The Teachings of Mark (Mimar Marqe Book I Chapter 9)

A continuation in our series from John MacDonald's (1963) translation of the most important book in the Samaritan tradition after the Pentateuch. The central 'revelation' - not merely a midrash but a revelation given around the beginning of the second century - from which 'Samaritanism' itself is derived.

The Lord said to Moses, "Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and Egypt. Afterwards he will let you go (Ex. xi. 1; Targ). After this tenth judgement, about midnight my Glory will come down (Ex. xi. 4) and slay all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, of the firstborn of Pharaoh who would sit on Pharaoh's throne, and also the firstborn of the maidservant who is behind the mill, and the firstborn of the cattle and the firstborn of the captives (Ex. xi. 5). There shall be heard a great cry, such as has never been and never again will be" (Ex. xi. 6).

Moses repeated what was said to Pharaoh the king, bearing witness to it, so that he might be free of him. "Thus said the Lord, the God of the world, "Let the sons of my firstborn (Ex iv. 22; Targ.) go, that they may serve me. If you do not let them go, He will kill your firstborn son and all the firstborn in your land. All these your servants shall come down to me and ask me to leave, myself and all the people who follow me (Ex. xi. 8), and after that I will go out (ibid Targ.).

The world of the Lord came, "Let him be! He will not listen though my wonders are many (cf. Ex xi. 9). The time for his destruction has drawn near." And the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land (Ex. xi 10; Targ.).

The Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, after these wonders that had gone before, "This month shall be for you the beginning of months (Ex. xii. 1 - 2; Targ.), the end of affliction and the beginning of relief.

This month shall be for you the beginning of months, the inauguration of favour and the conclusion of disfavour.
This month shall be for you the beginning of months, the end of punishment and the beginning of rest.
This month shall be for you the beginning of months, the entrance of good and the exit of evil.
This month shall be for you the beginning of months, the gateway to blessings and the end of cursing.

It shall be the first months of the year (Ex. xii. 2; Targ.), from which will come all the years of the world.
In it I created the world;
In it the waters of the Flood dried up;
In it Sodom was overthrown;
In it I began the judgements;
In it I will destroy the Tower;
In it I will bring them to en;
In it I will destroy Egypt;

Thus the beginning of the months is made like the Beginning (BERESITH), which was made the start of Creation.
On the first day I created heaven and earth;
On the second day I spread out the firmament on high;
On the third day I prepared a dish and gathered into it all kinds of good things (cf Gen. i. 9);
On the fourth day I established signs, fixing times, completing my greatness;
On the fifth day I revealed many marvels from the waters;
On the sixth day I caused to come up out of the ground various living creatures;
On the seventh day I perfected holiness. I rested in it in my own glory. I made it my special portion. I was glorious in it. I established your name [m-sh-h] then also - my name [sh-m-h] and yours therein as one, for I established it and you are crowned with it.

Therefore on the first day of the first month make it known and give thanks for it. When you are in it (the first month, first day), you will begin with (the section of) the Creation of the World for I am like one who looses and I will untie the manacles of all those who have assembled for deliverance.

The great prophet Moses stood up in the assembly of Israel and instructed them about deliverance. He told them to prepare themselves for the time of departure on the tenth of the month, to prepare to sacrifice the offering, and take in the tenth of the month a perfect one year old lamb (Ex. xii. 3 - 5).

See what God commanded the great prophet Moses on the tenth of the month. He made it a command that it should be prepared from the fourth to the fourteenth day, for the slaughtering of an offering to the Lord.

The first day for the creation of man and for the praise which he rendered; in it he was delivered.
The second day for the performance of Abel who became an origin of a specially chosen (race).
The third day for the proclamation of Enosh (Gen. iv. 26), in whom the generation of man was made known.
The fourth day for the uprightness of Enoch, who walked in obedience to his Lord and went in the truth.
The fifth day for Noah, who perfected himself and was righteous in his generation.
The sixth day for the meritoriousness of Abraham, through whom the origin of the covenant was revealed.
The seventh day for the sanctification of Isaac, because he was an acceptable holy sacrifice.
The eighth day for the boldness of Jacob, from whom arose those worthy of holy things.
The ninth day by reason of the purity of Joseph, who was filled with the wisdom of his ancestors.
The tenth day for the perfectness of your prophethood.

Thus from your mouth they shall hear, and through you they shall believe. Were it not for your prophethood, I would not have revealed myself, and my voice would not have been heard as long as the world lasts. I revealed myself to former good men through an angel, not by revelation of my own mighty self. Behold I reveal myself to you and have established you, that they may learn of this tenth day, in which they will take the sacrificial sheep. This deed is to be for all time and its commemoration is to be observed for ever - without a break. This day is a memorial to your prophethood, just as this deed is a commemoration of the deliverance, for through you they are delivered and rest from fatigue. They have become great in you and are glorified in your apostleship. It will be prepared by them for four days, until it is performed on the fourteenth.

O Aaron, Eleazar and Phinehas, three glorious, magnificent ones, as I have united the two of you (Moses and Aaron) in goodness, so you shall be united as one in uprightness (or 'righteousness').

The tenth day is for you and what follows is for Aaron. What you hear is from me. The tenth day is for you and what follows is for Aaron. I have vested you with my name and I have vested him with yours.
The tenth day is for you and what follows is for Aaron. You will start and he will finish.

Eleazar is appointed to the succession. Today he is glorious; like him Phinehas is exalted. The day which is for him, in the blessedness of which was his father - behold, ten and three crown with might.
Let the day come safely on which is the deliverance, for truth is about to be manifest in the world.
Let the day come safely, whose evening was God's and whose day was Israel's - as He said: It was a night (of watching) by the Lord (Ex. xii. 42; Targ.). Three deeds in the night, while He wrought the exodus - as He said, About midnight I will go forth in the midst of the land of Egypt (Ex. xi. 4; Targ.). He will reveal what He said - When I see the blood (Ex xii. 13; Targ.).

Read where it is written I will pass (ibid.) over the houses of my beloved and will slay the firstborn of my enemies. I will make all their gods and idols collapse."

This was the doing of the God of gods that night! As the Lord said, "The morning of it is for His people." As he said, "This day shall be for you a memorial day (Ex. xii. 14; Targ.) - it will never be changed!

Let the Taheb come safely and clear away the darkness which has become great in the world!
Let the Taheb come safely and scatter the enemies who have provoked God!
Let the Taheb come safely and scatter the enemies who have provoked God!
Let the Taheb come safely and sacrifice a true offering before Bethel (i.e. Gerizim).
Let the Taheb come safely, that the Lord may have pity and reveal His Favour, and that Israel may sacrifice in the evening (i.e. as Ex. xii. 6b).
Let the Taheb come safely and separate the chosen from the rejected, and let this affliction be turned into relief!

The which He made the fourteenth is the end of one affair and the beginning of another (i.e. the end of servitude and the beginning of redemption).
Thus He said to them, "In the evening they shall sacrifice one sacrifice equivalent to four - in the evening, at the setting of the sun, just as it sets - a sacrifice of thanksgiving for the deliverance of the ancestors: a sacrifice of peace offerings for the safe-keeping of the firstborn: a sin offering, the blood of which is sprinkled in the evening: Israel shall sacrifice at the siege and conquest of a city - at the siege of a city, a distressing matter: at the conquest of a city, a joyful matter!

Great is our God who has thus glorified us and called the name of this offering Passover.

As He said, "It is the Lord's passover, for He passed over Israel" (Ex. xii. 27; Targ.). He created it by His might and, as He said, "In the evening passover" (Lev xxiii. 5), there shall be no change in it ever. "No work is to be done on that day" (cf. Ex. xii. 16) and "the remainder of it till the morning" (Ex. xii. 10) and "with fire it shall be burnt" (cf. Ex. xii. 10). "The first day a holy assembly and the seventh a holy assembly - no work is to be done (Ex. xii. 16) - keeping its holiness; this is the glorifying of the Passover. Were it not for Passover, nothing would have been magnified, no holiness revealed, no rest made possible.

Apply your mind to offer sacrifice on any other occasion when God commanded you "in the evening" (Ex. xii. 18).
Make it a boundary which will never be moved.
In the evening the angels went into Sodom and dwelt in Lot's house, honouring Abraham. Lot made new unleavened bread for them in honour of their arrival; when he saw them, he was gladdened at the news of deliverance. They began to overturn the houses of their worship. So all of them came to Lot seeking the men who had come to him (Gen xix).

When Israel sacrificed in the evening, the judgement was let loose on the houses of the Egyptians.
Israel rejoiced at the deliverance and the Egyptians bemoaned the destruction.
Israel sanctified and sprinkled the blood, as the Lord of the world had commanded them.
The blood shall be a sign to you upon the houses (Ex. xii. 13; Targ.), that the Destroyer may see it and pass by.
The blood shall be a sign to you upon the houses, that (my) anger may observe it and stop.
The blood shall be a sign to you upon the houses, on the outside, and the glory of God on the inside.

I need no sign, only that it may be a subject of commemoration to all generations; an ordinance for ever (Ex. xii. 14; Targ.) it shall be for your generations. You will perform it as a pilgrimage to the Lord always (Ex. xii. 14). Let there be seen during it no leavened bread (Ex. xiii. 7). Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread (Ex. xii. 15; Targ.); anyone who eats anything fermented during them is to be cut off. Unhappy is he who ever accepts leavened bread, from the first day up to the seventh, among all your dwellings (Ex. xii. 20). Unleavened bread you shall eat (Ex. xii. 15), in this manner you shall eat the Passover: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hands (Ex. xii. 11; Targ.).

After that my regent (other MS 'my glory') will descend and kill the firstborn of the Egyptians - man and beast - while you set forth with triumph, led by the pillar of cloud and of fire, provisioned with all good and favour, with the wealth of the Egyptians - silver and gold and raiment. You will be enriched with them and with multiple bounties, while all the Egyptians will be deprived of wealth, of silver and gold and apparel."

The great prophet Moses learned the Passover Law and went and taught it to the whole congregation.

Then Moses called all the elders of Israel (Ex. xii. 21; Targ.), that he should teach them the Passover Law.
Then Moses called all the elders of Israel, that they should lead forth the sheep and slaughter as had been commanded.
Then Moses called all the elders of Israel, that they should declare to the congregation the first festival.
Then Moses called all the elders of Israel, to tell the whole people Select for yourselves (Ex. xii. 21; Targ.).

The Elders called and made proclamation among the congregation, "Bring out the sheep which are placed in the fold and prepare the sacrifice, for the hour for it has come near; the coming of the Destroyer by night is made ready. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin and the two doorposts (Ex. xii. 22 - 23; Targ.) for the Destroyer will descend and destroy ever house on which there is no blood token."

Then the people of Israel went and did so (Ex. xii. 28; Targ.). Young men prepared to go obediently to their schoolhouse.
Then the people of Israel went and did so, the stars of Abraham arrayed in their firmament.
Then the people of Israel went and did so, the crop of Isaac heaped on the threshing-floor.
Then the people of Israel went and did so, the oaks of Jacob planted in the Garden.

As the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. They bowed their head and worshipped (Ex. xii. 27; Targ.).

Pharaoh the king was told that night that there was war. He appointed guards over his son from that evening on, and impressed upon them that they must not sleep, not even for a single hour. He ordered them to arrange the battle array with fury. "If you see there a sword sharpened, stand up against it and cry out loudly." The guards came with unsheathed, sharp swords in their hands, and they surrounded the firstborn of Pharaoh, so that he should not be slain. The Destoyer descended at midnight and slew all the firstborn (Ex. xii. 29) - they did not know what was happening! Every firstborn in the land of Egypt was destroyed that night, including Pharaoh's god, along with his firstborn and even the very guards who surrounded him.

When the hour arrived the Destroyer descended, felled the gods and slew the firstborn. They looked afterwards for the firstborn of Pharaoh and found him slain - his blood still inside him! Their souls were shattered and their hearts anguished when they saw him slain and his god felled.

At midnight the Lord (Ex. xii. 29; Targ.) slew unclean firstborn and towering gods.
At midnight the Lord destroyed the trees which were planted at Seba.
At midnight the Lord destroyed the slingers who did their slinging among the unfruitful trees.
At midnight the Lord destroyed the firstborn who were offered to the destroyers.
At midnight the Lord destroyed lofty gods and their vain worshippers.
At midnight the Lord destroyed all the firstborn of Egypt, while Israel drew near and called to the Lord.

There was a great cry (Ex. xii. 30; Targ.) in the houses of Israel, "The Lord has seen and revealed deliverance."
There was a great cry in the houses of the Egyptians, "The Lord has seen and has brought about destruction."
There was a great cry in the houses of Israel. They sacrificed, praised and magnified their Lord.
There was a great cry in the houses of the Egyptians, "Houses are destroyed and firstborn slain," for there was not a house where one was not dead (ibid) - a long, prolonged cry!
The Hamites were under great harsh wrath, while the Semites were in great joy.
The firstborn of Ham were slain, while the firstborn of Israel sanctified on the other hand.
The garden of Ham was destroyed by the wrath, while the garden of Shem was well looked after.
Ham's god was felled in the judgement, while Shem's god was being magnified and exalted.
The Dagan of Ham became barren of fruit, while the Dagan of Shem became fertile.
The kingdom of Ham came to an end, while the kingdom of Shem then began.

For there was not a house where one was not dead (ibid); light was withdrawn from them and darkness case upon them.
For there was not a house where one was not dead; the entrance to the gate of wrath was opened for them.
For there was not a house where one was not dead; the disasters that befell Sodom befell them.