Passover and the "High Sabbaths"

Discussion about the New Testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, Christian origins, historical Jesus or otherwise, etc.
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Charles Wilson
Posts: 2093
Joined: Thu Apr 03, 2014 8:13 am

Passover and the "High Sabbaths"

Post by Charles Wilson »

Hello everyone --
For those who feel that there are too few collegial exchanges on this Site, I recommend reviewing the "Marcion vs. Mark" thread with Neil, RGP and others (Thanx, lsayre). Nice Analysis, friendly comments.
neilgodfrey wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 4:23 pmIt is a coherent narrative: Jesus dies sooner than anyone anticipated, so burial must be rushed prior to the sabbath and women are unable to purchase and deliver the spices till later. If only Jesus had a normal human body and took his time to die like mere mortals!
I've pointed this out before but the Data brings up the idea that the "Foreign Authors" of the NT (Greekies, Latin Types, et. al.) had a misunderstanding of the way Passover was supposed to work. Lest you think that I'm leaving out anyone, there is an odd bit of History to look at.

I hi-lited Neil's comment for a reason:

Leviticus 23: 1 - 8 (RSV):

[1] The LORD said to Moses,
[2] "Say to the people of Israel, The appointed feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, my appointed feasts, are these.
[3] Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work; it is a sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings.
[4] "These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them.
[5] In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is the LORD's passover.
[6] And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the LORD; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
[7] On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.
[8] But you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD seven days; on the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work."

This is the LORD speaking so it seems fairly Authoritative. There is Passover, which is a Feast. Passover is not listed as a Sabbath. The "High Sabbaths" are the FIRST Day of Unleavened Bread and the LAST Day. Passover plus Seven Days = EIGHT DAYS.

There is something strange going on because "Jesus" is wrapped up in the Controversy as well:

Mark 14: 12 (RSV):

[12] And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the passover lamb, his disciples said to him, "Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the passover?"

"And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the passover lamb..."

Uh-Oh.

Which is it?!??

John goes straight for the jugular here since he is making "Jesus" the Passover Lamb, reinstating Human Sacrifice. Mark simply gets it wrong. The women may have been in a hurry to deal with the murder of "Jesus" before Passover but it was not because of "The Sabbath". That was a full day away. John is aware of the problem with spices:

John 11: 39 (RSV):

[39] Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days."

Something is simply not correct here. If Passover is a Sabbath - a High Sabbath as the first day of Unleavened Bread, waiting a day would not probably have been a burden. I know the purpose of "Four Days" - Not even God could raise a dead man after four days while "Jesus" could.

The Passover, however, is not a Sabbath. It may fall on The Sabbath but that Knot is where it all unravels.
***
The Jewish Encyclopedia, "Bilgah":

"The section assigned to each division of the priesthood was furnished with an iron ring fastened to the floor, for the purpose of securing the animal designed for slaughter, and there were accordingly twenty-four openings in the wall where the knives used for slaughtering were kept. Bilgah alone received his share in the south, his ring being nailed down, and his wall-closet tightly sealed, as a punishment for the apostasy of a woman of that house by the name of Miriam...
"According to another opinion, the priests of Bilgah delayed too long in entering upon the performance of their functions; so that those of the division Jeshebeab were compelled to act in their place, and consequently received the prerogatives of Bilgah (Tos., l.c.; Yer. Suk., end)..."

I have a huge problem with this. This is the Priesthood and it's not like they put out a sign asking for New Hires to run the Grill. It is especially troubling to think that Bilgah would get the Basic Weekly Sabbath wrong. Was it so tough to figure out Sunset-to-Sunset?

Be that as it may, I guess it's possible.

However, it would make more sense if Bilgah got a High Sabbath wrong. I dunno. The Day of Atonement was altered to not require Fasting over a two day period. Perhaps there was an argument over whether Passover MIGHT have been considered a Sabbath.

There may be a deeper Story. Again, the Three Watch Judaic problem is there: "Could you not stay awake one hour?" On this view, this statement is begging for a one word addition: "Could you not stay awake one hour (MORE)?" This not simply a "Roman Problem". I doubt Mark considered it as such but it is an open wound on the clear Texts of the Pentateuch.

Comments welcome.

CW
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