Literary Devices – Shemot 12/0

Literary Devices – Shemot 12

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Key Words

בית ומשקוף

• Tanakh Lab – The word “בית” is the second most frequently appearing word in the chapter, repeating 16 times. The word “מַשְׁקוֹף,” also associated with the house, appears only three times, but no where else in Tanakh, making it a significant word as well. This emphasizes the significance of the Jewish home in the context of the Exodus story.  

• Articles – Several articles touch on these keywords:
• See R. Amnon Bazak’s article, The Meaning of the Korban Pesach, for analysis of the nature of the Pesach ritual, questioning whether it constituted a sacrifice or a festive meal. He highlights the former and notes that during the exodus story, the home was transformed into an altar, playing a key role in the rite. Though the Pesach is an expression of a national covenant with God, it was originally performed in family units, in the home, for the sanctity of the home is crucial to the formation of the nation.
• See Prof. Yonatan Grossman’s The Korban Pesach: Defining Israel as God’s People, for exploration of the ways in the which the home represents God’s altar in the context of the Pesach sacrifice.
• See Lot’s “Pesach” And Its Significance by R. Yoel Bin-Nun, or the Hebrew version פסח מצרים ופסח סדום, in which the author compares the stories of the destruction of Sedom and the Exodus from Egypt, noting that in both the home plays a central role as a haven within a corrupt society. 

Symbolism

Blood is an important symbol in the story of the Exodus, related to both punishment and covenant / redemption. 

• Blood appears twice in Shemot 4, first in the context of the miracle of turning water to blood and then in the story of the circumcision of Moshe’s son. 
• Later in the narrative, the plagues begin with blood.
• In Shemot 12, the Israelites smear the blood of the Passover offering on their doorposts, leading into the actual exodus from Egypt.¹
• Blood, thus, represents Hashem’s violent confrontation with Paroh and the culture of Egypt. Moreover, the alternating symbols of blood as punitive plague and blood as symbol of the covenant (both circumcision and the Paschal sacrifice) hint to the underlying theme of the Exodus as representing the transition from being slaves of Paroh to being servants of Hashem.

¹ In his commentary on the Torah, Dr. Robert Alter points out that the language of the instruction to touch the blood to the lintel (12:22) is parallel to the language that describes Zipporah’s touching her son’s foreskin to Moshe's feet (4:25), in another story having to do with the symbol of blood. This strengthens the connection between these two narratives in which the symbol of blood relates to the covenant between Hashem and the Israelites.