Samaritan Torah, פַּרְשַׁת בֹּא

[lethargic_man]

No comments on any of these since פַּרְשַׁת נֹחַ back in October; is anyone still reading these?

Exodus 10:12-13	שמות י יב-יג
The Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left." And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.	וַיֹּאמֶר ה׳ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה נְטֵה יָדְךָ עַל־אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם בָּאַרְבֶּה וְיַעַל עַל־אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם וְיֹאכַל אֶת־כָּל־עֵשֶׂב הָאָרֶץ אֵת כָּל־אֲשֶׁר הִשְׁאִיר הַבָּרָד׃ וַיֵּט מֹשֶׁה אֶת־מַטֵּהוּ עַל־אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם וַה׳ נִהַג רוּחַ־קָדִים בָּאָרֶץ כָּל־הַיּוֹם הַהוּא וְכָל־הַלָּיְלָה הַבֹּקֶר הָיָה וְרוּחַ הַקָּדִים נָשָׂא אֶת־הָאַרְבֶּה׃

What are you doing stretching forth your staff, Moses? God told you to stretch forth your hand! And so indeed he does in the Samaritan text.

When the Israelites went up out of Egypt, it says (Ex. 12:38):

And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.

וְגַם־עֵרֶב רַב עָלָה אִתָּם וְצֹאן וּבָקָר מִקְנֶה כָּבֵד מְאֹד׃

The term for "mixed multitude" is עֵרֶב רַב. In the Samaritan text they're spelled as a single word, ערברב. To my surprise, I was able to find this word in my dictionary, though only in Modern Hebrew:

עֵרֶבְרַב m.n. NH confusion; medley. [Biblical Heb. עֵרֶב רַב written in one word; see עֵרֶב^I and רַב (adj.). cp. Aram. עֵירַבְרְבִין (Targum of אֲסַףְסוּף, Num. 11:14).] Derivative: עֵרֶבְרָבִי

In Exodus 12:40, it says:

Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.

וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה׃

This is all well and good, but if you count up the time-periods, it doesn't add up! Traditionally, this is counted from the birth of Isaac, which is fine, but doesn't make sense given that Isaac lived his whole life, and Jacob most of his, in Canaan! The Samaritan text reads here:

Now the sojourning of the children of Israel and their ancestors, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.

וּמוֹשַׁב בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֲבוֹתֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר יָשְׁבוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה׃

This of course only works if you interpret "and their ancestors" as parenthetical in a way English doesn't really do.

Exodus 13:6–7 says:

Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with you, neither shall there be leaven seen with you in all your quarters.

שִׁבְעַת יָמִים תֹּאכַל מַצֹּת וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי חַג לַה׳׃ מַצּוֹת יֵאָכֵל אֵת שִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים וְלֹא־יֵרָאֶה לְךָ חָמֵץ וְלֹא־יֵרָאֶה לְךָ שְׂאֹר בְּכָל־גְּבֻלֶךָ׃

The Samaritan Torah curiously changes the first "seven" to "six", but not the second (or other references to Passover in the Torah):

Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with you, neither shall there be leaven seen with you in all your quarters.

שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תֹּאכַל מַצּוֹת וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי חַג לַה׳׃ מַצּוֹת יֵאָכֵל אֵת שִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים וְלֹא־יֵרָאֶה לְךָ חָמֵץ לֹא־יֵרָאֶה לְךָ שְׂאֹר בְּכָל־גְּבוּלֶךָ׃

I'd guess what's going on here is that they want to make the last day of Pesach a completely separate festival standing in the same relation to Pesach that Shemini Atseres does to Succos.

Exodus 13:14-13:16

שמות יג יד-יג טז

It shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, "What is this?" that you shall tell him: By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage. It came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord every male that opens the womb; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem. It shall be for a token upon your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes: for by strength of hand the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt.

וְהָיָה כִּי־יִשְׁאָלְךָ בִנְךָ מָחָר לֵאמֹר מַה־זֹּאת וְאָמַרְתָּ אֵלָיו בְּחֹזֶק יָד הוֹצִיאָנוּ ה׳ מִמִּצְרַיִם מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים׃ וַיְהִי כִּי־הִקְשָׁה פַרְעֹה לְשַׁלְּחֵנוּ וַיַּהֲרֹג ה׳ כָּל־בְּכוֹר בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבְּכֹר אָדָם וְעַד־בְּכוֹר בְּהֵמָה עַל־כֵּן אֲנִי זֹבֵחַ לַה׳ כָּל־פֶּטֶר רֶחֶם הַזְּכָרִים וְכָל־בְּכוֹר בָּנַי אֶפְדֶּה׃ וְהָיָה לְאוֹת עַל־יָדְכָה וּלְטוֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ כִּי בְּחֹזֶק יָד הוֹצִיאָנוּ ה׳ מִמִּצְרָיִם׃

Let's have a look at the middle verse first. In the Samaritan text the Israelites' animals weren't so lucky:

It came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all every male birth that opens the womb; but every human firstborn of my children I redeem.

וַיְהִי כִּי־הִקְשָׁה פַרְעֹה לְשַׁלְּחֵנוּ וַיַּהֲרֹג ה׳ כָּל־בְּכוֹר בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבְּכוֹר אָדָם עַד־בְּכוֹר בְּהֵמָה עַל־כֵּן אֲנִי זֹבֵחַ לַה׳ כָּל־פֶּטֶר רֶחֶם הַזְּכָרִים וְכָל־בְּכוֹר אָדָם בְּבָנַי אֶפְדֶּה׃

The curious thing is in the last verse, where the Samaritan text doesn't say "...brought us out of the land of Egypt", but "...brought you (singular)." I'm not sure whether this is taking the idea that in every generation we should regard ourselves as having been taken out of the land of Egypt one step further, or in fact arguing the opposite. It depends on whether you interpret the last verse as being inside or outside the quotation, i.e. whether the introduced "you" refers to the "you" being addressed in the first verse, or the son being talked to by his father.

Samaritan Torah notes         Jewish learning notes index

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[pseudomonas]

Yes, still reading.