PASSOVER
In Nu 9!" another law is added. The date of this is given as the first month of the second year after the Exodus. In obedience to the command of J” given through Moses, they observe the Pass- over. But some who were ceremonially unclean by reason of contact with a dead body are excluded, and they come to ask why they must be de rived of their share in the sacrifice. Moses seeks in- structions from J”, and receives command that any who are unclean at the Passover season, or who are absent on a journey, shall observe it on the 14th day of the second month in the same manner as the regular Passover is observed. Several details are repeated (vv."- 13) : unleavened bread and bitter herbs are to be eaten with it; nothing shall remain until the morning, and no bone is to be broken. If a man who is not hindered in either of the above ways fails to keep the Passover, he is to be cut off Pom the nation. Strangers must observe the same regulations that are binding for the Jews.
Once more—and again apparently for the sake of completeness—we find an allusion to the Pass- over in Nu 28%, The section deals with regular and special sacrifices ; but since there are no temple sacrifices in the case of the Passover, only the mention of its occurrence on the 14th of the first month was needed.
The same writer records in Jos 5" the first Pass- over in Canaan. At the close of the wandering in the wilderness, after the renewal of circum- cision, it is celebrated on the 14th of the month while they are encamped at Gilgal.
These accounts of P, which we have thus brought into review, show certain divergences from the ordinances of the previous writers, and reveal a wealth of detail not elsewhere found. As over against Dt (as it now stands) and Ezk, the Passover is always carefully distinguished from mazzoth, which begins on the following day. The celebration is domestic, and not apparently at all connected with the central sanctuary. Dt we found the time given simply as the month of Abib. P does not use this name, but calls it the first month, and gives the exact day; in both these ΤΟΣ Ια ΒΈΤΘΕΙ͂ΣΕ with the present form of Ezk.
hy the lamb was chosen on the tenth day, so long in advance, we are not told. Possibly it is because of the significance attached to the decad among ancient ples (cf. Nowack, Arch. ii. p. 172, n. 3; Ideler, Chronol. i. p. 279, on Attic month), or it may be to fit into some scheme giving this day a special significance like that of the corresponding day of the seventh month celebrated as New Year’s Day (Ly 25°, Ezk 401), and then as the Day of Atonement (Ly 16”), The killing of the lamb and the staining of the doorway was probably done i the father of the house. This feature is made of less importance than in 12%, and there is no mention of the hyssop. The significance of the command to roast the lamb whole with all its members, and to consume it before the morning, may be made to consist either in the desire to keep its parts from profanation, or to emphasize the idea of its unity, t.e. as a single sacrifice valid for all in the common grou which partake of it (ef. Bahr, Symbolik, p. 635). he command to roast might be explained along these same lines, as also the prohibition of the earlier mode of boiling. Eatin the flesh raw would mean the eating of the blood, which was always forbidden (e.g. Lv 7%). With this and the other details noted above we can compare the accounts of certain Arab sacrifices, where a camel was killed and devoured—skin, bones, entrails, and all—in wild haste, between the appearance of the day-star and sunrise (cf. RS- p- 338 tf.; Well. Reste d. Arab. Heid.2119 ff.). In our account, of course, all are dressed and eat in haste,
PASSOVER
that they may avail themselves of the opportunity for flight which will follow the impending plague. The bitter herbs (Ex 12°, Nu 9") are not explained. They may have at first been used as relishes, apart from any atoning significance or reference to the suffering in Egypt. which later rabbinical writers gave them.* In P the covenant idea is made especially prominent. So at the first Passover, and so also at each recurrence of the festival, when this covenant is renewed. This explains why only those who have entered into the unity of the nation by circumcision can participate ; and, on the other hand, why any one who does not so participate is to be cut off from the nation. To meet emergencies which might work injustice,—such as necessary absence on a journey, ceremonial impurity arising from contact with the dead,—a second opportunity is given on the 14th of the succeeding month.
. In the Historical and Prophetical Books.—1. The Prophetical Writings.—Outside the Hexateuch there is no explicit mention of the observance of a Passover until after the discovery of Dt(B.c. 621). For the time of the earlier kings, indeed, none of the feasts are explicitly mentioned except Taber- nacles ; but others together with the Passover may be included in such general statements regarding feasts as we find, ¢.g. Hos 24 9°, Am 5” 8, an Is 29! (‘add year to year: let the feasts come round’). Some (Nowack, Arch. ii. Ρ. 149) find an almost certain reference in Hos 12° 00) “1 will yet again make thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn (i.e. fixed) feast.’ And this is more probable than that the reference is to Tabernacles (Wellh. Die kl. Propheten?, p. 126 f., excludes this