JETS 37/4 (December 1994) 497- 510

THE FEAST OF COVER-OVER

MEREDI TH G. KLI NE*
I. AVIAN IMAGERY AND DEITY
The first metaphor we meet with in the Bible likens the Creator-Spirit
to a bird hovering over the deep-and-darkness (Gen 1:2). This same avian
image is also a key feature in the Exodus 12 account of the paschal event,
but it has remained hidden behind the mistranslation of the crucial verb
psah. Not "pass over" but "hover over" is the meaning of this word, as the
present essay hopes to demonstrate.
But before investigating psah, as well as the noun pesah, a bit more
background on the use of avian imagery for deity. "You have seen what I did
to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to
myself" (Exod 19:4). So the Lord described his guidance of Israel by the
Glory-cloud at the exodus. Moses used this figure of the eagle and its young
when reviewing these same historical realities in Deut 32:10-11. Signifi-
cantly, in this Song of Moses God's shepherding of Israel through the wil-
derness by the theophanic cloud is depicted in the distinctive language of
Gen 1:2: as a birdlike hovering (rhap) over the unstructured world (thu).
1
Bird imagery suggested itself naturally for this Glory theophany. First,
it was a cloud formation, and clouds and birds belong to the same sphere of
the sky, across which they fly. Isaiah parallels the two: "Who are these that
fly as a cloud and as doves to their windows?" (Isa 60:8). Also, protective
overshadowing is provided alike by the outspread wings of birds (cf. Deut
32:11; Pss 17:8; 91:4) and by clouds (cf. Ps 105:39; Exod 40:35 [LXX]).
Second, an angelic retinue is integral to the Glory-cloud theophany, and
angels also share in the celestial realm of clouds and birds, through which
they too are said to fly (Isa 6:6; Dan 9:21; Rev 14:6). Hence in symbolic rep-
resentation angelic beings are winged. Most relevant here are the figures
of the cherubim guardians of the Glory-Presence in the Holy of Holies
(Exod 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs 6:24, 27; 8:6-7) and the hosts of winged heavenly
creatures seen attending the divine Glory in visionary revelations (Isa 6:2;
Ezek 1:6 ff.; 3:13; 10:4 ff.; 11:22). It is on cherub wings that the Lord soars
* Meredi t h Kline is professor of Old Test ament at West mi nst er Theological Semi nary in Cali-
fornia in Escondido, California, and emeri t us professor of Old Test ament at Gordon-Conwell
Theological Semi nary in Sout h Hami l t on, Massachuset t s
This is one of numerous indications t hat t he Glory-cloud is a mani fest at i on of t he Spirit in
part i cul ar For a full discussion oft heGl ory-Spi ri t t heophany see M G Kline, Images of the Spirit
(Grand Rapids Baker, 1980)
498 JOURNAL OF THE EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
(Ps 18:10 [11]; cf. 2 Sam 22:11). Underst andabl y, t hen, it is especially t he
Glory-cloud t heophany t hat at t r act s avi an i magery in t he Bible.
Out si de t he Bible, depiction of deity in avi an fashion was common in an-
cient Near East er n iconography and l i t erat ure. Fami l i ar is t he use of bird
emblems for gods in Egypt i an religion. Indeed t he hieroglyphic sign of t he
falcon of Horus on a st andar d was used as a det ermi nat i ve of gods. An im-
port ant parallel to t he Glory-theophany phenomena in t he Bible is t he
widely at t est ed motif of t he winged sun-disk used to represent t he divine
majesty.
2
Of special significance for t he i nt erpret at i on of t he paschal event
in Exodus 12 is t he appearance of t hi s winged symbol of divine glory on door
l i nt el s.
3
The ent ryway formed by such lintels t oget her wi t h t hei r sideposts
paral l els t he Biblical gate-of-heaven formation const i t ut ed by t he Glory-
cloud canopy wi t h its two columns (of smoke and fire) and by t he cherubim-
flanked Glory in t he Holy of Holies.
4
It is wi t hi n t hi s world of avi an and portal symbolism t hat t he meani ng
of t he Lord' s paschal act of salvation is to be sought.
I I . THE LORD AS AVIAN SHIELD
1. Lexical facts. Two Hebrew verbs, denoting totally different actions,
tend to be confusingly blended in t he current popular under st andi ng of t he
Exodus 12 event, t he meani ng of both being expressed as "pass over." The
first step in apprehendi ng t he t r ue nat ur e of t he event is to di st i ngui sh
these two actions from each ot her and clarify t hei r relation to one anot her.
One verb is
c
bar. "Pass over" is an acceptable t ransl at i on for it. It is
t he word used when t he Lord says he is going to go t hroughout (pass over
or t hrough) t he l and on a mission of j udgment (Exod 12:12). Although God
is in an ul t i mat e sense t he subject of t hi s judicial passi ng over t he land,
t he i mmedi at e execution of j udgment t he ent eri ng into t he Egypt i an
houses and slaying of t he firstbornis at t ri but ed to a "destroyer." It is t hi s
figure, di st i ngui shabl e from God (Exod 12:23b; cf. v. 13b), who passes over
(
c
bar) Egypt. This destroyer would be an angelic agent of God, or even t he
messianic angel of t he Lord himself.
5
If t he destroyer is t he angel of t he
Lord, t he st at ement s t hat God is t he executor of t he destructive blows
(Exod 12:12, 13c, 23a, 29) find t hei r expl anat i on in t he nat ur e of t hi s angel
as one who, t hough di st i ngui shabl e from God, is identified as God.
The Exodus 12 nar r at i ve speaks of anot her action of God t hat st ands in
cont rast to t he destructive passi ng over t he land. This ot her action is de-
noted by t he second verb t radi t i onal l y rendered "pass over"namely, psah
(vv. 13b, 23b, 27b). What is clear is t hat t he action denoted by psah resul t s
in t he spari ng of t he blood-marked Israel i t e homes from t he curse of t he
2
Cf G E Mendenhal l , The Tenth Generation The Origins of the Biblical Tradition (Balti-
more Johns Hopki ns, 1974) 32- 56
3
Cf ibid 49, figure 14
4
Cf Kline, Images 40
5
Cf 2 Sam 24 16- 17, 2 Kgs 19 35, Isa 37 36, 1 Chr 21 12 ff, 2 Chr 32 21, Ps 35 5- 6
THE FEAST OF COVER-OVER
499
tenth plague. The question is: What is the specific nature of this action? Is
"pass over" an accurate translation of psah?
According to the customary approach that renders psah "pass over,"
God is viewed as himself the destroyer, and psah pictures him as not de-
scending in judgment on the houses of the Israelites but as passing over
them, as moving harmlessly over and past them. Support for this rendering
has been found in the existence of a Hebrew verb psah that means "limp"
(see 2 Sam 4:4),
6
with its related adjective meaning "lame" (see e.g. 2 Sam
9:13; 19:26; Deut 15:21). On the assumption that psah in Exodus 12 rep-
resents this same verbal root, it is suggested that the picture there is of God
hobbling or hopping over the spared houses.
That would be a lame metaphor indeed, and there is evidence of (not
just another meaning of this verb but probably) another root psah that
yields a far more apt image for the Exodus 12 context. To this I shall turn
presently, after noting some further problems that beset the traditional
interpretation.
One such difficulty is the equating of the destroyer, who passes through
(
c
bar) the land, with the one who "passes over" (psah) the Israelite
houses. For though, as previously observed, the Lord God is referred to as
the subject of the destructive passing through Egypt (either in terms of his
being the ultimate author of this judgment or in terms of the divine iden-
tity of the destroying angel), nevertheless Exod 12:23 clearly distinguishes
Yahweh as the one who performs the psah-act from the destroyer. Ex-
plaining the psah-act this verse says: "(Yahweh) will not allow the de-
stroyer to enter your houses to strike you." Whatever the precise meaning
of psah, the destroyer is plainly not the subject of the psah-act.
Another problem for the traditional view is that the psah-act relates
specifically to the door of the house (Exod 12:23b; cf. vv. 13, 27), the door on
whose lintel and posts the blood had been daubed. The precise purpose and
effect of the Lord's psah-act is to deny the destroyer access to that blood-
marked entryway. Psah does not denote the taking of a detour but the es-
tablishing of a deterrent, not God's bypassing of the house or hopping over
the lintel but, on the contrary, his stationing himself squarely and immov-
ably at the door. What the imagery demands is a shielding actionnot a
separating or distancing of God from the house but an abiding divine Pres-
ence, a divine encamping like a guardian at the gate.
A second root psah, with a meaning that meets the contextual demands
of Exodus 12, is attested in Isa 31:5. Psah plainly signifies there a protec-
tive action of some kind. Agreeably, "protect" was one of the ancient Jewish
interpretations of psah in Exodus 12.
7
6
1 Kgs 18 21, 26 is usual l y regarded as anot her i nst ance, but on t hi s see below
7
In t he LXX two of t he t hr ee i nst ances ofpsah in Exodus 12 are t r ansl at ed "shelter" (skepaz,
a verb used for a t ree shadi ng t he eart h), and evidence to t he same effect is found in t he t ar gums
and OL Occasionally, modern comment at ors have also challenged t he now long-entrenched ren-
dering of "pass over " Cf E Glasson, "The ' Passover' , a Mi snomer The Meani ng of t he Verb
Pasach," JTS 10 (1959) 7984 Glasson addresses t he question of when and how t he "pass over"
renderi ng (found in t he Vulgate) took hold
500 JOURNAL OF THE EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
The indications in Isa 31:5 are that psah denotes, more specifically, a
sheltering action. In the perfectly balanced structure of the second half of
the verse, psah is one of a pair of infinitive absolutes and its parallel is
gnan, "cover, shield." Still more precisely, this covering is likened to an
action of birds. For the verb gnan that is paired with psah in the second
half of the verse resumes the gnan in the first half, where it is illustrated
by the fluttering or hovering (
c
p) of mother birds over their nests. Psah
is even more directly connected to this avian image if the verse overall is
analyzed as a chiasm, with each of the two central lines containing the
verb gnan and with
c
up and psah as counterparts in the matching out-
side lines:
As birds hovering (
c
p),
so Yahweh of hosts will cover {gnan) Jerusalem;
covering {gnan), he will deliver it,
hovering (psah), he will save it.
Isaiah 31:5 may well yield something more than evidence of a root
psah meaning "cover/hover over," for it seems to contain an allusion to the
original paschal event. The context presents the irony of Israel's looking
for help against the Assyrians not to the Lord but to Egypt, the house of
bondage from which the Lord had of old redeemed them (vv. 1-3). In v. 4
there is the same aerial perspective as in the judicial passage over Egypt
in the tenth plague: God descends from heaven and alights on Zion, en-
camping over the city for warfare against the attacker. The divine hovering
mentioned in v. 5 would thus provide an explanation of God's pasa/i-action
in the paschal episode of Exodus 12, interpreting it as a birdlike shielding
of his threatened people.
Further evidence of the root psah meaning "hover over" may be found
in one of the passages usually cited under psah, "limp." Elijah's challenge
to the people in 1 Kgs 18:21 has been translated: "How long go ye limping
between the two sides?" (ASV) and "How long will you waver between two
opinions?" (NIV). The preposition
c
al, "on, over," is problematic for trans-
lations of this verse requiring "between." Recognizing the difficulty, RSV
translates, "How long will you go limping with two opinions?" Though
"with" is attested for
c
al, the resultant picture is awkward at best. The
noun rendered "opinions" is one of a cluster of derivatives from an assumed
s
c
p, "cleave, divide." For the most part the derivatives refer to branches of
trees. In Ezek 31:6 the boughs are the nesting place of the birds of heaven.
Once we give the verb psah in 1 Kgs 18:21 its meaning of "hover, flutter,"
the better-attested meanings of the noun ("branches") and the preposition
("over" or "at")
8
fit perfectly and a convincingly appropriate metaphor is ob-
tained: "How long will you go on hovering like a bird fluttering over two
branches? Land on one bough or the other!"
9
8
On the use of the preposition
c
al with a door (Exod 12 23) cf Job 31 9, Ezek 46 2
This image of the fluttering bird that does not alight is also in Prov 26 2
THE FEAST OF COVER-OVER
501
A compatible explanation may be suggested for the psah in 1 Kgs 18:26.
It is usually taken as psah, "limp," and understood as describing the Baal
prophets as engaged in a conjectured limping dance alongside the altar. It
is possible, however, that the mob of false prophets is pictured as fluttering
in a frenzy all over the Baal altarlike the gods in the pagan Babylonian
flood tradition who were attracted by the sweet aroma of the offering the
flood hero was preparing in thanksgiving for his deliverance and who are
said to have swarmed "like flies" over the sacrifice.
10
2. Contextual factors. In the light of our findings concerning the verb
psah, the picture in Exodus 12 is not one of God's passing over his people
but of his coming to them and abiding with them through the dark night of
judgment on Egypt. Like a hovering bird spreading its protective wings over
its young, the Lord covered the Israelite houses, keeping watch over them.
He was their gatekeeper, their guardian against the entrance of the angel
of death.
This interpretation of the pasa/i-action is reinforced by certain contex-
tual considerations. One has to do with the relationship between the act of
deliverance from the destroyer and the prior act of expiation. The narrative
spotlights the specific place where the sacrificial blood was to be smeared:
doorframe, sideposts, lintel (Exod 12:7, 22-23). On the traditional view, no
particular connection obtains between the psa/i-action and the application
of the expiatory blood to this specific location. But the selection of the door-
frame as the locus of expiation finds its ready explanation when it is rec-
ognized that the psah-act involved a divine protective presence at that
very spot and consisted in a guardianship over that door (12:23). It speaks
strongly in favor of the present interpretation that it provides for this mu-
tually illuminating relationship between the saving psa/i-action and the
specific orientation of the sacrificial act that constituted its forensic basis.
There is another contextual factor that corroborates the shielding na-
ture of the paschal action and its avian portrayal as well. It has to do with
the Glory-cloud and specifically with the particular juncture in redemptive
history where this form of Spirit-theophany emerged. The Glory-Spirit was
present as a feature of the original theocratic order in Eden but withdrew
from the fallen world. Then in the days of Moses this form of theophany re-
appeared, marking the coming of God's theocratic kingdom on earth after
its long abeyance during the patriarchal ages.
11
It is at the exodus episode
that the Biblical narrative introduces the pillars of cloud and fire, the
supernatural means by which God led Israel by the way of the wilderness
by the Red Sea (Exod 13:21-22; cf. vv. 17-20). Coming immediately before
this departure of Israel and serving as a prelude and preparation for it, the
paschal event of Exodus 12 will most naturally have involved this same di-
vine Presence.
Cf Gilgamesh Epic 11 161, Atrahasis 3 5 35
See further M G Kline, Kingdom Prologue (privately published, 1993) 225- 226
502 JOURNAL OF THE EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Now if t he Glory-Spirit, so congenial to avi an met aphor, is t he divine
Presence in t he paschal event, t hi s will be what prompt ed
1 3
t he nar r at or ' s
use of psah, "hover over." Also, in view of t he fact t hat overshadowing is
a charact eri st i c function of t he Glory-cloud,
14
t he i nt erpret at i on of t he pas-
chal action as such a protective covering is st rengt hened by t he identifica-
tion of t he Glory-Spirit as t he subject of t hat action.
Moreover, if t he Glory-Spirit is t he divine actor as early in t he exodus
history as Exodus 12, furt her credence is l ent to our under st andi ng of t he
psa/i-action as a divine guardi anshi p agai nst t he destroyer by t he strik-
ingly similar role played by t he Glory-Spirit in t he sequel recorded in Exo-
dus 14. It is anot her ni ght scene, and agai n t he Israel i t es are under t hr eat
of destruction, t hi s t i me by t he pharaoh' s pursui ng forces. But t he pillar of
cloud t akes up a position behi nd t hem, coming between t he camp of Egypt
and t he camp of Israel so t hat t he one does not come near t he ot her all
ni ght (vv. 19- 20) .
1 5
In t hi s episode, as in t he paschal event, t he Lord t akes
his place wi th hi s people, st at i oni ng himself in such a way as to block t he
approach of t he destroying power. If t he Glory-Spirit we see guardi ng
Israel in Exodus 14 is t he divine actor in Exodus 12, it is quite nat ur al t hat
we should find hi m performing t he same function t here, as is t he case on
our i nt erpret at i on of t he paschal event.
Or, t ur ni ng t he mat t er around, to t he ext ent t hat it can be shown inde-
pendent l y of t he evidence for t he presence of t he Glory-Spirit t hat t he pas-
chal event was a divine guardi ng of Israel , t he r esul t ant t wi n charact er of
t he Exodus 12 and 14 event s argues compellingly t hat t he Glory-Spirit is
indeed t he divine actor in Exodus 12 as he is explicitly in Exodus 14.
There is an i mport ant difference between these two formally mat chi ng
events, which, however, brings out a deeper connection between t hem. Exo-
dus 12 records a deliverance from t he wr at h of God; Exodus 14, from t he en-
mity of t he pharaoh, t he dragon figure represent at i ve of Sat an' s cause. From
t he efficacy of t he divine shielding agai nst t he deat h angel, agent of t he divine
wrat h, t he Israelites were to draw assurance t hat t hi s same divine guard-
ianship would keep t hem safe in t he hour of t he pharaoh' s terrible assaul t.
Jesus, as t he paschal l amb who i nt erposes himself bet ween t he wr at h of
God and those who are hi s own, who while on ear t h was t hei r Paracl et e
guardi an from t he evil one (John 17:12, 15), promised duri ng his l ast pas-
chal commemoration wi t h t hem t hat he would send t hem anot her Paracl et e
2
See section I above, and note t he dove mani fest at i on of t he Spiri t at Jesus' bapt i sm (Mat t
3 16, Mark 1 10, Luke 3 22, John 1 32)
If, as will be mai nt ai ned below, t he choice of psah was a consequence of t he desire to pun
on t he noun pesah, it mi ght be bet t er to say t he presence of t he Glory-Spirit cont ri but ed to
r at her t han prompt ed t he use of psah
1 4
Again see section I, noting also Isa 4 5- 6 and t he episodes of Jesus' conception (Luke 1 35)
and t ransfi gurat i on (Mat t 17 5, Mar k 9 7, Luke 9 34)
On t hi s occasion t he angel of t he Lord does not pose t he t hr eat agai nst which t he Glory-
Presence guards but r at her acts in concert wi t h t he cloud t heopany (Exod 14 19) Together, t he
angel and Glory-Spirit perform t he dual functions of delivering God' s people and dest royi ng t he
Egypt i ans (Exod 14 21 ff, esp 24)
THE FEAST OF COVER-OVER 503
defender to be present with them forever (John 14:16), even the Spirit, the
one was who the Paraclete presence and covering guardian of God's people
in the original paschal event. And if God be thus for us, who can be against
us? (Rom 8:31).
III. THE LORD AS ARBOREAL SHELTER
1. Psah and pesah:paronomasia. Along with the verb psah, the noun
pesah first appears in the Exodus 12 narrative. It is customarily assumed
that this noun, used only with reference to the paschal event and its com-
memorative feast, stems from the verbal root psah. Thus, on the further
assumption that psah means "pass over," pesah is usually rendered "pass-
over." On the view of the verb adopted here, the noun would mean "a cov-
ering" or (more abstractly) "protection."
If the noun and verb are cognate, it is certainly better to regard the noun
as derived from the verb rather than to regard the verb as a denominative
from a noun not known apart from the paschal context. Exodus 12:27 sup-
ports this conclusion, for whether the
D
aser in this verse is taken as "who"
or "because," it is Yahweh's psah-act that is immediately cited in explica-
tion of the pesa/i-sacrifice. Likewise it is the psah-act in Exod 12:13 that
explains the term pesah in v. l i e.
But though Exod 12:13, 27 explain pesah in terms of psah, that does
not necessarily mean that the two words are cognate. There is also the pos-
sibility that this is a play on words. An obscure word may be introduced into
an account and be explained by a pun, using a known word with similar
sound and appropriate meaning. A familiar example is Gen 11:9. It tells us
that the Shinar tower site bore the name Babel because the Lord there "con-
founded" (baiai) the language of the builders. But according to cuneiform
renderings (themselves possibly popular etymology) bbel means "gate of
god." So in Exodus 12 it is possible that a non-Hebrew noun, pesah, was cho-
sen to designate the event (and its memorial feast) and that its significance
was conveyed by use of the similar-sounding Hebrew verb psah.
Favoring the paronomasia rather than cognate view is the unlikelihood
that a noun would be created from so uncommon a verb as psah to serve
as the name of a notable festival. It is more likely that the unusual verb
would have suggested itself in the search for a word that would qualify as
a pun on the previously adopted noun pesah. Admittedly, it might not be
thought much more probable that a foreign term would be chosen as the
designation for this Israelite festival in the first place. But on balance that
seems to be the more plausible option, at least if a foreign word can be found
that fits just right.
16
2. Egyptian etymology. The historical situation of Exodus 12 points
to Egypt as the most promising source for such an investigation. Various
1 6
If t he meani ng of t he noun pesah can be discovered independently of psah, t hi s will eluci-
date t he meani ng of t he verb, even t hough in Exodus 12 t hei r functional relationshi p is t he reverse
504 JOURNAL OF THE EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
possibilities from t he Egypt i an lexicon have in fact been proposed. They
have in common t he under st andi ng t hat t he first syllable in pesah repre-
sent s t he Egypt i an definite article pi (at t est ed in t he Ei ght eent h Dynast y
and regul arl y from Lat e Egypt i an on). Noteworthy among such st udi es is
t hat of B. Couroyer.
17
He discusses several Egypt i an words t hat would sat-
isfy t he t ranscri pt i onal par amet er s, deciding in favor of sh, "blow," seen as
a reference to t he t ent h plague, t he context of Israel' s deliverance. One ob-
vious objection prevent i ng popular acceptance of t hi s proposal is t hat we ex-
pect t hat t he festival commemorat i ng t he great paschal salvation would be
named after t he act of deliverance itself r at her t han t he ci rcumst ance t hat
occasioned it.
Omi t t ed in Couroyer' s survey is an option for which a more convincing
case can be made. It is a word t hat satisfies t he semant i c qualifications
for a pun rel at i onshi p to t he verb psah, as requi red by Exod 12:11, 13, 27.
Hence to demonst rat e t hat Hebrew pesah represent s t hi s Egypt i an noun
will do two t hi ngs: It will yield t he meani ng of pesah, and it will at t he same
time confirm t he "cover/hover over" meani ng of t he verb psah, used to ex-
plain pesah.
The Egypt i an word is sh, "arbor, booth," and wi th t he definite article, p i
sh, "the booth." It s det ermi nat i ve sign (which may also serve as an ideo-
gram wi t hout t he phonetic symbols) del i neat es t he front face or ent ry of a
simple overarching st ruct ure wi t h a cent ral support i ng pole. Such a covert
is t he perfect nominal equi val ent of t he kind of protective covering action
denoted by t he verb psah. Arboreal booth connotes t he overshadowing
function at t ri but ed to t he Glory-cloud, which was t he part i cul ar divine
Presence in t he paschal event. It suggest s too t he avi an image of t he over-
spreadi ng wings of t he cherubim guardi ans of t he Glory-Presence.
18
Here
t hen in t he sh-booih of t he paschal story would be t he model for Scri pt ure' s
familiar and favorite concept of t he Lord God as our refuge, our dwelling
place in all generat i ons. So cent ral was t hi s to covenant religion t hat , as it
would now appear, Israel' s cycle of feasts was bracketed, spri ng and au-
t umn, by feasts of boot hs.
19
The det ermi nat i ve sign of sh provides a point of contact wi t h anot her
key feature of t he paschal episode in t hat it port rays not j ust a booth but
t he ent ry face of t he st ruct ure. For t hi s corresponds to t he focal paschal mo-
tif of t he smeari ng of t he expiatory blood on t he ent ryway. Inclusion of t he
tent-pole in t he det ermi nat i ve sign t akes on i nt erest in view of t he obser-
vation by R. de Vaux t hat in a spri ngt i me sacrifice offered by semi nomads
(with which comment at ors have compared various details of t he paschal rit-
ual in Exodus 12) t he blood was put on t he tent-poles and l at er on door-
post s.
20
1 7
Couroyer, "L' origine gypt i enne du mot Tque' , " RB 72 (1955) 481- 496
Especially t he "arbor" meani ng of sh would carry avi an associations
Curiously, t hei r designations, sh and skwt, would exhibit assonance
2 0
R de Vaux, Ancient Israel Its Life and Institutions (New York McGraw-Hill, 1961) 489
Gas t er not es t he wi despread custom of t he erecti on of sacred t rees, somet i mes wi t h apo
THE FEAST OF COVER-OVER 505
A further link between pesah and Egypt i an sh is t hat both are used in
combination wi t h a t er m for deity. On t he Egypt i an side is t he lexical i t em
sh-ntr, "booth of deity, shri ne. " Thi s is wri t t en wi t h t he sign (used as ei t her
ideogram or det ermi nat i ve) depicting t he front elevation of a shri ne plus
the emblem of divinity. On t he Biblical side, pesah is described repeat edl y
in Exodus 12 as belonging to Yahweh (vv. 11, 27, 48) and is explained in
terms of Yah weh's psah -action (vv. 11- 13, 27). The precise force of lyhwh
depends on whet her pesah refers to t he original event, t he feat of covering,
or to t he subsequent commemorative feast. Pesah as an accomplishment is
at t ri but ed to Yahweh as aut hor, whet her t he covering is viewed as t hat
which he performs by hi s personal Presence (vv. 13, 27) or t hat which he
provides by sovereign appoi nt ment (i.e. t he sacrificial l amb whose blood
covers t he door, v. 21). Indeed, insofar as Yahweh performs t he covering
feat by shel t eri ng over t he houses himself t he pesah belongs to hi m in t he
sense t hat he vi rt ual ly is t he pesah. When pesah refers to t he ordinance
t hat is to be kept in perpet ui t y (vv. 43, 48) lyhwh indicates t hat t he feast
with its offerings belongs to Yahweh as a remembrance of hi m to be ob-
served in his honor (see e.g. Lev 23:5; 2 Chr 30:1, 5; cf. Exod 13:6; Lev 23:6,
34; Deut 16:10). There are aspects of t hi s complex of i deas t hat we shall
want to reflect on furt her below, but t he point at present is simply t hat t he
recurring combination of pesah wi th lyhwh appears to be a reflection of sh-
ntr and so support s t he proposed Egypt i an etymology of pesah.
Additional correspondences appear between sh-ntr and i mpor t ant ele-
ments in t he paschal nar r at i ve. Above we r emar ked on t he Biblical ac-
count' s emphat i c focus on t he doorframe as t he place of expiatory covering
and as t he st at i on of t he divine Coverer. While t he det ermi nat i ve of sh does
depict t he front face of t he booth, t he ent ry area, t he det ermi nat i ve of sh-
ntr reflects t he archi t ect ural focus on t he Exodus account more specifically,
for promi nent in t he shri ne faade (its hieroglyphic sign) is t he act ual door-
frame. In fact t he faade is essentially an expanded doorframe.
The correspondence of t hese Egypt i an and Israel i t e "booths of deity" ex-
tends beyond t hei r shared focus on t he doorway to t he fact t hat t hi s en-
trance is in each case t he site of cultic ri t ual . In Exodus 12 it is precisely
the cultic act of daubi ng t he blood of t he pesah sacrifice on t he doorposts
and lintel t hat sets t he ent rance door in t he center focus of t he event. Sim-
ilarly t here are Egypt i an offering t ext s t hat speak of t he offerings being
presented at t he face or front (hnty) of t he sh-ntr. Indeed it was on t he doors
and lintels of sh-ntr st ruct ures t hat t hese formulaic offering t ext s were
wri t t en.
21
Still anot her feature of t he paschal si t uat i on paral l els t he doorframe mo-
tif of t he sh-ntr. As observed above, t he cherubim-flanked Glory formation
tropaic fleeces at t ached, in spri ng r i t ual s cel ebrat i ng t he resurrect i on of t he year One exampl e
is the Egypt i an festival in which t he djed-column was raised, represent i ng t he resurrect i on of
Osiris (Thespis Ritual, Myth, and Drama in the Ancient Near East [Garden City Doubleday,
1961] 313)
2 1
A Gardi ner, Egyptian Grammar (London Oxford Uni versi t y, 1964) 170- 171
506 JOURNAL OF THE EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
of t he paschal Presence was conceptualized as a doorframe, more specifically
as t he gat e of heaven.
The paral l el i sm wi th t he sh-ntr goes beyond a correspondence in vari-
ous details and involves a formal equivalence in overall st r uct ur al identity.
For i nasmuch as t he divine Presence was itself t he pesa/i-covering, t hi s pe-
sah was a divine pesah, a booth of God, a sh-ntr. And so too each Israel i t e
house, sanctified by t he enveloping divine covering, was a sh-ntr, a divine
sanctuary-booth.
Along such lines t he case can be made to explain t he Biblical pesah as
Egypt i an pi sh. But why t hi s ad hoc appropri at i on of an Egypt i an t erm?
Would no Hebrew word do? Per haps sh was more sui t able t han Hebrew
sukk, "booth," because t he Egypt i an t erm, especially in t he form sh-ntr,
could refer to t he more subst ant i al st ruct ures involved in t he original pas-
chal event t hat is, t he Israel i t e houses t ransformed into shri nes. Anot her
advant age of sh-ntr over sukk is t hat it connoted, part i cul arl y t hrough it s
hieroglyphic det ermi nat i ve, t he doorframe in t he front elevation, which was
so promi nent in t he Exodus 12 episode.
22
A Hebrew t er m t hat would denote
t hat front faade is pnim, "face." It is used in t he description of Ezekiel' s
t emple (Ezek 41:14; cf. v. 21), which ment i ons as par t of "the face of t he
house" t he doorposts (41:21) and as par t of t he ent rance of t he house "the
lintel" (47:1).
23
But faade was a secondary meani ng of pnim. Moreover
pnim would not convey t he requi si t e basic idea of covering. In t he l ast
anal ysi s, however, t he st r engt h of t he case for t he Egypt i an etymology is
not t he lack of a fully satisfactory Hebrew t er m but t he compelling charac-
t er of t he remarkabl e reverberat i ons and resonances bet ween t he Egypt i an
sh-ntr and t he whole complex of phenomena in t he paschal event.
3. Sepulchral sanctuary. There is anot her point of correspondence
t hat suppl ement s t he evidence for our proposed etymology of pesah. But it
is adduced here pri mari l y by way of i ndi cat i ng how awareness of t he Egyp-
t i an source may sharpen our perception of t he paschal event.
The Egypt i an offering formulae in which t he sh-ntr was ment i oned as t he
site of t he ri t ual were funerary t ext s. The doors and lintels on which t hey
were wri t t en were in mor t uary st ruct ures. The gods who are referred to in
t he t ext s as t he givers of t he boon or (later) as recipient s thereof are chthonic
dei t i es.
24
The sh-ntr was t hus a t omb shri ne.
Correspondingly, houses of deat h fill t he scene in t he dr ama of t he pesah
lyhwh in Exodus 12. Every house in Egypt was t ur ned into a house of deat h
t hat ni ght (12:30, 33). Most literally, t he house of t he pharaoh, residence of
a divine ki ng according to Egypt i an ideology, became a funerary sh-ntr. And
is t hat not what t he Israel i t e houses became also, mar ked as t hey were wi th
If sh figured in the name of an Egyptian spring festival familiar to the Israelites during
their long sojourn there, that would help to account for the adoption of the foreign term for their
paschal feast
3
For this translation of miptn see Kline, Images 40 32
2 4
Cf Gardiner, Grammar 111
THE FEAST OF COVER-OVER 507
the blood of t he lamb? The verb used to denote t he destroyer (shat) is t he
one used for t he killing of t he l amb (12:21). It s deat h was t he equivalent of
the j udgment deat h inflicted on t he Egypt i an firstborn. By t he st ri ki ng
2 5
of the lamb' s blood on t he Israel i t e houses t hey were st amped wi t h t he sign
of death. They were rendered houses of deat h, houses t hat had experienced
the divine j udgment . Each such house was, like t he Egypt i an sh-ntr, a tomb
shrinebut wi t h an ext raordi nary redempt i ve twist.
This death-signifying bl oodt hat is, t he l amb sl ai nwas at t he same
time the pesah, t he covering t hat protected from t he deat h stroke. The an-
tecedent of pesah in Exod 12:11a is t he l amb, t he subject of vv. 3- 10. And
again, t he reference in t he command to "kill t he pesah" (v. 21) is clearly to
the lamb. To ask how t he slain l amb can represent at once t he deat h j udg-
ment of God inflicted and a protective shielding from t hat blow is to i nqui re
into the judicial hear t of t he gospel of justification by grace. The answer lies
in the nat ur e of t he deat h j udgment suffered by t he l amb. It was a vicari-
ous, expiatory act of sacrifice, a suffering of divine wr at h in t he st ead of oth-
ers, so providing t hem wi th a place of refuge from t hat wr at h passi ng over
the world.
The wonder of grace deepens when we recall t hat by reason of his per-
sonal Presence hovering (psah) over t he Israel i t e houses, t he Lord himself
was t hei r shielding shel t er (pesah). The l amb is t he pesah and t he Lord is
the pesah. Both are t r ue because t he Lord becomes t he l amb. And John bore
witness to Jesus, t he Word become flesh, t he one who was before him, his
Lord, and said, "Behold t he l amb of God t hat t akes away t he sin of t he
world" (John 1:29). The Lord shielded his people from his own wr at h by
himself i nt ercept i ng t he deat h angel' s t hr ust as he stood guard at t he door
of their dwellings.
By vi rt ue of t hei r Lord-lamb covering, t he Israel i t e house tombs were
sanctuary sepulchres, places of refuge in which those redeemed by t he blood
of the l amb were sealed unt i l t he ni ght of j udgment had passed. Though a
sign of deat h, t he blood on t he doorframe was an emblem of salvation, for
it was t he blood of a t r i umphant sacrifice. The offerings t hat were t he sub-
ject of t he Egypt i an notices on t he mor t uary lintels were i magi ned to be a
contribution to t he ongoing life of t he deceased. In a formally similar fash-
ion t he paschal blood on t he lintels of t he sh-ntr dwellings of t he Israel i t es
also spoke of life beyond deat h, but t hi s word of promise was t he word of t he
living God, t hei r God, he who is not t he God of t he dead but of t he living.
The lamb' s blood on t hese sanct uary tombs presaged t hei r becoming empt y
tombs in t he morni ng. Their blood-covered doors would be opened and t hei r
redeemed occupants would emerge as t he children of t he resurrect i on day.
An unmi st akabl e allusion to t hese paschal sanct uary tombs is found in
Isaiah' s celebration of God's resurrect i on victory over deat h. He prophesies
of t hat day when t he Lord will come to puni sh t he i nhabi t ant s of t he ear t h
2 5
The application of t he blood to t he doorframe is described by t he verb naga
c
, from which
is derived t he noun nega
c
used in Exod 11 1, 12 13 for t he plague of slaying t he firstborn The
noun is explicated in 12 13 by shat On naga
c
cf Gen 12 17, 32 25 (26), Isa 6 7, 53 4, 8
508 JOURNAL OF THE EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
for t hei r iniquity and to slay t he l evi at han, t he monst er in t he seanot
Egypt' s pharaoh t hi s t i me, but t he dragon wi t h t he power of deat h (Isa
26:21-27:1). In t hat day deat h itself, t he l ast enemy, will be vanqui shed.
The i nsat i abl e swallower will be swallowed (25:8). The covering shroud t hat
covers all t he nat i ons (25:7) will be removed and no more cover t he dead
(26:21b). In light of t hat resurrect i on prospect t he grave is transformed. For
God's martyr-peopl e it becomes a refuge into which t hey are welcomed:
"Come, my people, ent er into t hy chambers and shut t he doors about t hee;
hide thyself for a little moment unt i l t he i ndi gnat i on pass over (
c
bar)"
(26:20).
26
Like t he blood-smeared house tombs of t he Israel i t es, t he real m
of deat h is for t he sai nt s of t he Lord a safe sanct uary, a passage to heaven.
For those who sleep in Jesus, t he souls under t he al t ar (Rev 6:9), t he living
Lord is t hei r covering in deat h, t hei r pesah-cowert.
4. Hover over and cover-over. We have det ermi ned t hat t he noun pesah
means "the booth," and t hi s corroborates our other conclusion t hat t he verb
psah in Exodus 12 means "hover/cover over." A question of Engl i sh t r ans-
lation, however, ari ses wi t h respect to t he pesa/i-feast. If we t r ansl at e "the
Feast of t he Booth," we fail to di st i ngui sh it clearly from t he aut umnal
Feast of Booths. In t he Hebrew t ext t he use of two different t er ms for booth,
pesah and sukk, obviates t he problem. We mi ght similarly use some syn-
onym of booth, like hut , for t he spri ng feast. But a t rul y successful t r ans-
lation will want to bri ng out, if possible, t he paronomasi a of pesah and
psah. It would also be an advant age if a suggested new name for t hi s feast
would connect with, even while correcting, t he t radi t i onal "Passover."
"Feast of Cover-over," however odd it s ring, would at l east satisfy t hese de-
si derat a. It shares t he t ermi nal "over" wi th "Passover." And it capt ures t he
pesah-psah pun, t hus: The feast was called Cover-over because t her e t he
Lord hovered over his people.
IV. PASCHAL PARADIGM
Fur t her confirmation of our conclusions concerning both psah and pe-
sah is afforded by cert ai n canonical echoes of t he paschal event. These are
l at er passages in which t he paschal incident is used as a met aphori cal model
for subsequent redempt i ve real i t i es and t hat include t he motif of divine
sheltering. To t he ext ent t hat such a passage is distinctly allusive to t he
Exodus 12 record, its inclusion of t he concept of God' s overshadowing pres-
ence may be fairly regarded as an i nt erpret i ve reflection of psah/pesah in
t he original paschal episode. A pai r of such echoes, one from t he OT and one
from t he NT, may serve as a suggestive sampl i ng.
27
6
Isai ah 26 20 also reflects God's sealing of t he Noahic r emnant in t he ark, as in a sanct uar y
tomb t hat would be a refuge for t hem unt i l t he j udgment passed over t he ear t h and t he covering
of t he ar k was removed For a discussion of t he Isai ah context see M G Kline, "Death, Levi at han
and t he Mar t yr s Isai ah 24 1-27 1," A Tribute to Gleason Archer (ed W C Kaiser, J r , and R F
Youngblood, Chicago Moody, 1986) 229- 249
2 7
For other examples of such l at er i l l umi nat i ng allusions see t he discussion of Isa 26 20 ff
and 31 5 above
THE FEAST OF COVER-OVER
509
The use of avian imagery in Psalm 91 for God's watch care over his
people (vv. 1, 4) is one of this psalm's similarities to the Song of Moses in
Deuteronomy 32, where, as noted above, that metaphor refers to the over-
shadowing Glory-cloud at the exodus.
28
The mention of angels as agents of
the divine guardianship in vv. 11-12 reinforces the avian metaphor. This
theme of God as a secure dwelling, refuge and shield opens and governs the
psalm (vv. 1-2, 4, 9). The perils from which Yahweh protects his own
(vv. 3-10) recall the plagues on Egypt, especially the last night of judg-
ment: Ten thousand fall at the side of God's people, but the plague does not
come near their dwelling, as the Lord sovereignly directs the activity of an-
gels during the night of terror. Since Psalm 91 thus depicts the redemptive
covenant relation as an extended paschal experience, its dominant motif
God's birdlike overshadowing presencewill be an expository reflection on
the paschal role of the Lord denoted by psah/pesah.
As is generally recognized, the disasters threatened in the various judg-
ment series in the Book of Revelation are adaptations of the ten plagues on
Egypt. The diptych vision of Revelation 7 presents, first, the protection of
God's elect in the midst of earthly calamities (vv. 1-8), and then the con-
tinuation of this condition of security into the eternal state (vv. 9-17). As
in the paschal-exodus history, the plagues are inflicted through angelic
agency (vv. 1-3). The Church is delineated under the form of the covenant
community in Egypt, the twelve tribes of Israel (vv. 4-8; cf. Exod 1:1-5).
Moreover the muster of the tribes in Revelation 7 echoes the military im-
agery of Exodus 12, which speaks of the twelve tribes setting out on their
journey as armies (vv. 17, 41, 51).
29
Identification of the Church in glory as
those who have experienced an exodus
30
out of great tribulation (v. 14a) re-
calls Israel's severe oppression in the Egyptian house of bondage.
31
By the
application of the paschal blood as a seal to the lintels and doorposts, the
Israelites were marked off as exempt from judgment. Likewise the putting
of the seal of God on the foreheads
32
of the 144,000 preserves them from
the four angels with power to harm land and sea (Rev 7:2-3; cf. 9:4). As a
result of the paschal presence of God, forensically grounded in the expia-
tion accomplished by the lamb, the Israelite pesa/i-house was transformed
from tomb shrine to sanctuary from wrath, with promise of resurrection
victory over the grave. Similarly the redeemed of the Lamb in Revelation 7
are assured that the Lord will wipe away all tears from their eyes (v. 17),
a prospect always associated with the elimination of death (cf. 21:4; Isa
25:8; 65:19). Otherwise stated, the Lamb-shepherd will guide them to the
2 8
Book 4 of t he Psal t er, especially Psal ms 90- 100, has been identified as a "Moses book" re-
flective of t he exodus and wi l derness experiences Cf M E Tat e, Psalms 51-100 (WBC 20, Dal-
las Word, 1990) xxvi
2 9
The listing of J udah first in Rev 7 5 mi ght be due, at l east in part , to t he lead position of
the tribe of J udah in t he march of conquest (Num 10 14)
The verb in Rev 7 14a, erchomai ek, reflects t he use of exerchomai in t he climactic summa-
tion of t he paschal t r i umph (Exod 12 41 LXX)
3 1
Cf Exod 4 31 (LXX), which, like Rev 7 14a, uses thhpsis
3 2
For t he symbolic equivalence of forehead and lintel in t he mat chi ng models of t he t aber-
nacle/temple archi t ect ure and t he hi gh pri est ' s vest ment s see Kline, Images 44- 45
510 JOURNAL OF THE EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
wat ers of life in t he heavenly paradi se (v. 17a; cf. 21:6; 22: 1- 2, 17) as he,
t he angel of t he Presence, led t he exodus generat i on on to t he eart hl y par-
adise of Canaan.
In short, Revelation 7 represent s a remarkabl y comprehensive and de-
tailed echo of t he paschal episode.
33
And inevitably at t he hear t of it is t he
declaration t hat God spreads his t ent over t he white-robed mul t i t ude (v. 15;
cf. Rev 21:3; Isa 4:5). Covered by t he cosmic canopy of Glory, t hey are t he
fulfillment of t he typological pat t er n of t he Israel i t es under t he overshadi ng
t heophani c cloud (Rev 7:16; cf. Isa 4:6). The covering presence of God in Rev
7:15 is t he eschatological ant i t ype of t he cent ral realit y of t he paschal
event, t he Lord' s psah-act of spreadi ng his wings as a shel t eri ng cover
(pesah) over those sealed by t he blood of t he l amb.
At Golgotha, where t he t r ue paschal Lamb was slain, t he sovereign or-
dering of God arranged a reproduction of t he typological paschal scene of
t he doorway smeared wi th t he blood of t he l amb. This new doorway in-
volved a great redempt i ve irony. To Jesus belonged t he Glory of t he Fat her.
His proper place was t he t hrone above t he ark, above t he lintel of t hat gat e
of heaven, wi t h t he holy cherubim on ei t her side framing t he ent rance wi t h
golden splendor. At Golgotha t he cherubim were replaced by two criminal s
crucified wi th him, on ei t her side one, t he vertical posts of t hei r crosses t he
sideposts of t hi s new paschal doorframe. And in t he center, on t he horizon-
tal beam of Jesus' cross, t he lintel of t hi s doorway, was posted his indict-
ment . No epi phany of glory for hi m her er at her , t he epitome of scorn.
Yet even t he i ndi ct ment on t he lintel proclaimed in spite of itself t he
proper majesty of t he Lord-lamb: "King of t he Jews. " Though t he Golgotha
entryframe, st ai ned by his blood, was a place of deat h, a sepulchral entry-
way, t he tomb of t he paschal victim was opened. And he came forth as t he
paschal firstfruits from t he dead, t he East er victor, t he Lord of life. The pas-
chal door of Calvary proves to be t he very gat e of heaven. All who are called
and come are welcomed t her e into t he t r ue and heavenly sh-ntr to abide for-
ever under t he shadow of t he Almighty.
It is understandable that features from the twin autumnal feast of booths should be inter-
woven (Rev 7 9)