Haneberg, Alterhuemer, 2d edit., p. 656. In Deuteronomy Pentecost
as _`acereth_ lasts for only one day, while Easter and the feast
of tabernacles each ]ast a week.
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weeks' "joy of harvest," and the spring festival no longer
puzzles us by the place it holds in the cycle of the three yearly
festivities. But what is the state of the case as regards the
_pesah_? The meaning of the name is not clear; as we have seen, the
word first occurs in Deuteronomy, and there also the time of the
celebration is restricted to the evening and night of the first day
of _maccoth_, from sunset until the following morning. In point of
fact, the _pesah_ points back to the sacrifice of the firstlings
(Exodus xxxiv. 18 seq., xiii. 12 seq.; Deuteronomy xv. 19 seq., xvi.
1 seq.), and it is principally upon this that the historical
character of the whole festivity hinges. It is because Jehovah
smote the first-born of Egypt and spared those of Israel that the
latter thenceforward are held sacred to Him. Such is the
representation given not merely in the Priestly Code but also in
Exodus xiii.
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