Ancient festivals in Israel must have had the pastoral life as
their basis; only the passover therefore can be regarded as
belonging, to the number of these. /1/ It is
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1. The ancient Arabs also observed the sacrifice of
the firstlings as a solemnity in the sacred month Rajab, which
originally fell in spring (comp. Ewald, Ztschr. f.d. Kunde
des Morgenlandes, 1840, p. 419; Robertson Smith, Prophets,
p. 383 sq). A festivity mentioned among the earliest, and that
for pastoral Judah, is the sheep-shearing (1Samuel xxv. 2 seq.;
Genesis xxxviii. 12); but it does not appear to have ever developed
into a regular and independent festival. _Aparchai_ of wool and
flax are mentioned in Hosea (ii. 7, 11 [A.V. 5, 9]) as of wool
alone in Deuteronomy (xviii. 4).
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with perfect accuracy accordingly that precisely the passover is
postulated as having been the occasion of the exodus, as being a
sacrificial feast that has to be celebrated in the wilderness and
has nothing to do with agriculture or harvest. But it is curious
to notice how little prominence is afterwards given to this
festival, which from the nature of the case is the oldest of all.
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