The passover
corresponds with the firstlings of Abel the shepherd, the other
three with the fruits presented by Cain the husbandman; apart
from this difference, in essence and foundation they are all
precisely alike. Their connection with the _aparchai_ of the
*[first-fruits; firstlings for sacrifice or offering]*
yearly seasons is indeed assumed rather than expressly stated in
the Jehovistic and Deuteronomistic legislation. Yet in Exodus
xxiii. 17-19, xxxiv. 23-26 we read:
"Three times in the year shall all thy men appear before the Lord
Jehovah; thou shalt not mingle the blood of my sacrifice with leaven,
neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.
The best of the first-fruits of thy land shalt thou bring into the
house of Jehovah thy God; thou shalt not seethe the kid in the milk
of its mother."
It is forbidden to appear before Jehovah empty, hence the
connection between the first general sentence and the details
which follow it. Of these, the first seems to relate to the passover;
doubtless indeed it holds good of all animal sacrifices, but in point
of fact these are offered in preponderating numbers at the great
festival after the herds and flocks have produced their young.
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