future annual celebration. This is referred to in rabbinic parlance as pesa\u1e25 dorot. Mishnah Pesa\u1e25im 9:5 notes that the initial requirements\u2014to select the offering on the tenth day of the month, to daub the blood with hyssop on the lintel and doorposts, and to eat the meal in haste\u2014do not apply. In addition, in the future the celebration, with the prohibition on leaven, is to last seven days instead of the original one day.37<\/p>\n
15. The essential characteristics of the newly ordained festival are now set forth. These are specified as being one week\u2019s duration, the eating of matsot, and the removal of leaven.
\nBased on the emphasis \u201cat evening\u201d in the parallel description of verse 18, rabbinic interpretation understands that only on the first night is there a positive duty to eat matsah. For the rest of the week this is optional,38 although the independent prohibition on leaven remains in effect.<\/p>\n
unleavened bread Extraordinarily stringent regulations govern the manufacture of matsot. Their sole ingredients are flour and water. The flour may be made only from grains that are susceptible to fermentation. These are listed in Mishnah Pesa\u1e25im 2:539 as wheat, barley, emmer, rye, and oats, although in practice only wheat is used. The water to be mixed with the flour is first left standing overnight. Matsah shemurah, \u201ccarefully guarded matsah\u201d which many Jews use to fulfill the obligation to eat matsah on the first night of Passover, is made from flour milled from wheat that has been scrupulously supervised from the time of the harvesting on. Regular matsah is baked from wheat flour that has been specially milled for the purpose and has been carefully supervised from the time of milling through the baking. The entire manufacturing process from the kneading to completion must take no more than eighteen minutes, during which period the dough is continuously manipulated in order to retard fermentation. As a further precaution, perforation is applied to allow any bubbles of air to escape.<\/p>\n
on the very first day Since festivals commence in the evening,40 this injunction has traditionally been taken to mean that the leaven must have been removed prior to the time for the paschal offering on the fourteenth of the month.41<\/p>\n
remove leaven The positive command to eat matsah is supplemented by the strict prohibition on retaining or eating leaven or leavened food throughout the entire festival. This rule is repeated in verses 19\u201320 and again in 13:7.42 Leaven, Hebrew se\u02beor, is the leavening agent known as sourdough; \u201cleavened food,\u201d Hebrew \u1e25amets, is food to which sourdough has been added to accelerate the rising of the dough. The term traditionally also includes the above-mentioned five species of grain that are subject to fermentation as they decompose.43
\nNo reason is given for the prohibition on leaven. Verses 34 and 39 intimate that it is in reenactment of the original circumstances at the time of the Exodus, when the Israelites left Egypt in haste before the dough they had prepared had time to rise. However, since leaven is also forbidden with certain types of sacrifices that are wholly unconnected with the Passover, it must be banned on other grounds, perhaps because of its use in some pagan rite. In postbiblical times fermentation was associated with decomposition and decay and taken figuratively to symbolize moral and spiritual corruption.44
\nNo instructions are given as to the manner in which \u1e25amets is to be \u201cremoved.\u201d In Jewish law any food containing even a minute admixture of it must be disposed of at least two hours before noon on the eve of Passover. Thereafter, one may not own it, possess it, eat it, or derive any benefit from it. Immediately after dark on the night preceding the eve of the festival, a search for leaven, known in Hebrew as bedikat \u1e25amets, takes place\u2014even though the dwelling has previously been thoroughly swept and cleaned. Then a declaration of nullification is made over the residual leaven, which is burnt the following morning and again annulled. Another mode of disposal is by sale to a non-Jew (Heb. mekhirat \u1e25amets).<\/p>\n
shall be cut off There are thirty-six instances of this formula in the Torah, all listed in Mishnah Keritot 1:1. This punishment, known as [hik]karet in rabbinic parlance, is peculiar to ritual texts and is largely confined to offenses of a cultic and sexual nature. The Torah gives no definition of karet, and no analogy exists in Near Eastern sources. In most texts the impersonal, passive form of the verb is used, as here, so that not only the type of punishment but also the executive authority is uncertain. In Leviticus 20:1\u20136 the active first person is used with God as the subject of the verb: \u201cI will set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people.\u201d This reasonably presupposes that karet is not a penalty enforced by the courts but a punishment left to divine execution. Such is the understanding of the term in rabbinic literature, where it specifically means premature death and, according to some, also childlessness.45 Certainly the general idea is that one who deliberately excludes himself from the religious community of Israel cannot be a beneficiary of the covenantal blessings and thereby dooms himself and his line to extinction. See The JPS Torah Commentary to Leviticus, Excursus 1 and Numbers, Excursus 36.<\/p>\n
16. The first and last days of the festival possess special sanctity but not quite to the same degree as the Sabbath and Day of Atonement. The preparation of food on those particular days is exempted from the prohibition on performing labor; other leniencies pertain as well.46<\/p>\n
17. The rationale for the festival is now given.<\/p>\n
the [Feast of] Unleavened Bread This understanding of the Hebrew phrase as ellipsis is based on the ensuing expression \u201con this very day\u201d as well as on the parallel passage in 23:15.47 However, traditional Jewish interpretation is literal: \u201cguard the matsot,\u201d that is, supervise the process to ensure that no fermentation occurs.48<\/p>\n
I brought This is an example of the \u201cprophetic perfect.\u201d49 The future is described as having already occurred because God\u2019s will inherently and ineluctably possesses the power of realization so that the time factor is inconsequential.<\/p>\n
your ranks See Comment to 6:26.<\/p>\n
18. As specified in Leviticus 23:32, the duration of all festivals is from evening to evening.<\/p>\n
19\u201320. a stranger Hebrew ger is a foreigner who has taken up permanent residence in Israel. Like his fellow Israelite, he is required to abstain from possessing leaven for this one week because its presence within the closely knit community interferes with the ability of others to fulfill their religious obligation. But only the Israelite has the duty to eat matsah. See further verses 48\u201349.<\/p>\n
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PESA\u1e24 ARE RELAYED (vv. 21\u201328)<\/p>\n
Moses relays to the people the divinely given instructions and supplements them with some clarifications.<\/p>\n
21. Go, pick out Leka\u1e25 Tov and Abravanel construe the two verbs as alternatives: \u201cSelect a lamb from your flock if you possess one; otherwise, purchase one.\u201d<\/p>\n
22. a bunch of hyssop This explains how the directive of verse 7 is to be carried out. Three of the hyssop\u2019s thin, woody branches make an ideal applicator. It is often so used in purificatory rites.50<\/p>\n
the basin This is how Rabbi Akiba understood Hebrew saf. It has much philological support.51 The Septuagint, however, translates \u201cthreshold,\u201d which is also the rendering of Rabbi Ishmael. It too can be sustained,52 but it implies that the paschal offering was actually slaughtered at the entrance to the house and that the entire doorframe was daubed with its blood. The absence of any mention of the threshold in verses 7 and 23 favors Rabbi Akiba\u2019s interpretation.<\/p>\n
None \u2026 shall go outside On this night of danger and vigilance, the security of the Israelites lay in maintaining family solidarity within the portals of their hallowed homes.<\/p>\n
23. the Destroyer The plague, although personified, is not an independent demonic being. It can only operate within the limits fixed by God.53<\/p>\n
24. observe this As Ramban notes, the reference is to the slaughtering of the Passover offering, not to the daubing of the blood.<\/p>\n
25. when you enter the land Apart from the celebration on the first anniversary of the Exodus, as described in Numbers 9:1\u20135, no further mention of the actual observance of Passover appears in the account of the wilderness wanderings until after the crossing of the river Jordan, as recorded in Joshua 5:1\u201312.<\/p>\n
as He has promised To the patriarchs. See Comment to 6:8.<\/p>\n
26\u201327. The ritual has a pedagogic function. Its peculiarities arouse the curiosity of children and so afford the opportunity to impart knowledge of the national traditions to the young.<\/p>\n
27. our houses The passage of time never diminishes the contemporaneity of the events. The national culture is nurtured by the memory of them and by their continual reenactment, a theme stressed in the Passover Haggadah.<\/p>\n
28. The reference is to the selection, guarding, and slaughtering of the lamb and to the application of its blood.<\/p>\n
THE TENTH PLAGUE (vv. 29\u201336)<\/p>\n
All preparations having been completed, the stage is set for the anticipated climactic plague that will finally secure the release of Israel from Egyptian bondage.54 The Torah recognizes societal responsibility; thus, the entire Egyptian people is subject to judgment for having tolerated the inflexibly perverse will of the pharaoh.<\/p>\n
29. See Comment to 11:5.<\/p>\n
30\u201332. The king himself has to rise during the night, thereby compounding his humiliation at having to surrender unconditionally to Moses\u2019 demands. By summoning Moses and Aaron, he must retract the arrogant threat made at their last meeting (10:28). For him to seek their blessing is thus the ultimate humbling of the despot.<\/p>\n
31. the Israelites Pharaoh uses this term for the first time, thereby granting recognition at last to Israel as a national entity. The story of the oppression, which opened with this term (1:1), now closes with it.<\/p>\n
34. before it was leavened In verse 39 this note is amplified in such a way as to provide a clear, if implicit, explanation for the eating of matsot on Passover. A similar reason is given in Deuteronomy 16:3: \u201cYou shall eat unleavened bread, bread of distress\u2014for you departed from the land of Egypt hurriedly.\u201d That statement is intelligible only in light of the two verses in the present chapter. Since the eating of the matsot was ordained and presumably carried out before the tenth plague struck (v. 8), the present rationale is a reinterpretation, transformation, and historicization of a preexisting practice.55<\/p>\n
THE EXODUS (vv. 37\u201342)<\/p>\n
37. Rameses This city served as the assembly point for the departing Israelites. For its location, see Comment to 1:11.<\/p>\n
Succoth This is apparently Egyptian Tjeku, mentioned on several monuments and in a hieroglyphic papyrus. It is said to have been a day\u2019s journey from the royal palace at Rameses. Tjeku was the capital of the eighth nome of Lower Egypt in the eastern part of the Delta. The region is known to have served as pastureland for Semitic tribes and was the usual Egyptian gateway to and from Asia.<\/p>\n
six hundred thousand This figure would yield a total Israelite population of over two million souls, a number that poses intractable problems. True, it reflects the phenomenal growth referred to in chapter 1, for over a sufficiently long period the original seventy adult male immigrants56 could have increased to that number. Further, the demographic data given for the forty years of the wilderness wanderings are more or less internally consistent and accord with this figure.57 Nevertheless, serious questions may be raised in relation to an estimated total Egyptian population of four to five million in the fourteenth century B.C.E., and in view of the inability of either the eastern part of the Nile Delta or the peninsula of Sinai to sustain such a vast population with water and food. There is, further, the logistics involved in moving two million people together with their cattle and herds across the Sea of Reeds with the Egyptian chariots in hot pursuit.
\nIn response to these problems, it has been suggested that Hebrew \u02beelef, usually rendered \u201cthousand,\u201d here means a \u201cclan\u201d58 or that it signifies a small military unit\u2014the number of fighting men levied from each tribe.59 Another theory construes the total number as envisaging the Israelite population at the close of the \u201cExodus era,\u201d60 which culminated with the completion of the Temple by King Solomon: 600,000 adult males would be a realistic statistic for this period.<\/p>\n
38. a mixed multitude Varied groups of forced laborers seem to have taken advantage of the confused situation and fled the country with the Israelites. Ibn Ezra identified them with the people referred to as \u201criffraff\u201d in Numbers 11:4.61<\/p>\n
40\u201341. This historical summation does not exactly accord with the four hundred years of Egyptian oppression predicted in Genesis 15:13. The Mekhilta62 resolves the discrepancy by attributing the thirty-year difference to the interval between God\u2019s covenant with Abraham and the birth of Isaac, although the text speaks clearly enough only of the Egyptian episode. The inclusion of the sojourn in Canaan in the computation is explicit in the texts of the Samaritan recension and Septuagint translation. The variant in this latter is noted in rabbinic sources.63 Ibn Ezra begins the reckoning with the departure of Abraham from Haran for Canaan. And, in fact, exactly two hundred and fifteen years elapsed between that event and Jacob\u2019s migration to Egypt,64 yielding the same time span for the stay of the Israelites in Egypt. This kind of symmetry follows a pattern well established in the patriarchal narratives and elsewhere in the Book of Genesis.65 Thus, Abraham lived seventy-five years in the home of his father and seventy-five years in the lifetime of his son Isaac. He was one hundred years of age at the birth of Isaac, and he lived one hundred years in Canaan. Jacob lived seventeen years with Joseph in Canaan and a like period with him in Egypt. Ten generations separated Noah from Adam, and another ten generations, Abraham from Noah. In the light of these facts it may be that the neatly balanced periods of time are intended to be rhetorical rather than literal; that is, they underline the biblical ideal of history as the fulfillment of God\u2019s deliberate design. In the world view of the Bible, history cannot be merely a series of disconnected and haphazard incidents.<\/p>\n
42. The final night in Egypt is described as one of vigil for both God and Israel. It was one that God, so to speak, watched over, having long designated it to be the night of redemption.66 In turn, it was a night that Israel was enjoined to safeguard for all time. According to a talmudic interpretation, it was \u201ca night ever under protection from malevolent beings.\u201d67 Later Jewish history gave this particular exposition of the text an ironically tragic twist, for throughout Christian Europe in the Middle Ages, and in many lands even into the twentieth century, the night of Passover became a night of anguished vigil for Jews on account of the \u201cblood accusation,\u201d the monstrous fabrication that Jews use Christian blood for the Passover rites. As a consequence of this calumny, the frenzied masses, incited by the clergy, would perpetrate bloody pogroms against Jews, and the night of vigil became a night of vigilance against malevolent human beings.<\/p>\n
EXCLUSIONARY REGULATIONS (vv. 43\u201349)<\/p>\n
This final section bears its own caption: \u201cThe Law of the Passover.\u201d It largely defines who is ineligible to celebrate the festival, with primary emphasis on the practice of circumcision. Being the physical token of God\u2019s covenant68 and a symbol of consecration and commitment to a life lived in the consciousness of that covenant, it is the indispensable prerequisite for those who participate in the paschal offering.69
\nThus the emphasis on the importance of that rite frames the story of Israel\u2019s redemption from Egyptian slavery. This emphasis was forcefully expressed in 4:24\u201326, when Moses set out to return to Egypt to commence his mission of liberation, and it is now stressed once again at the moment of the successful fulfillment of that mission.<\/p>\n
43. foreigner Hebrew ben nekhar is a non-Israelite who resides in the land temporarily, usually for purposes of commerce.70 He does not profess the religion of Israel and does not identify with the community\u2019s historical experiences. He is therefore exempted from the religious obligations and restrictions imposed on Israelites.71 It is to be noted that an invocation for foreigners is included in King Solomon\u2019s prayer at the dedication of the Temple.72 Rabbinic interpretation, based on the literal meaning of nekhar, \u201calienation,\u201d extended the exclusionary rule to a Jew who has apostatized73 and thereby alienated himself from the community of Israel.<\/p>\n
44. The privately owned slave, once circumcised in accordance with the law of Genesis 17:12\u201313, is treated as a member of the family and may participate in the Passover.74<\/p>\n
45. bound or hired laborer Two categories of non-Israelite wage earners who do not have the status of members of a household.75<\/p>\n
46. in one house This logically connects with the preceding verses, which stress that only those included within a household may participate. None may leave the house because every Israelite must be accounted for and accessible when the signal is given to depart.<\/p>\n
not break a bone Presumably, to suck out the marrow. Baal Ha-Turim suggests that such behavior would imply that they were still hungry, even though the Passover meal should have been completely satisfying.<\/p>\n
48\u201349. These instructions relate unmistakably to the situation envisaged in verse 25. The stranger in Israel enjoyed numerous rights and privileges, such as the benefits of the Sabbath rest, the protection afforded by the cities of refuge, and access to a share of certain tithes and to the produce of the Sabbatical year.76 He could offer sacrifices if he so pleased77 and could even participate in religious festivals. He was also obligated to refrain from certain actions that undermined the social, moral, and spiritual well-being of the dominant society, such as immorality, idolatry, blasphemy, and the consumption of blood.78 He was not required to celebrate the Passover; but if he desired to do so, and thus identify himself and his family with the national experience of Israel, he had first to submit to circumcision.79 Having done so, no discrimination between him and the citizen was allowed.80 Just like an uncircumcised non-Israelite, so an uncircumcised Israelite also was excluded.81<\/p>\n
50. This refers to the eating of the paschal offering.<\/p>\n
51. A resumptive repetition of verse 41. It picks up the narrative of verses 37\u201341 following the digression concerning ritual regulations. The Masoretic scribal division seems to reflect a tradition that connects the verse to the following chapter, indicating that the ensuing law of the first-born was promulgated on the very day of the Exodus. Rashbam, Ibn Ezra, and Ralbag all construe the verse in this manner.<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 13<\/p>\n
Commemorative Rituals (vv. 1\u201316)<\/p>\n
This section continues the process of historicizing existing institutions by reinterpreting them in terms of the Exodus experiences. The revitalized ancient rituals, now charged with new historical meaning, serve to perpetuate the memory of those events by making them living realities for succeeding generations.
\nIn this section, the key to the association of topics\u2014historical and natural events\u2014is the coincidence of the liberation from Egypt with the spring (v. 4), the season of nature\u2019s rebirth. It is the time of the new barley harvest and the season when animals begin their reproductive cycle.<\/p>\n
THE INSTALLATION OF THE FIRST-BORN (vv. 1\u20132)<\/p>\n
1. This simple formula always introduces some specific instruction given to Moses personally\u2014a communication not relayed to the people. It usually requires that he initiate some action1\u2014in this instance, the consecration of the first-born.<\/p>\n
2. In many ancient cultures the miracle of new life was considered to be a divine gift. It was widely believed that the first fruits of the soil, of animal fecundity, and of human fertility were endowed by nature with intrinsic holiness. The present instruction to Moses to consecrate the first-born may therefore be a polemic against such pagan notions. The first-born belongs to God solely by reason of an act of divine will decreed at the time of the Exodus and not on account of any inherent sanctity. Their status is dissociated completely from the then contemporary ideas and practices.
\nIt is explicitly related in Numbers 3:12 and 8:16, 18 that in the course of the wilderness wanderings the Levites supplanted the first-born in assuming priestly and ritual functions. It may therefore be safely inferred that Moses is here instructed to install the first-born to fulfill priestly duties. Mishnah Zeva\u1e25im 14:4 expresses the developments this way: \u201cBefore the creation of the Tabernacle, shrines (Heb. bamot) were permitted, and the worship was performed by the first-born; once the Tabernacle was erected, the shrines were prohibited, and the worship was performed by the priests [of the tribe of Levi].\u201d<\/p>\n
Consecrate to Me This instruction usually involves both a purificatory rite and an induction ceremony. The former requires bathing, laundering of clothes, and abstention from ritual defilement on the part of the initiate. The latter entails an investiture performed by a superior.2<\/p>\n
beast Verse 12 restricts the requirement to the male animal, which would more likely be expendable, since animal breeding requires many females and few males.
\nNothing is stated concerning the law of the first fruits of the soil because they cannot be connected with the events of the tenth plague and the Exodus itself, but only with the conquest and settlement of the land. They are treated in later texts.3<\/p>\n
the first issue of every womb According to Ba\u1e25ya ben Asher, the first-born of the mother rather than of the father is dedicated because paternity cannot be proved.<\/p>\n
THE LAW OF MATSOT AND TEFILLIN (vv. 3\u201310)<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s liberation from Egypt is to be an event that is indelibly imprinted upon its memory, individually and collectively. A set of symbols is created to actualize the experiences.<\/p>\n
3. Remember See Comment to 2:24.<\/p>\n
this day The fifteenth of the first month.<\/p>\n
the house of bondage Literally, \u201chouse of slaves.\u201d4 This designation for Egypt, frequent in Deuteronomy, gives voice to the particular experience of Israel in that land. It may derive from the Egyptian practice of settling the labor gangs in workmen\u2019s villages in proximity to the site of the project for which they were conscripted. These villages were wholly enclosed by walls. One such has been uncovered at Deir el-Medinah, near Thebes. It served the laborers engaged in the construction of royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. To the Israelite conscripts, such a village may have appeared to be a gigantic \u201cslave house.\u201d<\/p>\n
no leavened bread Denying oneself all benefit from anything containing leaven during Passover is one means by which the command to \u201cremember\u201d is fulfilled.<\/p>\n
5. See Comment to 3:8.<\/p>\n
practice Hebrew \u02bfavodah is word play on \u201cbondage\u201d in verse 3.5 Service of God in freedom in Israel\u2019s own land is contrasted with the service to the pharaoh in Egyptian slavery.<\/p>\n
6. Another commemorative stratagem, this one a positive action: the eating of matsot.<\/p>\n
the seventh day By tradition it was on the seventh day of the Exodus that the pursuing Egyptians drowned in the Sea of Reeds. The emphasis here\u2014before the Exodus\u2014on the special character of the seventh day6 disengages it from any celebration of Egypt\u2019s defeat.<\/p>\n
7. See Comment to 12:15.<\/p>\n
8. you shall explain Not necessarily in response to any question.7 The parent must take the initiative in instructing the children. From Hebrew ve-higgadta comes Haggadah, the title of the book containing the rituals and readings for the Passover night ceremonials.<\/p>\n
9. As Rashbam recognized, the idea is that observance of the foregoing precepts possesses the same commemorative function in relation to the Exodus as do physical memory-aiding devices placed on the hand and head.8 Traditionally, the verse has been interpreted as instituting the tefillin (commonly rendered \u201cphylacteries\u201d in English), the wearing of which is incumbent upon adult Jewish males during the weekday morning prayers. See Excursus 5.<\/p>\n
your hand Which one is not specified. Tradition takes it as referring to the left arm.9<\/p>\n
forehead Literally, \u201cbetween your eyes\u201d; the Hebrew has always been interpreted to refer to the forehead. This is confirmed by Deuteronomy 14:1 and by the context of an Ugaritic passage in which the same phrase appears.10<\/p>\n
Teaching of the LORD Hebrew torat YHVH. While this first appearance of this biblical phrase cannot yet refer to the canonized Torah, it does presuppose a fixed text that can be memorized and recited.11<\/p>\n
THE REDEMPTION OF THE FIRST-BORN (vv. 11\u201316)<\/p>\n
Verse 2 ordained the immediate consecration of the first-born. This section deals with the treatment of the first-born following settlement in the promised land. The animal firstling is to retain its status and so belong to God, but the priestly status of the human first-born is to be revoked and their functions taken over by the tribe of Levi. Hence, first-born sons are to be desacralized by \u201credemption,\u201d which explains why this section does not immediately follow verse 2.<\/p>\n
12. set apart Hebrew le-ha\u02bfavir le- denotes transference of property.12<\/p>\n
issue of the womb A first-born by cesarean section is thus exempt from the redemption requirement.13<\/p>\n
your cattle drop The Hebrew stem sh-g-r is used in biblical Hebrew only as a noun form sheger (construct shegar). In Aramaic the stem means \u201cto cast, throw\u201d; hence, the present translation. Elsewhere in the Torah the noun always appears in the phrase shegar \u02bealafeikha, \u201cthe calving of your herd,\u201d and always in parallel with \u02bfashterot tso\u02benekha, \u201cthe lambing of your flock.\u201d14 \u02bfAshterot (construct pl.; sing, \u02bfashtoret) can be traced back to the name of the Canaanite goddess15 of generation and fecundity, identified with the Mesopotamian Ishtar and the Greek Astarte (the latter assimilated to the goddess Aphrodite). This makes it likely that the parallel sheger, too, is a term for fertility that is derived from the name of a fertility deity. Indeed, shgr as a divine name appears in a Punic personal name from Carthage, \u02bfbdshgr, \u201cServant of Shgr,\u201d and has turned up in a list of gods from Ugarit following \u02bf\u1e6ftr (Ishtar). Moreover, in the Balaam inscription from Deir \u02bfAlla in Jordan, a deity shgr occurs together with \u02bfshtr.16 There is no doubt that Hebrew sheger is a pagan divine name\u2014the origin of which was lost in Israel\u2014that was used as a metaphor for fecundity.<\/p>\n
13. firstling ass This is the only ritually unclean animal that needs to be redeemed,17 in this case by giving a priest a sheep as a replacement. The ass was the standard means of transport and a beast of burden for nomadic peoples. As Ibn Ezra observes, it was most likely the only unclean domestic animal possessed by the Israelites in Egypt. The present instruction is repeated in 34:20.<\/p>\n
break its neck Because the owner deprives the priest of a sheep by refusing to redeem the ass, he himself is denied the use of that animal.18 In rabbinic tradition the \u201cbreaking of the neck\u201d was performed by a blow from behind with a hatchet.19 The reason for this exceptional form of slaughter is to avoid the appearance of performing a sacrifice of an unclean animal.<\/p>\n
redeem every first-born male The mode of redemption is not given, presupposing some familiar and established practice. Numbers 18:16 makes clear that a payment of five silver shekels is to be made to the priest when the first-born is a month old.20 The ceremony of pidyon ha-ben, \u201credemption of the [first-born] son,\u201d continues to this day. It is performed on the thirty-first day of life, unless it is a Sabbath or holy day, in which case it is postponed until the following day. It is the father\u2019s duty to have his son redeemed. Should he neglect to do so, the son is obligated to redeem himself on reaching the age of maturity. The son of a Kohen or Levite or of the daughter of a Kohen or Levite married to a Jew is exempt, as is one born by cesarean section.
\nThe details of the ceremony are set forth in the traditional Jewish prayer book. It is customary nowadays to use special \u201credemption coins\u201d minted for the purpose by the State of Israel.<\/p>\n
14. See Comment to verse 8.<\/p>\n
in time to come Hebrew ma\u1e25ar, usually \u201ctomorrow,\u201d sometimes refers to the indefinite future.21<\/p>\n
this The ceremony of redemption.22<\/p>\n
15. The \u201cmighty hand\u201d (v. 14) is explained as referring to the slaying of the Egyptian first-born.<\/p>\n
16. See Comment to verse 9.<\/p>\n
a symbol Hebrew totefet (pl. totafot) has not been satisfactorily explained. The term replaces zikkaron, \u201ca reminder,\u201d of verse 9, and it appears again in the same context in Deuteronomy 6:8 and 11:18. In Mishnaic Hebrew it denotes a head ornament of some kind,23 explained in the Gemara as encompassing a woman\u2019s head from ear to ear.24 An alternative explanation cited there is \u201ca charm containing balsam,\u201d25 apparently worn as an amulet to ward off the evil eye.26 In Aramaic totafta\u02be is the Targum\u2019s equivalent for Hebrew pe\u02beer, \u201ca turban,\u201d in Ezekiel 24:17, 23,27 and also for Hebrew \u02beets\u02bfadah, \u201can armlet,\u201d in 2 Samuel 1:10. The Arabic stem \u1e6d\u0101fa, \u201cto go around, encircle,\u201d may underlie the term.<\/p>\n
The Exodus (13:17\u201314:31)<\/p>\n
INTO THE WILDERNESS (vv. 17\u201322)<\/p>\n
Beshalla\u1e25<\/p>\n
The narrative, which was interrupted at 12:42, now continues.<\/p>\n
17. let \u2026 go The Hebrew verb shilla\u1e25 is richly allusive. First, it reconnects with 12:33. Second, it carries the double juridical sense of divorce and of emancipation of a slave28 and is highly evocative. Finally, because shilla\u1e25 is the key term in each of the three divine promises of redemption given to Moses, its presence here intimates their fulfillment.29<\/p>\n
God \u2026 lead them Not Moses but God is the supreme actor.30<\/p>\n
by way of the land of the Philistines The shortest land route from the Nile Delta to Canaan. It was the southern segment of the thousand-mile (1,600 km.) international artery of transportation that led up to Megiddo, into Asia Minor, and then on to Mesopotamia. Beginning at the Egyptian fortress city of Tjaru (Sile), the highway followed the shoreline fairly closely, except where the shifting sand dunes and the land formation dictated otherwise.31 The army of Thutmose III took ten days to cover the 150-mile (240 km.) distance to Gaza. The Egyptian name for this part of the road was the \u201cWays of Horus\u201d; it was the standard route followed by the pharaohs for incursions into Asia, and the pharaohs were considered to be the living embodiments on earth of the god Horus.
\nThe \u201cland of the Philistines\u201d is the name given here to the stretch of territory in Canaan alongside the highway\u2014and the descriptive \u201cSea of Philistia\u201d in 23:31 is used for the section of the Mediterranean adjacent to it. These terms testify to the dominant role later played by the Philistines in that part of the country. This people is first mentioned in historical records from the time of Ramses III (1183\u20131152 B.C.E.). They were one of a confederacy of \u201csea peoples\u201d who invaded Egypt in the eighth year of that king\u2019s reign. They may have been among earlier waves of invaders who apparently came from the regions of Mycenae in Crete; their ultimate origin is unknown. Repulsed by Ramses III, the Philistines settled along the southern coastal plain of Canaan and, at first, became mercenaries of the Egyptian administration.32<\/p>\n
a change of heart Preferring Egyptian slavery to war.33<\/p>\n
when they see war Since the days of Pharaoh Seti I (ca. 1305\u20131290 B.C.E.), the coastal road to Canaan had been heavily fortified by the Egyptians. A chain of strongholds, way stations, reservoirs, and wells dotted the area as far as Gaza, the provincial capital. Many of these are pictured in great detail in the reliefs on the exterior of the walls of the temple of Amun at Karnak in the plain of Thebes, and they are also mentioned in Egyptian papyri.34 Excavations at Deir el-Bala\u1e25, in the Gaza strip, unearthed an Egyptian garrison fortress, the components of which bear a striking correspondence to those on the Karnak reliefs.35
\nIt is quite clear that it was the better part of wisdom for the Israelites to have avoided the \u201cway of the land of the Philistines.\u201d They thereby avoided having to contend with the strongly entrenched Egyptian forces on what would have been hopelessly unequal terms.<\/p>\n
18. by way of the wilderness This must refer to one of the ancient, natural tracks that traverse the Sinai peninsula. The vagueness of the designation and the inability to identify and locate most of the many wilderness stations recorded in the Torah36 make it impossible to chart the route followed by the departing Israelites.<\/p>\n
Sea of Reeds The literal translation of Hebrew yam suf; not the Red Sea, which is more than 120 miles (192 km.) from the probable site of Goshen, too great a distance to cover even in a week in those days. Further, Hebrew suf is derived from the Egyptian for the papyrus reed,37 which grows in fresh water; therefore, yam suf would not be an appropriate designation for the present Red Sea because the latter is saline and, as a consequence, does not favor the growth of that plant.38 Since no lack of water is experienced until after the crossing of the yam suf, it may be surmised that this initial stage of the march took the Israelites to the far northeastern corner of Egypt, to one of the lagoons near the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n
armed Hebrew \u1e25amush(im) is apparently a military term meaning \u201cequipped for battle.\u201d39 See Comment to 6:26.<\/p>\n
19. Joseph\u2019s dying request is implemented. The text reproduces almost verbatim his words as given in Genesis 50:25. The Mekhilta notes that while the other Israelites were busy plundering the Egyptians, Moses was preoccupied with disinterring Joseph and keeping faith with him. Joshua 24:32 records the reburial of Joseph in Shechem.<\/p>\n
20. Succoth See Comment to 12:37.<\/p>\n
Etham The site, mentioned again in Numbers 33:6\u20138, has not been identified; nor is the distance between it and Succoth given.<\/p>\n
21\u201322. A theme that recurs in the narratives of the wilderness wanderings is that God manifested his active, dynamic Presence throughout. This is conceptualized in accordance with the idea that the God of the Hebrew Bible is a Being who transcends the limits of time and space, and thus surpasses human imagining. Hence, God\u2019s indwelling Presence in the world is symbolized, however inadequately, by the mysterious, intangible, incorporeal elements of fire and cloud\u2014actually a diaphanous, luminescent mist visible both by day and by night.40 In these verses it functions to escort and guide the people through the untamed wilderness.41 In other texts its movements signal the journeying and encamping of the people,42 and it also provides a protective screen for the imperiled Israelites.43 It should be noted that although God is portrayed as speaking \u201cfrom the midst of the cloud,\u201d as in Exodus 24:16, this should always be understood as figurative language. There is never a question of His actually residing inside the cloud or being identified with it, as is clear from Exodus 19:20, when God \u201ccame down\u201d upon Mount Sinai after it had been enveloped in cloud (v. 16).44<\/p>\n
21. The LORD went Hebrew holekh is a participle, suggesting continuous occurrence. Verse 22 emphasizes the uninterrupted nature of the manifested Divine Presence.<\/p>\n