Most critical commentators do not accept the Mosaic authorship of the first five books of the Bible and this passage in Exodus 12:1-13:6 is one of the passages which is seen as having been compiled by putting together different sources at a later date.
If we read the narrative, we find that 12:1-20 reads like a prescription of how to observe the Passover in the future. Then from verse 21-42 the tone changes and it becomes active voice narrating how the first passover took place and does not contain some of the prescriptions given earlier. From verse 43-50 there are some sundry regulations on the observance of the Passover in the future. From 13:1-16 the Feast of Unleavened Bread is described as the festival to celebrate their departure from Egypt.
If Moses wrote the narrative, it is asked, why there is a lack of consistency and coherence in the narrative.
My thesis is that, while the text was composed by Moses, it was done ar different times. We need to remember that Moses was with the Israelites for forty years in the jourbey from Egypt. The core of the narrative would be from his travel diary recording the events as they happened Ex 12:20-42. At the time when he assembled the Penteteuch, near the end of his life, he would have written Ex 12:1-20 on how to observe the Passover and there would have been some practices develioped over the 38 odd years.
Exodus 12:43-50 may have been additions by Moses to the observance of the Passover to deal with questions that arose during the time in the wilderness on who could observe the Passover.
Exodus 13:1-16 is less clear. The recognition that the first-born belong to God seems to have gained in importance and is shown to be an integral part of the remembrance of the Exodus in the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This was probably written during the wilderness wanderings to emphasize this teaching. It is probably inserted here, rather than Exodus 12:1-20 so as not to spoil that comprehensive detailing of the Passover. So instead is added at the end of the narrative.
Instead of seeing different sources used by a later author, I prefer to think that it was written by Moses but at different times.
If we read the narrative, we find that 12:1-20 reads like a prescription of how to observe the Passover in the future. Then from verse 21-42 the tone changes and it becomes active voice narrating how the first passover took place and does not contain some of the prescriptions given earlier. From verse 43-50 there are some sundry regulations on the observance of the Passover in the future. From 13:1-16 the Feast of Unleavened Bread is described as the festival to celebrate their departure from Egypt.
If Moses wrote the narrative, it is asked, why there is a lack of consistency and coherence in the narrative.
My thesis is that, while the text was composed by Moses, it was done ar different times. We need to remember that Moses was with the Israelites for forty years in the jourbey from Egypt. The core of the narrative would be from his travel diary recording the events as they happened Ex 12:20-42. At the time when he assembled the Penteteuch, near the end of his life, he would have written Ex 12:1-20 on how to observe the Passover and there would have been some practices develioped over the 38 odd years.
Exodus 12:43-50 may have been additions by Moses to the observance of the Passover to deal with questions that arose during the time in the wilderness on who could observe the Passover.
Exodus 13:1-16 is less clear. The recognition that the first-born belong to God seems to have gained in importance and is shown to be an integral part of the remembrance of the Exodus in the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This was probably written during the wilderness wanderings to emphasize this teaching. It is probably inserted here, rather than Exodus 12:1-20 so as not to spoil that comprehensive detailing of the Passover. So instead is added at the end of the narrative.
Instead of seeing different sources used by a later author, I prefer to think that it was written by Moses but at different times.
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