Freethought & Rationalism Archive

stephan huller · 04-10-2012, 12:33 AM

It is interesting that Marqe also reminds the reader of a detail often ignored in Exodus - the same signs which were destructive to Egypt were shown to the Israeltes enslaved in Egypt before Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh in order to strengthen their resolve:

Quote:

They entered Egypt without being unduly expectant about anything, but the Good One was with them in the unseen, invisible. They slept that night and arose next morning and hastily assembled the Elders of the congregation (Ex. iv. 29). Aaron revealed to them the name which his Lord had disclosed to Moses (Ex. iv. 30). Their hearts were gladdened when they heard that; they said to one another, "This is a sign showing us that deliverance is near."

After that Aaron performed the signs in their presence, and they all believed (Ex. iv. 3 1 ) that God had sent them that day. When the chiefs heard, they reported to the whole congregation, and they too believed and gave thanks. They uttered words of praise, as on the day when Pharaoh the king died. They sighed and they cried aloud; they proclaimed, "God remembers! He does not forget anything." They bowed their heads and worshipped (Ex. iv. 3 1 ; Targ.) the God of their fathers. [Mimar Marqe 1.4]

The passage in Exodus is:

Quote:

29 Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, 30 and Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, 31 and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

stephan huller · 04-10-2012, 09:00 AM

I've just discovered an older Samaritan liturgy which I think might be easier to fit with the gospel narrative. There are eight (or nine) Sabbath readings from Exodus starting on the first Sabbath in the eleventh month (= Epiphany). The reading for the first sabbath interestingly is Exodus 1:1 - 7:9 which would include Moses being taken out of the water to the magic trick with the snake to show Pharaoh. The reading ends just as God instructs the brothers to go to Pharaoh. http://books.google.com/books?id=KkU...the%22&f=false How does this compare with the gospel? While Mark does not begin with the killing of the firstborn it did make its ay into the gospel

stephan huller · 04-10-2012, 10:30 AM

I have had a lot of stupid ideas. This is not one of them. I bet I can.demonstrate that Mark took a pre-existent gospel narrative and arranged it according to the book of exodus as already arranged in the samaritan liturgy (which itself was arranged likekly by someone named Mark)

stephan huller · 04-10-2012, 12:22 PM

Actually I am going through the liturgy and I noticed it isn't clear about whether the last reading INCLUDED Exodus 7:9. When I look at the entry for the next Sabbath it says Exodus 7:9 - 12:1 so I can't figure out if there was overlap.

My guess is that the reading of stopped somewhere before 7:9. It makes no sense to stop at 7:8 "And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying ..." So I guess they end with the instruction to Moses and Aaron on week 1 without the snake sign.

So the reading for the Sabbath 1 - the first sabbath of the eleventh month started at the beginning of Exodus and went down to:

Quote:

Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.” Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them. Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh. The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron,

Sabbath 2 would star with 7:9:

Quote:

“When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake. So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.

all the way through the various signs until:

Quote:

The LORD had said to Moses, “Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you—so that my wonders may be multiplied in Egypt.” Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.

Apparently in addition to this reading there was the repetition of Exodus 20:8 f:

Quote:

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Zimmuth (= the 'conjunction' of Moses and Aaron) Afsa takes place on the 15th (which falls in the third week). I am not sure of this wasn't originally celebrated on the first of the month. According to our liturgy it would be celebrated on the 15th and the reading is from Exodus 30:12:

Quote:

“When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them. 13 Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel,[c] according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD. 14 All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the LORD. 15 The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives. 16 Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD, making atonement for your lives.”

Then on Sabbath 3 from Exodus 12:1:

Quote:

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb[a] for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.

down to the end of Exodus chapter 18:

Quote:

Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26 They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves. Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.

stephan huller · 04-10-2012, 01:39 PM

The calendar in the year of Jesus's death most looked like this;

11th month

x x x x 1 2 3 Sabbath 1 of Exodus/ Epiphany or Beginning of the Gospel of Mark (and Luke?)
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Sabbath 2 of Exodus
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Sabbath 3 of Exodus/Zimmuth Hafsa
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Sabbath 4 of Exodus

12th month

x x x x x x 1 Sabbath 5 of Exodus
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sabbath 6 of Exodus
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Sabbath 7 of Exodus
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Sabbath 8 of Exodus
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Sabbath 9 of Exodus

1st month

x x x x x x 1 Sabbath 1 of Leviticus
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sabbath 2 of Leviticus
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Passover/Execution of Jesus end of the Gospel of Mark

without the solar 12 x 30 day months and five intercalendar days (attested by the Montanists and Marcosians and Samaritan Dositheans) the calendar can be adjusted to the lunar calendar too.

stephan huller · 04-10-2012, 02:05 PM

To continue with the Samaritan liturgy:

Sabbath 4 - reading begins with 19:1:

Quote:

On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on that very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. 2 After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. 3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you[a] will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

down to Exodus 25.1:

Quote:

When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. The LORD said to Moses.

My suspicion would be that this would coincide with the Transfiguration.

stephan huller · 04-10-2012, 02:08 PM

Sabbath 5 (the first Sabbath of the twelfth month in this year) starts at 25:2:

Quote:

“Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. 3 These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; 4 blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; 5 ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather[a]; acacia wood; 6 olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 7 and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece. 8 “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.

and goes down to the end of chapter 28:

Quote:

“Weave the tunic of fine linen and make the turban of fine linen. The sash is to be the work of an embroiderer. 40 Make tunics, sashes and caps for Aaron’s sons to give them dignity and honor. 41 After you put these clothes on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint and ordain them. Consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. 42 “Make linen undergarments as a covering for the body, reaching from the waist to the thigh. 43 Aaron and his sons must wear them whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they will not incur guilt and die. “This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants.

The reading forms a natural unit dealing with the sanctification of the tabernacle.

stephan huller · 04-10-2012, 02:16 PM

Sabbath 6 - reading starts at 29.1:

Quote:

“This is what you are to do to consecrate them, so they may serve me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without defect. 2 And from the finest wheat flour make round loaves without yeast, thick loaves without yeast and with olive oil mixed in, and thin loaves without yeast and brushed with olive oil. 3 Put them in a basket and present them along with the bull and the two rams. 4 Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 5 Take the garments and dress Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself and the breastpiece. Fasten the ephod on him by its skillfully woven waistband. 6 Put the turban on his head and attach the sacred emblem to the turban. 7 Take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head. 8 Bring his sons and dress them in tunics 9 and fasten caps on them. Then tie sashes on Aaron and his sons.[a] The priesthood is theirs by a lasting ordinance.

and continue to Exod 31.18:

Quote:

Then the LORD said to Moses, 13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. 14 “‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. 15 For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death. 16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” 18 When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

stephan huller · 04-10-2012, 03:06 PM

Sabbath 7 starts with the Golden Calf incident at Exodus 31.19:

Quote:

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods[a] who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” 2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods,[b] Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.” 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

to 36.19:

Quote:

All those who were skilled among the workers made the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim woven into them by expert hands. 9 All the curtains were the same size—twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide.[a] 10 They joined five of the curtains together and did the same with the other five. 11 Then they made loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and the same was done with the end curtain in the other set. 12 They also made fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the other set, with the loops opposite each other. 13 Then they made fifty gold clasps and used them to fasten the two sets of curtains together so that the tabernacle was a unit.
14 They made curtains of goat hair for the tent over the tabernacle—eleven altogether. 15 All eleven curtains were the same size—thirty cubits long and four cubits wide.[b] 16 They joined five of the curtains into one set and the other six into another set. 17 Then they made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set and also along the edge of the end curtain in the other set. 18 They made fifty bronze clasps to fasten the tent together as a unit. 19 Then they made for the tent a covering of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of the other durable leather.

stephan huller · 04-10-2012, 03:10 PM

Sabbath 8 starts with the description of the stromata of the tabernacle (Exod 36:20):

Quote:

They made upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle. 21 Each frame was ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide,[d] 22 with two projections set parallel to each other. They made all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 23 They made twenty frames for the south side of the tabernacle 24 and made forty silver bases to go under them—two bases for each frame, one under each projection. 25 For the other side, the north side of the tabernacle, they made twenty frames 26 and forty silver bases—two under each frame. 27 They made six frames for the far end, that is, the west end of the tabernacle, 28 and two frames were made for the corners of the tabernacle at the far end. 29 At these two corners the frames were double from the bottom all the way to the top and fitted into a single ring; both were made alike. 30 So there were eight frames and sixteen silver bases—two under each frame.

31 They also made crossbars of acacia wood: five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, 32 five for those on the other side, and five for the frames on the west, at the far end of the tabernacle. 33 They made the center crossbar so that it extended from end to end at the middle of the frames. 34 They overlaid the frames with gold and made gold rings to hold the crossbars. They also overlaid the crossbars with gold.

35 They made the curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. 36 They made four posts of acacia wood for it and overlaid them with gold. They made gold hooks for them and cast their four silver bases. 37 For the entrance to the tent they made a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer; 38 and they made five posts with hooks for them. They overlaid the tops of the posts and their bands with gold and made their five bases of bronze.

to the end of the book which mentions ritual washing and the glory:

Quote:

He placed the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing, 31 and Moses and Aaron and his sons used it to wash their hands and feet. 32 They washed whenever they entered the tent of meeting or approached the altar, as the LORD commanded Moses. Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.

The traditional dating of the crossing of the Jordan is on the first of Nissan which normally follows this reading in 'real time.'

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04-10-2012, 09:00 AM	#12
stephan huller Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: seattle, wa Posts: 9,337	I've just discovered an older Samaritan liturgy which I think might be easier to fit with the gospel narrative. There are eight (or nine) Sabbath readings from Exodus starting on the first Sabbath in the eleventh month (= Epiphany). The reading for the first sabbath interestingly is Exodus 1:1 - 7:9 which would include Moses being taken out of the water to the magic trick with the snake to show Pharaoh. The reading ends just as God instructs the brothers to go to Pharaoh. http://books.google.com/books?id=KkU...the%22&f=false How does this compare with the gospel? While Mark does not begin with the killing of the firstborn it did make its ay into the gospel

04-10-2012, 10:30 AM	#13
stephan huller Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: seattle, wa Posts: 9,337	I have had a lot of stupid ideas. This is not one of them. I bet I can.demonstrate that Mark took a pre-existent gospel narrative and arranged it according to the book of exodus as already arranged in the samaritan liturgy (which itself was arranged likekly by someone named Mark)

04-10-2012, 01:39 PM	#15
stephan huller Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: seattle, wa Posts: 9,337	The calendar in the year of Jesus's death most looked like this; 11th month x x x x 1 2 3 Sabbath 1 of Exodus/ Epiphany or Beginning of the Gospel of Mark (and Luke?) 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Sabbath 2 of Exodus 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Sabbath 3 of Exodus/Zimmuth Hafsa 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Sabbath 4 of Exodus 12th month x x x x x x 1 Sabbath 5 of Exodus 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sabbath 6 of Exodus 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Sabbath 7 of Exodus 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Sabbath 8 of Exodus 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Sabbath 9 of Exodus 1st month x x x x x x 1 Sabbath 1 of Leviticus 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sabbath 2 of Leviticus 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Passover/Execution of Jesus end of the Gospel of Mark without the solar 12 x 30 day months and five intercalendar days (attested by the Montanists and Marcosians and Samaritan Dositheans) the calendar can be adjusted to the lunar calendar too.

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