Terumah:
Where the showbreads jump from Judaism to
Christianity
The
relation of the Jewish Temple cult to the Christian
tradition can be seen in Portion Terumah (Exodus 25-27).
In Exodus 25, we encounter the mysterious term
“showbreads,” lechem panim, in Hebrew. The term dates from
William Tyndale’s pathbreaking translation of the Bible
directly from Hebrew into English around 1530. He coined
the term “Shewbreads because it was always in the presence
of the sight of the Lord.” (Tyndale’s Old Testament, David
Daniell, Yale, 123). Alternatively, it is translated “bread
of the Presence.” (Archaelogical Study Bible, Zondervan,
NIV translation, 133).
According to Exodus 25, the showbreads are placed on an
ornate table of acacia wood, which is inside the
Tabernacle. The recipe is set forth in Leviticus 24. The
showbreads are to be made of fine flour. Twelve loafs are
to be baked. Each loaf is to be two-tenths of an ephah.
Rambam said that each loaf was to be the volume of 86.4
eggs. Each Sabbath the showbreads were to be placed in two
stacks on a table before God. Pure frankincense was to be
placed on each stack. The classic commentators said that
the showbreads were backed on Friday and displayed on
Saturday. The old showbreads were given to the priests to
eat. Miraculously, the showbreads always remained fresh.
(Artscroll Chumash, 691).
According to 1 Chronicles 9, in the Temple, the Kohathites,
a branch of the Levites, baked the showbreads.
Showbreads are the center of one of the David stories and
the basis of a Jesus story.
In 1 Samuel 21, David flees King Saul who wants to kill
him. David goes alone to Nob, site of the Hebrew cult,
after Philistines destroyed the Tabernacle at Shiloh. David
told High Priest that he was on a secret mission for the
King. Actually, David, traveling alone, was hiding. David
asks for bread for his men. There was no regular bread at
Nob because everyone living there was a kohen (priest).
The High Priest interpreted the rules so David could eat.
He asked David if anyone in his group had been with a woman
David said they had not been with women for at least the
past two days and the current day. The High Priest
concluded that David and his men were ritually pure and
could partake of the Showbreads The High Priest gave
showbreads to David. (Artscroll Samuel, 139-141, footnotes
fill in the details of Scripture).
This story of David and the showbreads were picked up by
the Gospel writers Matthew, Mark and John. Jesus and his
followers are traveling through a grainfield on the
Sabbath. Jesus's followers break off wheat, crush it and
eat it. The Pharisees--the rabbis--chastise Jesus for
violating the Sabbath. The Gospel writers use this incident
to criticize the literal application of the Law.
At Luke 6, Jesus says, "Have you not even read what David
did when he was hungry, he and those that were with him?"
At Matthew 12 Jesus says, "How he entered the House of God
and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful
for him to eat, nor for those with him, but the priests
alone?
Matthew omits that the High Priest, determined that David
and his men were ritually pure and could partake of the
showbreads.
At Matthew 12, Jesus continues, "Or have you not read the
Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the Temple break
the Sabbath and are innocent?
Matthew omits that the priests as part of their role, did
the work of sacrifice on the Sabbath.
At Matthew 12 Jesus criticizes the Sabbath,"The Sabbath was
made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is
Lord even of the Sabbath."
(Quotes from Gospels are from Archaelogical Bible,
Zondervan, NIV translation, 1579, 1678).
Did the Gospel writers interpret or erroneously cite the
David story. The distinction is in the mind of the
reader.
Eikev
Pinchas
P'dukei
Shoftim
Miketz
Bechukotai
Terumah
Tazriah-Metzora
Lech Lecha
Va-era
Re'eh
RH2
Vayeira
