August 1927
494
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
The Samaritan Passover B y R ev . H erbert T a y
after killing a lamb, that he had a physical imperfection, and it was necessary to burn the entire lamb in the fire, for he could not be used in the Passover ceremony. Just outside the camp is an enclosure, walled about with stone walls about four feet high. About an hour before sunset, the High Priest goes into this enclosure and leads in the ritual of worship of the priests and congrega tion. This consists of prayers and songs, some of which
F all the experiences which we had in the land of Palestine, perhaps none made such an im pression upon us as the Samaritan Passover. Our emotions as we witnessed this oldest of existing religious ceremonies,X: c a n n o t be described. To witness that spectacle was a privilege which we shall long appreciate, the memory of which shall remain vividly impressed upon our minds. After the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities, when the people returned again to the Land, the two South ern tribes settled again in the vicinity of Jerusalem, while the remnant of the ten northern tribes settled in the portion of the land which they formerly', occu pied. The Jews were care ful to maintain their sep arate identity, but the Is raelites intermarried , with the Gentiles' of the Land, and became a mixed race., This was in disobedience to the express command of Jehovah, given centuries;, before. Because they had become '“unclean” through their mixture with the Gen tiles, we find a very strong antipathy for them among the Jews in the time of Christ. They were given the opprobrious epithet of “Sa maritans,” and that name has clung to them until this day. It is the remnant of the Northern kingdom, the hated'Samaritans, who per petuate the ceremony of the Passover until this day. Their number is fast dimin ishing, and at the Passover which we attended, but one hundred fifty-seven of them remained. O ffering of the L amb On the tenth day of the first month (E x . 1 2 :3), seven lambs are chosen from the flocks, and the whole congre gation of the Samaritans moves with the lambs to the summit of Mt. Gerizim. It rises above Shechem, the home of the Samaritans, to three thousand feet altitude. In accordance with the commandment, the lambs are kept under surveillance for four days, for y e shall keep it up until the fourteenth day o f the same month (E x . 12: 6 ). This does not mean that the lambs are to be kept tightly penned, but that they are to be kept separate from other lambs, in order that they may be inspected to see that they meet the qualifications of Passover lambs. Your lamb shall be wtihout blemish, a male o f the first year (E x . 12 :5 ). The Samaritans are very careful that the lambs are perfect. It is said that once it was discovered,
are read, others of which are repeated or chanted from memory. This part of the service, of course, is a later development, since it is •not mentioned in the book of Exodus. It is in teresting to note that only the men and- boys take part in the ritual of wor ship. The women are some times interested spectators, but the.y do not take part. How T he L ambs A re T aken Just before sunset, the lambs are led into the en closure, and are held by seven young men, standing in a semicircle. Then, just at sunset, two priests quick ly and deftly cut the throats of the lambs -and they are .allowed to bleed to death. And ye. shall keep it up until the fourteenth day o f the same m on th : and the whole assembly o f the chil dren o f Israel shall kill it in the evening, (E x . 12 :6). The last clause of this com® mand is held to mean “be tween the evenings,” j that is, at sunset. Therefore this time is 4religiously ad
w sm
PREPARING PASSOVER LAMBS AT MT. GERIZIM
j
hered to as the time of the sacrifice. . The killing of the lambs is accompanied by the;loud . shouts ¡of the men, and the shrill screams, of the women. They aire shouting and crying for joy. As we stood there and »realized all that the shedding of the blood of those lambs Signified to them, We could readily understand! why they should cry out and shout for joy. At the moment that the blood gushed from the severed arteries, a young man was there to catch some of it in a bowl. He ran quickly, with it, and sprinkled some on the door of-j each tent. And they shall take o f the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post o f the houses (E x . 12 :7 ). After the lambs have bled to death, boiling water is dipped from two large cauldrons, and poured upon them, and the wool is plucked from them. As soon as this is done, the lamb is hung by his hind feet to a horizontal stick, which is held upon the shoulders of two men. Then
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker