PNW AAR/SBL/ASOR

Regional Conference 2014

The redemptive theme of the matzah in the JewishPassover Seder meal

and its parallel to the bread in the Christian Lord’sSupper

in the period of A.D. 70 to 200

Wendy Choy

May 10, 2014

Abstract:

Towards the end of the first Century A.D., as Christians began to establish their new identity, Jews were also confronted with their ownidentity crisis after the destruction of the Second Temple. Both Jews and Christians developed rituals and guidelines to define themselves and set up boundaries for their religions. Matzah, the unleavened bread in the Jewish Passover Seder meal, is one element that epitomizes this dynamic of self-definition between Judaism and Christianity. This paper examines the development of the Seder meal inthe period of A.D. 70 to 200, focusing on the rituals surrounding the

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matzah. In particular, I argue that the redemptive theme of the Passover Festival, which was originally associated with the lamb that was sacrificed in the Temple, was adapted into the matzah that was consumed during the Seder meal, after A.D. 70. By comparing the matzahwith the bread in the Christian Lord’s Supper, this paper gives insights to the delicate relationship between the two religions.

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The Torah states that Passover “shall be a day of

remembrance” and “throughout your generations you shall observe

it as a perpetual ordinance,” because “the Lord your God brought

you [the Israelites] out of Egypt by night.”1 The Mishnah also

commands that, “in every generation a man must so regard himself

as if he came forth himself out of Egypt.”2 There is a

perception that the Passover Seder has been the same since the

first Passover meal in Egypt. Similarly, when Christians

participate in a Jewish Passover meal, they may envision

themselves as re-living the Last Supper experience of Jesus’

time. However, meal customs of the Passover Seder have evolved

over time, being “adopted and adapted from the society and

culture in which the Passover was celebrated.”3 This paper looks

at the evolution of the Seder meal in the period of A.D. 70 to

1 Exodus 12:14, Deut 16:1. All Bible verses are taken from NRSV

unless otherwise noted.2 Pesahim 10.5, Herbert Danby, The Mishnah : Translated from the Hebrew with

Introduction and Brief Explanatory Notes (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson

Publishers, 2011), 151.3 Paul F. Bradshaw and Lawrence A. Hoffman, Passover and Easter : Origin

and History to Modern Times (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre

Dame Press, 1999), 62.

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200, with particular emphasis on the ritual surrounding matzah,

the unleavened bread.4 It examines how the redemptive theme of

the Passover Festival, which was originally associated with the

lamb that was sacrificed in the Temple, was adapted into the

matzah that was consumed during the Seder meal. This redemptive

theme of the matzah also finds its parallel in the bread of the

Christian Lord’s Supper ritual.

The Passover Seder Before A.D. 70

Since Judaism relied heavily on oral transmission of its

traditions until they were compiled and written down in the

Mishnah, we do not have a clear record of the evolution of the

Passover Seder from its origin to A.D. 200. However, insights

can be gained from Biblical and historical sources.5 The Seder4 This period is also called the Mishnaic period, and the period

of the Tannaim, which lasted from around A.D. 10 to 220, the

period when the oral tradition was “developed into a network of

precisely formulated laws.” See Adin Steinsaltz, The Essential

Talmud (New York: Basic Books, 1976), 49.5 Hebrew Bible (Ex 12:1-28, Deut 16:1-8, 1 Kings 9:25, 2 Kings

23:21-23, 2 Chronicles 8:12-13, 2 Chronicles 30, and Ezra 6:19-

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meal was similar to meals taken during other festivals. There

were no set structures aside from the common mealtime

benediction, and a free-flowing conversation, which the elders

took as an “opportunity … to transmit traditions about the origin

of the People and its history to the younger generation.”6

Matzah was eaten during the Passover Festival together with the

Passover lamb and the bitter herbs. During the Festival of

Unleavened Bread that falls on the seven days after Passover,

matzah was also eaten. Together, these two festivals

commemorated the pre-Exodus and Exodus events. Deut 16:3

captures the symbols of matzah for these two festivals - the

first part of the verse, “The bread of affliction,” symbolizes

the impoverished life in Egypt, while the latter part, “because

22), apocryphal texts of the Book of the Jubilees, and the Special Law II

written by Philo of Alexandria, New Testament Bible, writings of

Josephus, and writings on Graeco-Roman symposiums. In Section

XXVIII of Philo, Philo wrote about the Festival of Unleavened

Bread and gave the two accounts concerning matzah. The first

account relates to the Exodus event as expressed in Deuteronomy

16, and the second account relates to God’s creation and nature.6 Bradshaw and Hoffman, Passover and Easter : Origin and History to Modern

Times, 63.

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you came out of the land of Egypt in great haste,” symbolizes the

actual departure from Egypt.7

The Passover Seder Ritual in the Mishnaic Period

With the destruction of the Second Temple in A.D. 70, the

practice of sacrifice came to an end, creating a vacuum in the

Passover Festival and the Seder meal. As a festival that was

anchored on a sacrificial act, and a meal that had the Passover

lamb as its centerpiece, they had lost the ritualistic essence -

The thing shown, the thing said, and the thing done were no

more.8 Passover has always been the pinnacle of all festivals

7 Deut 16:3. The Festivals of Passover and the Festival of

Unleavened Bread are sometimes treated as one festival, as in

Deuteronomy 16, but Leviticus 23: 5-6 states that, “The Lord’s

Passover is on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight.

The Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread is on the fifteenth day

of the same month. You must eat unleavened bread for seven days.”8 Jane Harrison defines rituals as integrating three basic

components: things shown, things said, and things done. See

Jonathan D. Brumberg-Kraus, ""Not by Bread Alone...": The

Ritualization of Food and Table Talk in the Passover Seder and in

the Last Supper," Semeia, no. 86 (1999): 169.

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and the mark of Jewish identity. It was at the first Passover in

Egypt that God called the Jews out to be a “new people, a new

nation, … and initiated a new time,” designating the month of

Passover as the first month of a New Year.9 Therefore, it was

critical for the Jews to preserve Passover and reconstruct its

rituals to fill the place that the Passover lamb once occupied,

and in doing so, to rebuild their religious fabric.

Matzah in the Mishnah

The significance of matzah in the Passover festival can be

derived from the Mishnah. The Festival of Unleavened Bread was

integrated into the Festival of Passover under the Tractate

Pesahim. In this Tractate, the Mishnah distinguishes between the

9 Gillian Feeley-Harnik, The Lord's Table : Eucharist and Passover in Early

Christianity (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press,

1981), 120. Also see Exodus 12:2. Prosic gives the symbolic

significance of “first month” being “a beginning,” “a positive

change,” “a time during which new, beneficial developments take

place,” the time in which natural, social or religious

retrogressions and departures from the desirable standards are

corrected.” Tamara Prosic, The Development and Symbolism of Passover

until 70 Ce (London; New York: T & T Clark International, 2004),

89.

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Passover of Egypt and the Passover of the generations, the first

being the first Passover in Egypt, which was “during one night,”

and the latter the subsequent Passovers, which are “throughout

seven days.”10 In Tractate Pesahim, the first three chapters

deal with the subjects of leavened and unleavened food. The

placement of these laws indicates the importance of the Festival

of Unleavened Bread, and also leads up to and suggests the vital

role of matzah in the Passover meal in chapter 10.

The commandment to eat matzah is established at the

beginning of Chapter 10 regarding the Passover Seder. Pesachin

10.3 states that, “they bring before him unleavened bread and

lettuce and haroseth, although haroseth is not a religious

obligation. R. Eliezer b. R. Zadok says, ‘It is a religious

obligation’.”11 By presenting the opinions of whether haroseth

is a religious obligation or not, the Mishnah is asserting

allusively that the other two items, the unleavened bread and the

10 Pes. 9:5. Danby, The Mishnah : Translated from the Hebrew with Introduction

and Brief Explanatory Notes, 148-49.11 The Mishnah : Translated from the Hebrew with Introduction and Brief Explanatory

Notes, 150.

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lettuce (which is the vegetable used for bitter herbs), are in

fact religious obligations, and there is no dispute over them.

The justification for the commandment to eat unleavened

bread on Passover was given in a later period in the Babylonian

Talmud.12 Exodus 12:3-13 sets out the regulation for the

Festival of Passover. The whole passage concerns the Passover

lamb, with only a minor comment on the unleavened bread in Exodus

12:8, “They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it

roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.”13

One could infer that the absence of the Passover lamb would also

annul the commandment to eat unleavened bread. However, the

Exodus passage continues to expound upon the regulations

regarding the Festival of the Unleavened Bread in Exodus 12:14-

20, in which 12:18 states that, “From the evening of the

fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day, you

shall eat unleavened bread.” The Talmud explains that since,

12 Pesahim 120a. The Babylonian Talmud trans. Michael L. Rodkinson,

vol. V (Boston: The Talmud Society, 1918), 257. Also see Abraham

P. Bloch, The Biblical and Historical Background of the Jewish Holy Days (New

York: Ktav Pub. House, 1978), 140.13 All Bible passages are from NRSV, unless noted otherwise.

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“Scripture indeed repeated [the precept] in the case of

unleavened bread,” matzah could, and should, be consumed during

the Seder meal, even though the Passover lamb was no more. The

Talmud continues to state that eating unleavened bread is a

permanent obligation only for the first day, while it is

voluntary for the following six days, thus heightening the

significance of matzah in the Passover seder meal.

The meaning of matzah is also modified as a result. The

Festival of Passover commemorates the pre-Exodus event on the

night when the Passover lamb was slaughtered, of which Exodus

12:27 states, “‘It is the passover sacrifice to the LORD, for he

passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck

down the Egyptians but spared our houses.” The bitter herbs and

the matzah symbolize the misery of the pre-Exodus status of the

Israelites as slaves to Pharaoh.14 On the other hand, the matzah

that was eaten during the Festival of Unleavened Bread was to

commemorate the Exodus event of the actual departure from Egypt,

and could be extended to commemorate the redemption of the

14 Bloch, The Biblical and Historical Background of the Jewish Holy Days, 111-13.

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Israelites from Egypt.15 By combining the two Festivals into

one, the meaning of redemption that could be associated with

matzah in the Festival of Unleavened Bread was now added to the

matzah eaten on the night of the Passover.

In the Bible, regarding the observance of the rite of the

Passover lamb, Exodus 12:26-27 states, “And when your children

ask you, ‘What do you mean by this observance?’ You shall say,

‘It is the passover sacrifice to the LORD, for he passed over the

houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the

Egyptians but spared our houses.’” The Mishnah extended the

question and answer in Pesahim 10.4, as well as Gamaliel’s

instruction in Pesahim 10.5 to include both the matzah and bitter

herbs as well, making equal the significances of all three items.

The question of the son to his father in Pesachim 10.4

solidifies the place of matzah. The son asks, “Why is this

night different from other nights?” referring to the eating of

bitter herbs, unleavened bread and Passover lamb. The response

of the father instructs the son, saying “he begins with disgrace

and ends with glory; and he expounds from A wandering Aramean was my15 Ibid.

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father … until he finished the whole section.” Two observations

can be made. First, the question is concerned with the three

food items, and these three originally tell the whole story from

misery, represented by the matzah and bitter herbs, to

redemption, represented by the Passover lamb. However, with the

integration of the two festivals, the dual symbolisms of matzah

can now represent the passage from misery to redemption all by

itself. Second, the passage, Deut 26:5-10, in which the father

relates to the son, is in the context of offering the first of

the fruit of the ground to God. Even though it says in verse 8,

“The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an

outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with

signs and wonders,” it does not mention the Passover lamb. Thus,

the father’s answer has in effect relieved the Passover lamb of

its burden of carrying the redemptive image, and opened the door

for matzah to take its place as the redemptive symbol in the

Passover Festival.16

16 Pes. 10.4. Danby, The Mishnah : Translated from the Hebrew with

Introduction and Brief Explanatory Notes, 150.

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The Mishnah continues to lessen the significance of the

Passover lamb and shift the theme of redemption over to the

matzah. Pesahim 10.5 states that Gamaliel specifically demanded

the Jews to fulfill their obligation by verbalizing the three

things, “Passover, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs: ‘Passover’

- because God passed over the houses of our fathers in Egypt;

‘unleavened bread’ - because our fathers were redeemed from

Egypt; ‘bitter herbs’ - because the Egyptians embittered the

lives of our fathers in Egypt.”17 In the explanation, even

though the Passover lamb is credited with protecting the houses

of the Israelites, the theme of redemption is associated

explicitly with matzah. Next, the ritual objects that were

required to be eaten (from Exodus 12:8) were transformed into

ritual objects to be spoken of, making the “Seder independent of

the sacrifice.”18 Thus, the physical presence of these items was

no longer essential, allowing the ritual to continue despite the

discontinuity of the Passover lamb. In addition, the previous

17 Pes.10.5. The Mishnah : Translated from the Hebrew with Introduction and

Brief Explanatory Notes, 151.18 Baruch M. Bokser, "Ritualizing the Seder," Journal of the American

Academy of Religion 56, no. 3 (1988): 443.

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free-flowing conversation is now structured into a set of

predetermined questions and answers, with the focus on the

retelling of the Exodus story, as we read from Gamaliel’s

instructions.19

Regulations concerning Matzah in the Seder Meal

With matzah established as a redemptive symbol, the

regulations regarding the eating of the Passover lamb were

accordingly applied to the consuming of matzah – when to eat, how

to eat, and the severity of not abiding to these rules.20 The

entire Seder meal was centered around the matzah, from the

19 A rabbinic account is used to emphasize the importance of the

spoken words. Tosefta 10:11-12 speaks of several rabbis, while

celebrating the Passover, talked about the Exodus from Egypt,

“relate the Exodus story … until the cock crows.” Bradshaw and

Hoffman, Passover and Easter : Origin and History to Modern Times, 100.

Tosefta 10:11-12, Baruch M. Bokser, The Origins of the Seder : The Passover

Rite and Early Rabbinic Judaism (Berkeley: University of California

Press, 1984), 70.20 Paul F. Bradshaw and Lawrence A. Hoffman, Passover and Easter : The

Symbolic Structuring of Sacred Seasons (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of

Notre Dame Press, 1999), 117-8.

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benediction at the beginning, the Hillel sandwich during, and the

afilkomen at the end, as well as the questions and discussion

preceding the meal.

The benediction given at the beginning of the meal was given

while holding up a piece of matzah and reciting, “Behold the

bread of affliction,” which was a reference to Deuteronomy

16:3.21 This was the instance when the Passover lamb would have

been brought in. During the meal, a piece of matzah was used to

replace the Passover lamb in order to make the Hillel sandwich.

The tradition was that Hillel would eat matzah together with the

Passover lamb and the bitter herbs to literally follow the

Biblical commandment of Numbers 9:11. After A.D. 70, this

tradition became the Hillel sandwich, consisting of a piece of

matzah for its normal purpose, bitter herbs, and another piece of

matzah to symbolize the Passover lamb.22 Finally, at the end of

21 “ … Unleavened bread, bread symbolizing misery…” from Deut

16:3. Also see Passover and Easter : The Symbolic Structuring of Sacred Seasons

(Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1999), 119.

B. Ber 38a. 22 Pesahim 115a. Maurice and Epstein Simon, Isidore, "The

Babylonian Talmud," Soncino Press,

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the meal, matzah was eaten again, this time being called the

afilkomen, which was again a replacement of the Passover lamb.

The term afilkomen was originally associated with “dinner music”

or “dessert,” which was something forbidden after consuming the

Passover lamb.23 The rationale was that there should be no

after-dinner activity or food that would distract one from the

essence and taste of Passover. However, after the cessation of

the Passover lamb, afilkomen was reinterpreted to be the matzah

that was consumed at the end of the Seder meal. Matzah was what

remained in the mouth and the mind as the ritual came to an end,

just as the Passover lamb would have been. It was the tradition

to hide the afilkomen at the beginning of the meal in order for

the children to find it at the end. This practical consideration

was meant to keep the children awake and excited throughout the

entire meal. However, a more salient explanation is derived from

Second Maccabees 2. Jeremiah had hidden a piece of manna from

http://halakhah.com/berakoth/index.html.23 Pesahim 10.8 - “After the Passover meal, they should not

disperse to join in revelry.” Also see Feeley-Harnik, The Lord's

Table : Eucharist and Passover in Early Christianity, 123. And The Babylonian

Talmud V, 256. Pes 10.8

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the Ark of the Covenant in a cave, and when “God gathers his

people together again and shows his mercy,” He will reveal the

hidden manna.24 In addition, in the midrash for Genesis, bread

is associated with the future deliverance of Israel. The Garden

of Eden was pictured as “replete with bread trees,” and, in the

future, God would replicate “the blissful state of the Garden of

Eden,” and bring forth “bread from the earth.”25 Furthermore,

when the Messiah comes, he will once again “give his people

manna,” the “bread” that God made to “rain down from the sky”

during Israel’s exodus (Exodus 16:4).26 Therefore, matzah, the

unleavened bread, is being linked with the bread in the Garden of

Eden and the bread of manna, to symbolize God’s future

deliverance.

24 The Lord's Table : Eucharist and Passover in Early Christianity, 114. 2

Maccabees 2:8.25 Bradshaw and Hoffman, Passover and Easter : The Symbolic Structuring of

Sacred Seasons, 116-7. B Ber 38a/b. And B'reshith Rabba 15:7.

http://archive.org/stream/RabbaGenesis/midrashrabbahgen027557mb

p#page/n169/mode/2up.26 Arthur Darby Nock, Early Gentile Christianity and Its Hellenistic Background

(New York: Harper & Row, 1964), 128.

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The three occurrences of matzah during the Seder meal

demonstrate that it had taken over the place of the Passover

lamb. In the first instance, matzah recalled the misery of the

Jews in Egypt, just as the Passover sacrifice had been a

commemoration of their first Passover. The second instance was a

direct substitution of matzah for the Passover lamb in the Hillel

sandwich. Finally, in the third instance, matzah replaced the

Passover lamb regarding hope for the future. Whereas the annual

sacrifice would invoke God’s protection for the household that,

“no plague will come upon them to slay or to smite in that year,”

the afilkomen represented their longing for the future and final

deliverance by God.27

To conclude these two sections, after the destruction of the

temple in A.D. 70, the main focus of the Passover Festival had

turned from the sacrificial act that used to take place before

the evening meal to the Seder meal itself. The Passover lamb,

previously the centerpiece of the festival and the meal, that

27 R. H. Charles and G. H. Box, The Book of Jubilees; or the Little Genesis

(London; New York: Society for promoting Christian knowledge; The

Macmillan company, 1917), 210.

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initiated and provided the framework for the free flowing

conversation, was now replaced by the matzah. Conversations were

also formalized to explain the significance of the meal as God

having redeemed the Israelites from disgrace to glory, and will

do so again. Matzah has gained a prominent position equal to

and even greater than the Passover lamb in the Seder meal, and

the Mishnah has attained the goal of emphasizing that, “the

Passover celebration can and should continue even without the

Passover lamb.”28

Matzah and the Bread of the Lord’s Supper

In this last section of the paper, I wish to point out some

similarities between the matzah of the Passover Seder meal and

the bread of the Lord’s Supper, for conversation and further

research. The comparison is limited to the New Testament

passages.

28 Bokser, The Origins of the Seder : The Passover Rite and Early Rabbinic Judaism,

48.

19

The three instances that matzah was brought out during the

Seder meal have parallels in the New Testament. The benediction

for the bread during the Seder meal, while holding up the matzah

and reciting, “This is the bread of affliction that our

forefathers ate in the land of Egypt,” parallels with the Last

Supper account in Luke, where Jesus said, “This is my body, which

is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).29

For Jews, the benediction reminds them of their misery and

suffering in Egypt. The Eucharistic words, on the other hand,

remind Christians of Christ’s suffering. Later in the Seder

meal, matzah was used as a replacement for the Passover lamb in

Hillel’s sandwich. In the Lord’s Supper, bread was used to

represent Jesus’ body. Paul referred to Jesus as “our paschal

lamb,” who “has been sacrificed” (1 Cor 5:7). Therefore, on the

side of Judaism, matzah equals Passover lamb; on the side of

Christianity, bread equals Jesus who is the Passover lamb.

Finally, the association of the afilkomen with the revelation of

the manna and the heavenly banquet parallels the Christian’s hope

29 Similar to 1 Cor 11:24, “This is my body that is for you. Do

this in remembrance of me.”

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of the second coming of Christ, which is alluded to in 1 Cor

11:26, that, “Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup,

you broadcast the death of the Lord until he comes.”

When Christianity was considered a sect within Judaism in

the early period, it was critical for the Jewish rabbis to refute

any heresy by putting forth the orthodox teachings on Judaism and

its traditions. Later, when the two groups began to drift apart,

and two different religions and belief systems were emerging,

these teachings and traditions become the border that, “when

crossed, meant that someone had … left one group for another.”30

Therefore, it was necessary for the rabbis to clearly define what

matzah symbolized. The Mishnah provided the means of doing so by

putting forth the laws concerning matzah during the Passover

seder meal. In particular, instead of letting the participants

talk freely about the meanings of the ritual during the meal, the

conversation was changed to a structured discussion and moved to

before the meal, to eliminate “the danger of the service being

set on a wrong course,” and to prevent “any fundamentally new

30 Daniel Boyarin, Border Lines : The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity

(Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), 2.

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significance being attached to the meal.”31 By insisting that

the three items, Passover, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs, be

explained, Gamaliel was also “demanding a declaration of loyalty

to the Jewish interpretation.”32 The rituals surrounding matzah

may not be developed as a polemic against the bread in the Lord’s

Supper. However, given that rituals are organic and evolve over

time, it is not unreasonable to expect that some ritualistic

elements surrounding the matzah were developed in response to the

Christian Lord’s Supper ritual.

Judaism and Christianity had a common Biblical heritage in

the past and a shared hope in the future. The development of the

matzah was about the thing shown, said and done within the Seder

ritual. After the destruction of the second temple, matzah took

the place of the Passover lamb to symbolize the passage from

slavery to freedom in the Exodus, and to look forward to God’s

future redemption. Its evolution in the Seder ritual also

demonstrates the delicate and mutual relationship between Judaism31 David Daube, The New Testament and Rabbinic Judaism (Peabody, Mass.:

Hendrickson Publishers, 1990), 194-5.32 Bradshaw and Hoffman, Passover and Easter : Origin and History to Modern

Times, 107.

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and Christianity, and the theme of redemption that both religions

hold deeply. Just as the Lord’s Supper is a living credo for

Christians, the Passover Seder meal is also a living credo for

Jews, in which the historical, eschatological, and theological

beliefs of Judaism are acted and spoken in a meal ritual.33

33 Passover and Easter : Origin and History to Modern Times, 113.

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Extra notes for myself.

1. Passover and Unleavened Bread Festivals - one or two?a. Passover - originally a nomadic pastoral festival, Unleavened

Bread - agricultural festivalb. Tamara Prosic’s The Development and Symbolism of Passover until

70CEc. J.B. Segal - 79 -

2. New Yearsa. religious and civic calendar (Rosh HaShanah and Passover) - fall

and spring3. Biblical command to tell about Passover

a. Ex 12:26-27 - when your children ask … (p6)b. also in Ex 13:8 - You shall tell your child on that day, ‘It is

because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ referring to the festival of the unleavened bread, but possibly onthe first day - but no Passover lamb is mentioned. Joseph Tabory (Towards a History of the Paschal Meal, p62) claims that there is no eating of the Passover lamb in the meal.

4. Gamaliel II - who lived just after the destruction of the second temple. also the one who changed the structure of the Amidah to include the Benediction regarding the heretics. (Tabory , p.69, Bloch 138)

5. Diaspora Jews - how did they celebrate Passover? with roast meat? maybe customs already developed concerning matzah?? don’t know. maybe 2 cooked dishes, which later took on the meaning to represent the offerings that had once been brought to the temple as part of the Passover sacrificial regimen - ie. not to be eaten… (Tabory p.72)

6. Yuval (Early Jewish-Christian Dialogue) p100 - Epistula Apostolorum - an apocryphal composition dated to the third Q of the second century - Jesus appearing to his disciples telling them how to celebrate Passover by remembering his death, and tells the story of Peter being jailed (Acts 12) and freed - the feast also lasted all night long - night of vigil.

7. Melito also described afilkomen as a symbol of Jesus (Yuval 107)

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8. Abraham Bloch (The Biblical and Historical Background of the Jewish Holy Days, p125) - psalms (Hallel) used to be sung by the Levites, but Talmud states lay people sang this too at the temple and during the meal

9. Goodman - The Passover Anthology p125- Persian king Darius II to theJewish garrison in 419 BC (in Elephantine, Egypt) to celebrate Passover on the 14th, and Unleavened bread from 15th to 21st

10. Goodman 135 - Philo - unleavened bread - for its purity, like that in creation

11. Feeley (125) - Philo - Special laws 2:158 - in springtime, when the feast is held, the crops are not yet ripw for harvest - imperfection of this fruit which belonged to the future is paralleled by the unleavened food, which is also imperfect but promises future abundance. - reminder of creation

12. Goodman 142 - Josephus - 8 days of feast - unleavened bread (Jewish Antiquities II.311-317) - Passover lamb - passing over, bread - haste and scarcity in departure

13. Lawrence Hoffman - A Symbol in the Seder (111) - matzah to be eaten on the first night, with a minimum quantity (size of an olive), no eating unleavened bread before (Pes 10.1) - but not certain if it points to unleavened bread, and the reason for it.

14. afilkomen - different intepretations - Hoffman (112, 126-127) forwhy it is translated as after dinner carousing, because accounts forTalmudic interpretations: music, dessert, going from house to house.

15. Hoffman 121 - explanation of benediction over bread 16. Baruch Bokser (The Origins of the Seder) - p1 - temple based

religion17. Bokser 18 - unleavened bread either as part of a separate

festival, or as an accompaniment to lamb.18. Bokser 21 - Samaritan - sacrificial nature of Passover evening

and centrality of Passover offering. Qumran - believed no sacrifices could be offered (anti-Temple), no apocryphal and sectarians texts treatment of Passover.

19. Bokser 38 - Mishnah - Passover eve ritual starts at the same hourat which the sacrificial meal started during the time of temple. Two pre-destruction customs in Mishnah

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20. JB Segal 259 - significance of the Passover lamb - began with theactual sacrifice of the victim which was the central feature of the whole Pesah, NOT beginning with the meal

26

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