Three Festivals

(Deuteronomy 16:1 - 16:17)

"To honor Jehovah your god celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the month of Abib [Nisan], for it was in the month of Abib that Jehovah your god brought you out of Egypt in the dead of night.  You should offer to Jehovah your god a sacrifice from the flock or the herd at a place of worship where Jehovah has chosen that his name should be honored.  You should eat with it no bread that is leavened.  For 7 days you should eat unleavened bread as you did when you departed Egypt in haste, for this is the bread of affliction, to remind you all the days of your life the time of your exodus from Egypt.  Throughout the land let there be no yeast in your possession for 7 days.  Let no meat you have sacrificed on the 1st day remain uneaten by the following morning.  You may not make the Passover sacrifice in the towns that Jehovah your god is giving to you: it must be offered only at a place of worship where Jehovah has chosen that his name should be honored.  Sacrifice it there at dusk when the sun is setting, the time when you began your exodus from Egypt.  You must cook it and eat it at the place that Jehovah your god will choose.  In the morning you may return home to your tents.  For the next 6 days you must not eat any leavened bread.  Then, on the 7th day, hold a sacred assembly and do no work on that day.

"Count off 7 weeks from the time you begin to harvest the standing grain.  Then you will celebrate the Harvest Festival to honor Jehovah your god.  You must bring to his altar voluntary offerings proportionate to the blessings you have received from him.  Celebrate before the altar at the place of worship where Jehovah has chosen that his name should be honored; celebrate with your children, your servants, the Levites who live in your towns, as well as the aliens, the widows, and orphans who live among you.  Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt and carefully observe these decrees. 

"When the grain has been threshed and the grapes have been pressed, you should celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for 7 days.  Celebrate with your children, your servants, the Levites who live in your towns, as well as the aliens, the widows, and orphans who live among you.  For 7 days you will observe this festival to honor Jehovah your god at the designated place of worship, for it is Jehovah who blesses you with bountiful harvests and grants you success in all you undertake, so that you know great rejoicing. 

“Three times a year, at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Harvest Festival, and the Festival of Tabernacles, each man must appear before the altar of Jehovah your god at a designated place of worship.  He must not come empty handed, but must bring gifts for Jehovah proportionate to the blessings he has received from him."

Notes

1. A more detailed description of Jehovan holidays is presented in Leviticus -- another suggestion that Deuteronomy was written first and the previous books ascribed to Moses were later elaborations.

2. Abib, later called Nissan, occurring in early spring, is the first month of the Jewish religious calendar.  (The secular calendar begins in the early autumn month of Tishri, Rosh Hashanah being New Year's day.)  The Feast of Unleavened Bread is, of course, better known as Passover.  Here no mention is made of the Jehovah's mass murder of the Egyptian first born and his Angel of Death "passing over" the homes of the Israelites.  Reference is made only to the hasty departure of the Israelite slaves in embarking upon their exodus into the desert.  Previous notes have commented upon the unlikelihood that any large number of Israelites were Egyptian slaves, that the Ten Plagues of Egypt probably occurred long before the age of Moses, and that any large exodus out of Egypt is not only unsubstantiated by history and archaeology, but is, in practical and logistical terms, impossible.

3. The Harvest Festival, literally the Festival of Weeks, was, by the time of Jesus, known as the Festival of Pentecost, and is now celebrated as Shavuot or Shabuoth.  The Festival of Tabernacles, or Festival of Booths, was referred to in Exodus as the Festival of Ingathering, but is now celebrated as Sukkot or Succoth.  It is ironic that Moses is lecturing his people on harvest festivals when up to this time they have only been nomads, wandering around Sinai with their flocks and herds.  Having previously been slaves for generations, what would they even know of crops and harvests?

Festival Offerings

(Book of Numbers 28:16 - 29:40)
"On the 14th day of the first month, Nisan, Jehovah's Passover is to be observed.  On the 15th day of the month a festival is to be held and for the next 7 days only unleavened bread is to be eaten.  On the first day a a sacred assembly will be held and no regular work is to be done.  You should make a burnt offering to Jehovah consisting of two young bulls, one ram, and 7 male yearling lambs, all without defect, accompanied by a grain offering of the finest flour mixed with oil -- three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths of an ephah for the ram, and one-tenth of an ephah for each lamb.  Also, there should be sacrificed a male goat as a sin offering to make your atonement.  These sacrifices should be made in addition to the regular morning burnt offering.  For 7 days these sacrifices should be made so that the food of the burnt offerings will create an aroma pleasing to Jehovah.  They should be presented in addition to the regular burnt offerings and the accompanying drink offerings.  On the 7th day a sacred assembly will be held with no occupational work done.

"On the day of the Harvest Festival, when you present to Jehovah an offering from the first harvest of grain, hold a sacred assemble and refrain from all occupational work.  Present a burnt offering of two young bulls, a ram, and 7 male yearling lambs to create an aroma pleasing to Jehovah.  Accompanying each burnt offering there should be a grain offering of the finest flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths of an ephah for the ram, and one-tenth of an ephah for each lamb.  In addition, a male goat should be sacrificed as a sin offering to make atonement.  Present these burnt offerings along with their accompanying drink offerings in addition to the regular burnt and grain offerings.  Take care that all the animals have no defects!

"On the 1st day of the 7th month, Tishri, you should hold a sacred assemble and do no occupational work.  This is a day for you to sound trumpets!  To create an aroma pleasing to Jehovah, make a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and 7 male yearling lambs, all without defect.  An accompanying grain offering of the finest flour mixed with oil should consist of three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths of an ephah for the ram, and one-tenth of an ephah for each lamb.  To make atonement for you, include a sin offering of one male goat.  This is in addition to the monthly burnt offering and the accompanying grain offering, as well as the daily burnt offering with its prescribed grain and drink offerings.  These food offerings will create an aroma pleasing to Jehovah.

"Ten days later, on the 10th day of the same month you must convene another sacred assembly.  You must fast and refrain from any occupational work.  Present a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and 7 male yearling lambs, all without defect.  With the bull include a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil, with the ram two-tenths of an ephah, and with the lambs, one-tenth of an ephah.  You must sacrifice as a sin offering one male goat.  This is in addition to the regular sin offering made for atonement and the daily burnt offering with the accompanying grain and drink offerings.

"Five days later, on the 10th of the same month you must convene another sacred assembly.  You must fast and refrain from occupational work. Present a burnt offering that will create an aroma pleasing to Jehovah, one young bull, one ram, and 7 male yearling lambs, all without defects.  Accompanying these offerings should be the prescribed grain offerings, consisting of the finest flour mixed with olive oil, three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths of an ephah for the ram, and one-tenth of an ephah for each lamb.  Also there should be a sin offering of a goat, in addition to the sin offering of atonement and the regular burnt offerings with the accompanying grain and drink offerings.

"On the 15th day of the 7th month convene a sacred assembly and do no occupational work.  During the next 7 days celebrate a festival to Jehovah.  To create an aroma pleasing to him, present burnt offerings consisting of 13 young bulls, 2 rams, and 14 male yearling lambs, all without blemish, along with a grain offering of the finest flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for each of the bulls, two-tenths of an ephah for each of the rams, and one-tenth of an ephah for each of the lambs.  Also, there should be a male goat as a sin offering.  These are in addition to the regular burnt offering and the accompanying grain and drink offering.

"On the 2nd day sacrifice 12 young bulls, 2 rams, and 14 male yearling lambs, all without defect.  With the bulls, rams, and lambs make the prescribed grain and drink offerings.  A male goat should also be sacrificed as a sin offering.  These are in addition to the regular burnt offering and the accompanying grain and drink offerings.

"On the 3rd day sacrifice 11 young bulls, 2 rams, and 14 male yearling lambs, all without defect.  With the bulls, rams, and lambs make the prescribed grain and drink offerings.  A male goat should also be sacrificed as a sin offering.  These are in addition to the regular burnt offering and the accompanying grain and drink offerings.

"On the 4th day sacrifice 10 young bulls, 2 rams, and 14 male yearling lambs, all without defect.  With the bulls, rams, and lambs make the prescribed grain and drink offerings.  A male goat should also be sacrificed as a sin offering.  These are in addition to the regular burnt offering and the accompanying grain and drink offerings.

"On the 5th day sacrifice 9 young bulls, 2 rams, and 14 male yearling lambs, all without defect.  With the bulls, rams, and lambs make the prescribed grain and drink offerings.  A male goat should also be sacrificed as a sin offering.  These are in addition to the regular burnt offering and the accompanying grain and drink offerings.

"On the 6th day sacrifice 8 young bulls, 2 rams, and 14 male yearling lambs, all without defect.  With the bulls, rams, and lambs make the prescribed grain and drink offerings.  A male goat should also be sacrificed as a sin offering.  These are in addition to the regular burnt offering and the accompanying grain and drink offerings.

"On the 7th day sacrifice 7 young bulls, 2 rams, and 14 male yearling lambs, all without defect.  With the bulls, rams, and lambs make the prescribed grain and drink offerings.  A male goat should also be sacrificed as a sin offering.  These are in addition to the regular burnt offering and the accompanying grain and drink offerings.

"On the 8th day conclude by convening a sacred assembly and refraining from occupational work.  To create an aroma pleasing to Jehovah present a burnt offering consisting of one young bull, one ram, and 7 male yearling lambs, all with no defects.  Each sacrifice should be accompanied by the prescribed grain and drink offerings.  And you must sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering, this in addition to the regular burnt offering and its accompanying grain and drink offering.

"You must make these offerings to Jehovah at the yearly festivals.  These sacrifices, burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, and peace offerings, are in addition to the votive and voluntary offering you may make."

Moses conveyed to the Israelites all that he had been commanded by Jehovah.

Notes
1. The impression is given that holidays to the Israelites were mostly about the slaughter of animals, the primary means of divine worship.

2.  The festivals mentioned here are referred to in Leviticus, the 23rd chapter, "Festivals to be Observed."  Passover, on the 14th of Nisan, occurs in spring, as is well known.  The Harvest Festival (Festival of Weeks, Feast of Pentecost, or Shabuoth) occurred when the first crops were harvested and samples of them sacrificed to Jehovah.  The blowing of trumpets on the 1st of Tishri in early autumn celebrated what is now known as Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  (Tishri is the 7th month of the Hebrew religious calendar, but the 1st month of the civil calendar.)  On the 10th of Tishri was and is the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.  The 15th of Tishri is the beginning of the Festival of Tabernacles (or Festival of Booths, originally Festival of Ingathering or Festival of the Final Harvest and is generally now known as Sukkot or Succoth).

3. An ephah is a unit of dry measure equal to about 19 U.S. dry quarts or 69 cups (as those used in cooking).  Therefore one tenth of an ephah is about 7 cups, two tenths is a little less than 14 cups, three tenths, 21 cups.  Many different values are given for the ephah, but this seems the most likely.

Observance of the Passover

(Book of Numbers 9:1 - 9:14)
Jehovah spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai in the first month of the second year after their exodus from Egypt.  "Let the Israelites," he told him, "celebrate the Passover at the prescribed time, at dusk on the 14th day of this month, Nisan.  --- And be sure to follow all the rules and regulations I have given you concerning the holiday."

Moses thus told the Israelites that they should celebrate Passover; they did so in the desert of Sinai at dusk on 14th day of Nisan, in accordance with all that Jehovah had commanded Moses.  However, there were a certain number of people who were ritually impure due to their handling of corpses.  They, therefore, did not celebrate Passover on that day, but came to see Aaron and Moses.  They complained to Moses, "We are ritually impure because we have touched dead bodies, but why should that keep us from making offerings to Jehovah at the proper time with the rest of the people of Israel?"

Moses told them, "Wait until I can find out what Jehovah will decree concerning you."

Jehovah answered Moses: "Tell the Israelites that any of them, or their descendants, may still celebrate Passover even if they are ritually unclean due to exposure to a corpse, or if they are away on a journey.  Such persons should observe it at dusk on the 15th day of the second month, Iyar.  They should then eat the Passover lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  They should break no bone of the lamb nor leave any of its meat by morning.  They must follow all the customs of Passover.  But those who are ritually pure and not away on a journey must observe Passover on the regular day, or else suffer expulsion from the community of Israel, punishment for the sin of failing to present offerings to Jehovah at the proper time.  Any alien residing among you may celebrate Jehovah's Passover, if he chooses to do so, but only according to the established procedures governing its observance. --- There will be a single set of rules and regulations that apply to both natives and foreign-born residents."

Notes
1.  All the rules put out by Jehovah makes everything complicated, even the celebration of holidays.  Moses is not able to figure out how ritually impure folks, those who have handled or been exposed to corpses, can observe Passover.  The decision is above his pay grade, so he must, as he is wont, consult Jehovah, who apparently has the time and inclination to micro-manage every aspect of Israelite society.  One wonders why Jehovah didn't address the ritually impure when he established Passover customs.  Did he not foresee the potential problem?  Or does he enjoy Moses having to run to him with every little thing?

2. Passover was and still is celebrated on 15th day of the Jewish month of Nisan, in March or April.  It extends for seven days.  (The holiday was celebrated for eight days during the Diaspora, the long period of Jewish exile, and is still so observed by many Jews living outside of modern Israel.)  The holiday would begin at dusk on the 14th, as the new day, in Hebrew interpretation, commences at nightfall, not at day break.  It is, therefore, not strictly accurate to refer to the beginning of the holiday as occurring at twilight, as many translations do. (While dusk begins after the sun has set, twilight generally refers to a period before as well as after the setting of the sun.) 

Festivals to Be Observed

(Leviticus 23:1 - 23:44)
Jehovah told Moses to convey to the Israelites these instructions: "These are the established festivals that are to be enshrined as official holidays for the religious congregation.

"For six days you will work, but the seventh day, the Sabbath, is to be set aside as a day for rest and religious services.  On the Sabbath, dedicated to Jehovah, you will do no work, regardless of where you may live.

"The following are Jehovah's established festivals, official holidays for religious service that are to be observed at the appropriate times of the year.

"There is Jehovah's Passover, which commences on sundown on the 14th day of Nisan, the first month of the year.  The 15th day of the month is the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  For seven days only unleavened bread may be eaten.  On the first day of Passover there should be a sacred convocation, and everyone must take a day off from work.   On each day food offerings should be sacrificed to Jehovah, and on the seventh day there should be another sacred convocation, with everyone taking off from work.

The Jehovah told Moses to convey to the Israelites these instructions: "When you have settled in the land I am taking you to and have harvested the first crop, bring to the priest a sheaf from the first grain you reap.  The priest should wave it above the altar on the first day after the Sabbath, so that it may be accepted by Jehovah on your behalf.  On the same day you should sacrifice to Jehovah a burnt offering of a yearling lamb without defect, along with a grain offering of two tenths of an ephah of finest flour mixed with olive oil -- a burnt offering that will create an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah-- and also a drink offering of one quarter of a hin of wine.  You should eat no bread or any fresh or roasted kernels of grain until you make this sacrifice to Jehovah.  This will be an established custom that you must observe through the generations regardless of where you may live.

"From the day after the Sabbath, the day that you bring in the sheaf of grain to be waved above the altar, you should count off 7 full weeks.  Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, 50 days; you should then present to Jehovah an offering of new grain.  From your home you should bring as an offering to be waved above the altar two loaves of leavened bread made with two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour.  These will be a part of the offerings of first fruits to Jehovah.  In addition to the bread, sacrifice as burnt offerings to Jehovah 7 yearling male lambs without defect, a male calf, and 2 rams.  These will comprise the burnt offering to Jehovah, accompanying the offerings of grain and drink -- food offerings that will create an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah.  Then sacrifice, for a guilt offering, one male goat and, for a peace offering, 2 yearling male lambs.  The priest will raise and wave above the altar these offerings to Jehovah as he did with the 2 loaves representing the first fruits of the harvest.  These sacred offerings made to Jehovah will belong to the priests.  This day will be an official holiday for sacred convocation, with everyone taking off from work.  This will be an established custom that you must observe through the generations regardless of where you may live.

"When you harvest your crops do not reap the grain to the edges of the fields, or collect the gleanings that remain.  Leave it for the poor and the foreigners who live among you.  Thus says Jehovah your god."

Jehovah told Moses, "On the first day of the seventh month of Tishri you are to observe a Sabbath-like day of rest.  There should be a sacred convocation proclaimed by blasts of the ram’s horn.  Refrain from doing any work and sacrifice a food offering to Jehovah."

Jehovah told Moses, "On the tenth day of the seventh month of Tishri is a Day of Atonement celebrated with a sacred convocation.  You are to fast and refrain from work and present sacrifices of food offerings to Jehovah, for this is a day to atone and to purify yourselves before your god Jehovah.  Anyone who does not fast on that day should be banished from the community.  Anyone who does any work during the course of the day I will strike down in the midst of the people.  Do absolutely no work on that day!  This will be an established custom that you must observe through the generations regardless of where you may live.  It must be a Sabbath-like day of complete rest and you must fast on that day.  You are to observe this day of rest from sundown on the ninth day of the month to sundown on the following day."

The Jehovah told Moses to convey to the Israelites these instructions: "On the fifteenth day of same month, five days after the Day of Atonement you should begin to celebrate Jehovah's Festival of Tabernacles, which lasts seven days.  On the first day is a sacred convocation, when no one must work.  On each of the seven days you must make food sacrifices to Jehovah.  On the eighth day is a solemn holiday when burnt offerings to Jehovah are to be made and a sacred convocation held.  No one must work on that day. 

"Keep in mind that this week-long festival to Jehovah, the Festival of the Tabernacles, begins on the fifth of the month of Tishri. after you have harvested your crops.  The first and the eighth day of the festival are holidays of total rest.  On the first day collect foliage, branches from citron trees, palm fronds, myrtle boughs, and branches from the willows that grow along the banks of streams -- and rejoice for seven days in honor of your god Jehovah.  Celebrate this festival to Jehovah for seven days every year.  This will be an established custom to be observed through the generations.  Observe it in the seventh month, Tishri.  Live in small, temporary shelters for seven days.  All native-born Israelites are to do so so that their descendants will remember that I had the Israelites live in such shelters when I brought them out of Egypt.  Thus says Jehovah your god."

These are Jehovah's established festivals, celebrated by sacred convocations and food offerings made to Jehovah -- burnt offering, grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its appropriate day.  These festivals are to observed in addition to the Jehovah's regular Sabbaths, and the offerings are in addition to whatever gifts, votive and voluntary offerings you may make to Jehovah.

Moses thus presented to the Israelites instructions for the observance of the annual festivals established by Jehovah.

Notes
1. In summary, these are festival or holidays established by Jehovah:

Passover, comprising the Feast of Unleavened Bread, celebrating the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian bondage, on the 14th of the first month, Nisan, (late March, April) and lasting for 7 days (later 8 days).

Feast of First Fruits, Festival of Weeks, called in New Testament times, Feast of Pentecost, and now called Shavuot and observed on the 6th day of the 3rd month, Sivan (late May, early June), traditionally the day the Torah was given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, time of wheat harvest and ripening of fruit.

New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, (September, early October) celebrated with horn blasts, traditionally the day that Adam was created.

Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, 10th day of the seventh month, Tishri, (mid September, early October) celebrated with fasting, prayer, sacrifices.

Festival of Tabernacles, or Festival of Booths, Festival of Ingathering, or Festival of the Final Harvest, now known as Sukkot, 15th day of the seventh month, Tishri (late September to late October), 7 days celebrated by eating and sleeping in simple shelters covered with foliage and greenery.

Three of the festivals, Passover, Feast of First Fruits, and Festival of Tabernacles would become pilgrimage holidays during which Israelites were supposed to journey to Jerusalem.  How practical this ever was is doubtful. 

It must be remembered days begin at dusk.  The Jewish calendar is lunar so that the dates of the holidays will vary from year to year in relation to the solar calendar.  All these holidays are still celebrated by observant and, to varying degrees, by nonobservant Jews today.

2.  Two-tenths of an ephah is about 7 pounds. Those must have been whopping big loaves of bread!  A grocery store loaf of bread weighs as little as a pound and a quarter.  A quarter of a hin is about a quart or a liter.

3.  The second-to-last paragraph ("These are Jehovah's established festivals ...") is misplaced in the middle of the description of Festival of Tabernacles.  It is probably not part of Jehovah's speech, so I have inserted it afterwards, where it obviously belongs.

4.  It is odd that the names and descriptions of Jehovah's holidays given here is at some variance with those given in Exodus.  It is further evidence that the Books of Moses, or their source material,  were not all written at the same time or by the same authors.  It is obvious that these books, written by and for the benefit of the priestly class, record traditions that were established over time, probably hundreds of years, and not immediately put into practice at the foot of Mount Sinai.  It seems unlikely that either Jehovah or Moses would have been telling the freed slaves of Israel wandering in the desert what would be expected of them forty years hence.

5.  On the New Year, Rosh Hashanah, it is mentioned here that the ram’s horn, or shofar is sounded.  Many translations say “trumpet,” which is not quite accurate.  A trumpet generally refers to a wind instrument of metal.  Early ones, without keys or valves and of bronze and silver were in use during Moses’ time, but the ram’s horn is the musical instrument used by the Israelites, often for religious purposes.  The ram’s horn, like the bugle, requires the player to use his mouth to alter pitch.

The Exodus Begins

(Exodus 12:34 - 13:16)

The Israelites packed their bread dough before it could be leavened, bundled the bread pans in their cloaks, and carried them on their shoulders.  They did had Moses had bid: they procured from the Egyptians vessels and jewelry of gold and silver and apparel.  Jehovah had induced the Egyptians to view them favorably and so they complied with the Israelites and gave them whatever they demanded.  (Indeed, the departing Israelites despoiled the Egyptians of their wealth and possessions.)

The Israelites thus journeyed from the city of Ramses to Succoth.  They numbered about 600,000 men on foot, not counting children and the motley crew of people who accompanied them or the herds and flocks and the large amount of livestock.  The Israelites baked the unleavened dough they had taken with them when they left Egypt and made flat bread.  (They did not have time to leaven the bread since they undertook their journey in haste: they dared not delay and had no time to prepare a proper meal.)

The nomadic wanderings of the people of Israel who dwelt in Canaan and in Egypt comprised 430 years.  At the end of that time, to the day, the people of Jehovah  marched out of the land of Egypt arrayed in military formation.  This then was a night to remember, when Jehovah led them out of Egypt -- a night to be commemorated by future generations.

Jehovah told Moses and Aaron, "This is the ceremonial feast of Passover.  No stranger may take part in it and eat, but the purchased slave, if he has been circumcised, may join in it, but not the foreigner or the hired hand.  The feast shall be consumed within the house and nothing taken outside to eat nor should any bone be broken.  The entire Israelite community must observe these rules.  If a foreigner lives with you and is willing to observe the Passover, he must circumcise all male members of his family; then he may celebrate it in the same manner as native Israelites.  But if any man remains uncircumcised, he must not partake of the Passover meal.  These same rules will apply to the native as well as to the foreigner who lives among you.  The children of Israel abided by what Jehovah had told Moses and Aaron.

And so on this very day Jehovah ushered the people of Israel out of Egypt like an army.

And Jehovah told Moses, "Reserve for me all the firstborn, the offspring that emerges first from the womb of Israel, both of man and beast.  It shall be mine!"

Moses proclaimed to his people, "Remember this day when you left Egypt where you were slaves, for it was by the power of Jehovah that you were brought out of bondage.  (Therefore, keep in mind you shall eat no leavened bread.)  You were freed in the month of Abib.   So when Jehovah guides you into the land of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which he promised to your forefathers -- a land abounding in milk and honey, you must celebrate this event during this month in the years to come.  For seven days you will eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day there will be a feast to Jehovah.  Unleavened bread will be eaten for seven days; there will be no leavened bread in your possession, nor shall there be any leaven at all in your homes.

"On the day of the Passover feast, you will explain to your children. ‘We observe this custom because of what Jehovah did for us when we left Egypt.  It is intended to remind you like a stamp on your hands or a mark on your forehead that the commands of Jehovah should always be on your mind.  For it is by the power of Jehovah that you were brought out of Egypt.  You will, therefore, observe this tradition at this time of the year for all the years to come.' 

“When it comes to pass that Jehovah will lead you into the land of the Canaanites, which he promised to your forefathers, and settle you there, you will set aside all the firstborn animals, those who emerge first from the womb.  The males will belong to Jehovah.  The firstborn foil of a donkey may, however, be spared if a lamb or kid be offered in its place.  Otherwise, you must kill it by breaking its neck.  All of your firstborn sons may similarly have their places taken by sacrificial animals.

"And when the time comes that your son will question you, 'What is all this for?,' you will say to him, 'Jehovah brought us out of Egypt and freed us from slavery with his power.  When the Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, Jehovah killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both men and animals.  That is why we sacrifice to Jehovah all the firstborn males, the offspring first out of the womb, although the firstborn of our children we redeem with a substitute sacrifice.’ It will be a reminder like a stamp on your hand or a mark on your forehead that it is through the power of Jehovah that we were brought out of Egypt."

Notes
1.  Several times it is mentioned that the departing Israelites "asked" their Egyptian neighbors to "borrow" their gold and silver -- according to most translations.  It's rather absurd.  First of all, the Israelites lived segregated from the Egyptians in Goshen; therefore, they would have no Egyptian neighbors.  Secondly, it is preposterous that the Egyptians would willing lend their precious items of gold and silver or clothes to absconding slaves who had brought catastrophe after catastrophe upon their country.  (Would a modern employer, when the Latina maid wants to go back to Mexico, "lend" her the family silver and the wife’s wardrobe after the maid had used magic to burn down the house and murder the baby?)  It is obvious that the Israelites, perhaps not too unjustly vengeful, plundered the country and looted its citizens with the sanction of their god Jehovah, who has yet to say anything against stealing.  This seems particularly cruel to the Egyptians who had suffered so much and who had died in vast numbers owing to the Israelites and to their Pharaoh's stubbornness.  Jehovah expresses no sympathy for the Egyptians: he is obviously not the god of "do unto others," "forgive your neighbor his trespasses," and "love your enemy."  Quite the contrary!

2.  The cities of Ramses and Succoth are in northeastern Egypt, the delta region, but the reference to them is probably anachronistic.  It is a foolish mistake, made by most who try to date the Exodus, that the place names accurately reflect names and locations that were current at the time of the story, rather than the time of the storyteller.  The Exodus, though not exactly as described in the Bible, could only have occurred during an intermediate period in Egyptian history, most likely the period between the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom.  The plagues may date to this period.  The emigration of the Israelites may have been part of the expulsion of the Hyksos at the beginning of the New Kingdom.  (The biblical narratives furnish a large number of jigsaw puzzle pieces, but they really can't be put together in any way that creates the picture on the box.)

3.  The wanderings, or sojourns of the Israelites, who had no country of their own but were forced to settle in foreign lands for various periods of time, are recorded as lasting 430 years.  It is unlikely that this means the duration of time the Israelites stayed in Egypt, but rather the time from their departure from Ur in Mesopotamia.  Some versions of Exodus (eg. the Samaritan Pentateuch) actually include Canaan in this sentence, as I have.   Calculated from Abraham’s emigration from Mesopotamia, the number of years is 215.  Even this less lengthy stay in Egypt is contradicted by the stated number of generations.  Moses is only a great grandson of Levi.   If Moses were really 80 years old, or 81, at the time, then that still makes less than 150 years as an upper limit for the time of their residence in Egypt, allowing a generous gap between generations.  But if Moses at the time of the Exodus were, say, 40 years old, which is more likely, the time spent by the Israelites in Egypt could easily amount to less than 90 years.  The protracted number of years is credible only if one permits the impossible longevity of all the biblical patriarchs.  It is certainly possible that a remarkable man of ancient times might live to be 90 or even 100 and that he might have children at an advanced age, but that all his descendants would do so is too improbable to be accepted.      

4.  The number of generations also makes preposterous the level of the Israelite population said to have participated in the Exodus -- 600,000 men, probably 2 million persons overall.  (Ancient sources always seem to exaggerate numbers, whether it is the number of soldiers in a battle or the number of years a past event occurred.)  Such a number could form a queue stretching from Egypt to Canaan!  Considering they all got ready to go in a single night, actually just the wee hours of the morning, credibility is pushed to the breaking point.  Such a vast movement of population en masse would simply not be possible for reasons that will be obvious.  It seems more likely that if the Exodus ever took place, it probably consisted of a few thousands persons, the number that would normally be produced in the number of generations cited.

5.  Jehovah's obsession with unleavened bread and his harping on the Passover feast is past annoying.  Amid the epic calamities in Egypt and the forthcoming liberation of his people, this, incredibly, seems of paramount importance to him.  --- So far, he has created two rules for his people, neither of them having anything to do with moral conduct.  The first is that males must be circumcised and, secondly, all must eat unleavened bread on the Passover.  (Violate the first and you will be put to death,  violate the second and you will be kicked out of the tribe.)  Then, he creates a third, every firstborn male belongs to him.  You wonder if he has the time, the appetite, and the capacity to consume all the animals to be sacrificed to him or to enjoy the smoky smell of their roasting flesh.  And you wonder how a poor tribe could afford this vast sacrificial waste of livestock.

6.  Abib is the first month of the ancient Jewish lunar calendar, occurring in March or April.

7.  It  might be mentioned at this point, concerning the origin of the Hebrew people, that while most modern historians believe the Exodus never occurred and that the Hebrews never lived in Egypt, but came from Canaan, most ancient historians ascribed the emergence of the Hebrews as a distinct people to their expulsion from Egypt.  The Roman historian Tacitus (circa 110 A.D.), who seems to have done some research on the subject, offers several fanciful theories as to their origin, but ends up agreeing with the first-century B.C. Greek historians Chaeremon and Lysimachus of Alexandria and Diodorus of Sicily that the Israelites were expelled from Egypt because they were diseased.  Moses emerged as their leader and saved them from perishing in the desert.  A less glamorous view of history than the one presented by Exodus!  (I might mention that more than a century ago a fraudulent genealogist foisted upon my mother’s family, the Blaisdells, a phony history  concerning its origins.  The bogus account claimed that their immigrant forefather was a Sir Ralph Blaisdell of Welsh descent, with royal connections, a coat of arms, and a ship of his own.  The family bought it until the truth was eventually revealed.  Ralph was just plain Ralph, bless him, a Lancashire tailor and tavern keeper who illegally left England and landed on a the coast of Maine in a ship that was then immediately wrecked by a storm.  --- I like the real story better!) 

8.  Among those who credit the Exodus, various dates have been suggested for it from the 16th to the 13th Centuries B.C., or even later.  A very long book could be written examining (and debunking) every claim.  The very fact that the Exodus cannot be dated is a tip-off to its fictional or, at best, semi-mythical provenance.  Confirming this is the fact that the Pharaoh of the Exodus is never named and bears no resemblance to any historical figure (least of all to Ramses the Great, generally believed to be the Pharaoh of the Exodus, courtesy of Cecil B. De Mille.)  Archaeological evidence is entirely missing, as is any confirmation from Egyptian historical sources. 

Passover

(Exodus 11:1 - 12:33)

Jehovah told Moses, "I shall bring one more plague down upon the Pharaoh and Egypt, and after that he will not only let you go, but will expel you.  Announce to all the people that every man and woman should procure from his neighbors vessels and jewelry of gold and silver."

(Jehovah had caused the Israelites to acquire a favorable reputation among the Egyptian people, and Moses was held in high regard by the Pharaoh's court and by the common people of Egypt as well.)

Moses announced to the Pharaoh, "Jehovah says, 'At midnight I will go abroad through the land of Egypt.  All the firstborn children in Egypt will then perish, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits upon the throne to the firstborn of the servant girl who grinds corn upon the millstone -- even the firstborn of the animals.  There shall be an wailing outcry such there has never been in the land of Egypt nor will be again.  But among the Israelites there will be nary a murmur among men or beasts; not even a dog will bark. You will then see the clear distinction I, Jehovah, am making between Egypt and Israel.’ All those who serve the Pharaoh will bow down before me.  They will beg me, ‘Leave and take your followers with you!’  Then, only then, will I depart.”  And Moses, very angry, withdrew from the Pharaoh.

Jehovah told Moses, "The Pharaoh will not heed your words, compelling me to perform more miracles in Egypt.”

Moses and Aaron accomplished all the miracles in the Pharaoh’s presence, but Jehovah made the Pharaoh stubborn and he continued to refuse to let the Israelites leave the country.

Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron in Egypt.  "This month will be observed by you as the beginning of the year; this will be the first month in the year.  Inform all the assembled people of Israel. 'On the tenth of this month each man must take a lamb for his family, one for each household.  If the family is too small to eat an entire lamb then it will share with that of his next-door neighbor.  (Divide the meat according to the number of people and how much each will eat.)  The lamb must be perfect, a yearling male.  It may be a lamb, or it may be a goat kid.  It shall be carefully penned till the fourteenth of the month and then, at sundown, all the people of Israel en masse will slaughter their lamb (or kid).  Each shall take the blood of the lamb and smear it over the door posts and the lintel of the house in which the lamb will be eaten.  That night they shall dine on the roasted lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  (Don't eat it raw or boiled, but roast it whole on a spit over a fire.)  You will save nothing of the lamb, and any left-overs should be burned before morning.  When you eat it, you must do so in this manner: with your robe belted up, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand.  You should eat it quickly; this is Jehovah's Passover.  For this is the night when I will pass through the land of Egypt and kill all the firstborn, both man and beast and exact punishment upon the gods of Egypt -- I am Jehovah!”

“The blood on the house will be a sign that you are residing there.  When I see it, I will pass over you and spare you from the deadly plague that I will be inflicting upon the land of Egypt.” 

“For you this will be a day of remembrance and you will commemorate it throughout the ages as a feast day for Jehovah.  Your descendants will observe it forever as a part of religious law.  For seven days you will eat unleavened bread.  On the first day all leaven must be removed from your house and anyone who eats anything leavened during the seven days will be expelled from the community of Israelites."

"On the first day of Passover and again on the seventh day there will be a religious convocation.  On these days you will do no work at all except that necessary for the preparation of meals.  You will hold a feast of unleavened bread, as a remembrance of the day when I brought out of Egypt the assembled nation of Israel.  This day will be established as a religious festival and will be celebrated down through the ages.  From the evening of 14th day of the month until the evening of the 21st you will eat only unleavened bread.  For seven days no leaven must be found in your homes and whoever eats anything leavened, that person, whether he be a native or a foreigner, will be expelled from the community of the Israelites.  You will eat nothing leavened; wherever you may be living you must eat nothing but unleavened bread."

Moses convened the elders of Israel and told them, “Each family, pick out a lamb and slaughter it as a sacrifice for Passover.  Dip a hyssop branch into a basin of lamb’s blood and sprinkle the blood on the lintel and on both the door posts.  None of you must leave your houses till morning.  Jehovah will be passing through killing Egyptians, but when he sees the blood on the lintel and the  door posts, he will pass over those thresholds and bar the assassin from entering your houses and killing you.”

“You will henceforth observe this tradition as law among your descendants for all time to come.  When you settle in the land that Jehovah has promised us, you will keep this practice.  When it happens that your children will question you, 'What does this custom mean?'  You will tell them, 'It is the sacrifice to honor Jehovah's Passover, when he passed over the houses of the Israelites, sparing us while he killed the Egyptians.'"  And the people of Israel bowed their heads and prayed.  They then departed and did as Jehovah had commanded Moses and Aaron.

And so at midnight Jehovah put to death all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh that sat on the throne to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.  The Pharaoh got up in the middle of the night, as did his court and all his subjects.  There was a huge outcry in Egypt, for there wasn't a single house in which there was not at least one death. 

During the night the Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and told them, "Get out and be gone from my people, both you and the rest of the Israelites.  Go worship your Jehovah as you wanted!  And take your herds and your flocks with you, as you wanted.  Just go -- and ask your god to bless me!”

The Egyptian people were eager to send the Israelites out of their country as soon as possible, for, as they said, "Otherwise, we’ll all be dead men!"

Notes
1.  Some of this section of the narrative seems disjointed, repetitive, even out of sequence (eg. the reference in the second sentence to the gold and silver vessels should come later in the narrative.)

2.  It is noted that Moses has acquired a reputation among the Egyptians.  You could understand how they could fear or hate the man who has brought about the almost total destruction of their country, but think highly of him?  Since he was the instrument by which his god had inflicted these catastrophic plagues, it is a great wonder he was not the target of mob violence.  How could they be kindly disposed to him?  Even the Pharaoh did not make good on his promise to put him to death if he ever appeared again at court.  Of course keeping promises wasn't this Pharaoh's strong point.

3.  The Tenth Plague planned by Jehovah involves perhaps the greatest act of wanton mass murder in the world's bloody history, the slaughter of the firstborn offspring of every Egyptian.  While the Hebrew word “bechor" is usually rendered "firstborn,” the eldest child, it can also mean, figuratively, the choice, the best, the strongest.  The biblical authors, though, probably meant it in a literal sense, this act of wholesale murder being the fulfillment of Jehovah's promise to kill the Egyptian firstborn because they had threatened the children of Israel, whom he regarded as his firstborn.  However much the act seems dependent upon miracle or supernatural magic, explanations abound to account for the death of the firstborn.  It has been pointed out that some diseases, the bubonic plague among them, often seem to strike the fittest rather than the weakest or affect the young rather than the old.  Contaminated food supplies may have been consumed more by the favored, eldest child than by the younger children, thus causing them to come down with fatal diseases more often.  Noxious gases emanating from the Nile have been blamed for causing instant, overnight death.  These and other more exotic explanations come far short of accounting for what is more easily and accurately explained by the near certainty that the death of the firstborn simply didn’t happen -- it is a fictional invention to illustrate the themes of the story.

4.  The death of the firstborn includes animals.  What animals could possibly remain after their complete (and repeated) extermination by the previous plagues -- house cats?

5.  If such an event as the death of the firstborn did really take place, it is puzzling that it was never recorded by Egyptian historians.  In fact, the plagues of Egypt, while part of traditional history of the people of the northern Kingdom of Israel, are not even mentioned by the prophets of the southern Kingdom of Judah.  It has been suggested that the plagues were, in fact, a late addition to Hebrew legendary history.  (Indeed, if all the plagues occurred as they do in Exodus, in the space of less than a year, Egypt would have soon ceased to exist -- no drinkable water, no crops, no food, no livestock, and most of its people dead.)

6.  The ceremony of the Passover meal (or seder) is herein described.  One wonders if Jehovah, or Moses, simply thought of the menu off the top of his head.  The symbolic significance of the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs, and so forth is evident, but it would have significance only as a commemoration.  The story seems an explanation for the origin of a later custom, rather like an apocryphal story about Jesus putting decorations on a pine tree.   Passover, of course, remains as an important Jewish holiday and, many of the faith observe the rituals meticulously. 

7.  Jehovah, who, so far, has demanded practically nothing of his followers in regard to their moral conduct, has become very zealous about dietary restrictions and ceremonial observances.  It is interesting that you may commit mass murder, sell your brother into slavery, have sex with your step-mother, lie, cheat, and steal and still be a part of the Hebrew community, but if you eat bread with a little yeast in it at the wrong time of the year, you’re kicked to the curb.

8.  The smearing of goat's blood on the door posts and lintels is similar to many folk traditions intended to ward off evil spirits from the threshold of the house.

9.  The means by which the Tenth Plague is accomplished is left vague -- for a reason: it it not really explainable.  Did Jehovah send out an army of angels to enter every residence in Egypt?  How many households might have existed in Egypt at that time?  It seems likely the population of Egypt would have been at least a couple million people, minus, though, the considerable number who must have perished during the previous plagues.  An army spread out over the country, even an invisible one, would be strained to accomplish the task.  The instrument, if not "human,” must have been intelligent because it had to figure out who was the firstborn in each household and, more than that, to determine what animals were firstborn and then put them all to death -- how?  If this holocaust was accomplished by some miraculous means, the will of God making it so, why then would God have any difficulty discerning what houses were occupied by Israelites?  (He was able to enter an Egyptian house and immediately recognize whether the pet dog was firstborn or not.)  Also, it should be pointed out that the Israelites all lived in Goshen, removed from the native Egyptians, so why was this even necessary?  But very little of this absurd story makes sense or can pass any test of logical, let alone, historic credibility.

10.  The instrument of death, whatever or whoever it was, needed that lamb's blood on the door in order to know what houses to pass over.  Why the requirement to slaughter some poor lamb in order to get blood to mark the threshold?  Why the complicated ceremonial rigmarole?  Why not just ask every Israelite to put an "X" or something on the door?  The answer is this: all religions and cults and secret societies devise complex, sometimes symbolic, sometimes meaningless rituals in order to nurture a sense of community (we, and only we, do this) and also to cultivate the mindset of unquestioning obedience. 

11.  On this one fateful night a whole lot happens.  The Israelites have their Passover seder, the firstborn of Egypt are all put to death, the entire population of the country (spread out over many hundreds of miles up and down the Nile) raise an outcry that the Pharaoh hears, the Pharaoh summons and receives Moses and Aaron (who seem to need no travel time at all between the Pharaoh’s capital and Goshen), and, as we shall see in the next section, the Israelites all get up, pack their bags, loot their neighbors, and are ready to embark upon an exodus to literally God knows where.  This is a dramatic compression of time that is simply jaw dropping.

12.  At some point one must ask why Jehovah has chosen to champion among all the peoples of the world this obscure tribe of barbaric nomads, whose leaders have generally been of devious and despicable character, while  all but destroying the great civilization of Egypt, whose monumental achievements in architecture, art, engineering, and social organization were triumphs of the ancient world.  What sort of values does Jehovah have?  Is he interested at all in fostering man's development or in the advancement of civilization, or does he merely want to dominate a flock of docile and obedient sheep and find means and excuses to satisfy his bloodlust?

13.  The unleavened bread of Passover, the Jewish matzah or matzo, flat, firm, and wafer-like, is bread made without yeast, a fungal microorganism that makes bread “rise.”  Yeast was first used by the ancient Egyptians, who were great bread makers.

14.  Hyssop is, in modern usage, a mint plant.  The biblical hyssop has not been positively identified, but its branches were used in purification rites.