Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Exodus 12:7-12
We left off last week with the people selecting a lamb and keeping it for four days to inspect it for imperfections. Then they were to kill the lamb in the twinkling of an eye or in English, twilight. The Creator continues his instructions for the first Pesach (Passover) today.
We read that they must put haDam (the blood) of the lamb on their door posts and lintel, followed by eating roasted lamb along with Matsoat (unleavened bread) and m'roreem (bitter herbs). There are instructions not to eat it raw or nor boiled, but roasted over fire. They were to eat it all that same night and leave nothing - it must all be eaten. God mentions the head, legs and 'inner parts' specifically. If anything was left of the animal, it must be burned before morning light.
They must eat the meal with their clothes on, as if they were ready for a trip, sandals on, and staff in hand. Lastly, the meal should be eaten in a hurry. In 2025, the Pesach takes a minimum of two hours to complete, the memorial of what happened, with readings and traditions taking most of the time leading up to the meal.
There are two things that get me about this reading we are doing today. One: That needed to cook the lamb with all its guts still in it. That cannot make it taste better. The other thing is that they were to eat it with haste. It makes sense to eat it quickly because at any moment they were to be set free. When an angry ruler is upset enough to set you free after his son dies, that same ruler might also change his mind and want to kill you, which did after happen after all and we will see that happening just before the red sea crossing. Today, we do Pesach and we take out time to read all related stories and observe many, many other requirements in the Seder (order).
Today's reading
English
"Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is YHVH's Passover."
Hebrew
Next week, why it is called Passover...
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
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Thanks for reading.