This is another important topic that we need to be aware of as we return to the ancient path! I have done a message titled “Uncovering the Ancient Torah,” which shows that the Temple Scroll and Jubilees are Torah, if you have not seen the message, you can view it here: https://youtu.be/lQoN-diWM_A?si=lgKrkb5KnuSABmu- . And the Temple Scroll message by itself, you can view it here: https://youtu.be/ZdXPVHtuA8M?si=bSNqcbJoqL_FARS7
Both books include important commands that we need to be aware of regarding Passover. And it starts with the understanding that the Zadok priests knew already.
Damascus Document Fragment 3 page 156 (The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls)
“…Why does a man betray his brother…Let NO YOUNG MAN OR WOMAN EAT THE SACRIFICE OF PASSOVER…”
Damascus Document (Wise, Abegg, and Cook) Fragment 3, page 358 Proscriptions concerning the Passover:
“…Have we not all one father? Has not one ELOHIM created us? Why then are we faithless to one another? (Mal. 2:10) LET NOT A YOUNG BOY OR A WOMAN EAT THE PASSOVER SACRIFICE…”
The Zadok priests were adamant that only males can eat the Passover! They were the ones entrusted by YAHWEH for making the proper rulings as they properly understood and interpreted the Torah!
Ezekiel 44:24 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“They (Zadok priests) are to teach My people the difference between the set-apart and common and enable them to distinguish between clean and unclean. They are to be JUDGES IN CONTROVERSIES, and they are to RENDER DECISIONS IN KEEPING WITH MY RULINGS. At all My designated festival they are to keep My laws and regulations, and they are to keep My shabbats set-apart.”
Where are they getting this from? We find this command written to the very two books that are a part of the Torah.
Temple Scroll (Wise, Abegg, and Cook) Column 17:6-9
“On the fourteenth day of the first month, at twilight, let them keep the Passover to YAHWEH. They shall sacrifice the Passover offering prior to the evening offering. EVERY MALE AGED TWENTY YEARS AND UP shall prepare it. Then they are to eat it at night, in the courtyards of the Temple. Afterwards they shall arise early in the morning and return home.”
Temple Scroll (The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls) page 195-196
“Let them prepare on the fourteenth day of the first month between dusk and dark the Passover of YAHWEH. They shall sacrifice it before the evening offering and shall sacrifice…MEN from TWENTY YEARS OF AGE AND OVER shall prepare it. They shall eat it at night in the set-apart courts. They shall arise early and each shall go to HIS tent…”
Temple Scroll (Charlesworth) Column 17:6-9 pages 293-295
“And they shall prepare on the fourteenth day of the first month, between the evenings, the Passover to YAHWEH and they shall sacrifice it before the evening meal-offering. They shall sacrifice it, EVERY MALE from the AGE OF TWENTY YEARS AND ABOVE. They shall prepare it and eat it at night in the courts of the set-apart place. And they shall rise early and each MAN shall go to HIS tent.”
Jubilees 49:16-17 (Hermeneia translation)
“It is not therefore to be eaten outside of YAHWEH’s sanctuary but before YAHWEH’s sanctuary. All the people of the Israelite congregation are to celebrate it at its time. EVERY MAN who has come on its day, WHO IS 20 YEARS OF AGE AND ABOVE, is to eat it in the sanctuary of your ELOHIM before YAHWEH…”
Therefore the “all souls” in Exodus 12 would have to meet these requirements!
Why do the males have to be 20 years old and upward? Because according to scripture, 20 is the age of maturity.
Exodus 30:14-15 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“Everyone over TWENTY YEARS OF AGE who is subject to the census is to give this offering to YAHWEH — 15 the rich is not to give more or the poor less than the half-shekel when giving YAHWEH’s offering to atone for your lives.:
Numbers 1:2-3 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“Take a census of the entire assembly of the people of Isra’el, by clans and families. Record the names of all the men 3 TWENTY YEARS OLD AND OVER who are subject to military service in Isra’el. You and Aharon are to enumerate them company by company.”
Numbers 14:28-29 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“Tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, YAHWEH swears, as surely as you have spoken in my ears, I will do this to you: 29 your carcasses will fall in this desert! Every single one of you who were included in the census OVER THE AGE OF TWENTY, you who have complained against me…
The Messianic Rule (The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls) page 160
“He shall not approach a woman to know her by lying with her before he is fully TWENTY YEARS OLD, when he SHALL KNOW GOOD AND EVIL.”
Temple Scroll (Wise, Abegg, Cook) Column 39:1-6
“Entering the courtyard shall be all the congregation of Yisra’el, together with any fourth-generation proselyte born among you, AGES TWENTY AND UP. NO WOMAN SHALL ENTER IT, NOR ANY YOUNG MAN BEFORE THE DAY on which he fulfills the law and pays his atonement money to YAHWEH:”
Damascus Document (Wise, Abegg, Cook) Column 15:5-6 page 68
“Whoever enters the covenant, for all Israel this is a perpetual observance; any children who REACH THE AGE to be included in the registrants, they shall impose the covenant oath upon them.”
Damascus Document (The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls) Column 15:6 page 138
“And all those who have entered the Covenant, granted to all Israel forever, shall make their children who HAVE REACHED THE AGE OF ENROLMENT, swear with the oath of the Covenant.”
The Damascus Document by Steven D. Fraade page 77
Concerning the age of enrollment he writes “This is TWENTY YEARS OLD, as in Exodus 30:14, with similar language, and 1Q28a (1Qsa) 1:8-11.”
This does not mean that the woman was not at home eating unleavened bread while he was gone as we know that the command to eat unleavened bread extends to the entire household, but we see that no woman or a child under 20 was not allowed to enter the courts with the males to participate in the ceremony. I believe the reason for the women being excluded from eating the Passover is attached to the first-born MALES being struck down during the 10th plague and therefore serves as a reminder to them. Though it would already been understood the Good News Translation makes it quite clear that it was the males who were struck down in Egypt.
Exodus 11:4-5 (Good News Translation)
“Moses then said to the king, “YAHWEH says, ‘At about midnight I will go through Egypt, and every FIRST-BORN SON, who is heir to the throne, to the SON of the slave woman who grinds grain. The first-born of all the cattle will die also.”
Exodus 12:12, 29 (Good News Translation)
“On that night I will go through the land of Egypt, killing every FIRST-BORN MALE, BOTH HUMAN AND ANIMAL, and punishing all the elohim of Egypt. I am YAHWEH.” Verse 29 “At midnight YAHWEH killed all the FIRST-BORN SONS in Egypt, from the king’s SON, who was heir to the throne, to the SON of the prisoner in the dungeon; all the first-born of the animals were also killed.”
We are given the reason as to why the males are to partake of the Passover because it is a reminder of what happened in Egypt. The precept is given in:
Exodus 13:11-15 (Good News Translation)
“YAHWEH will bring you into the land of the Canaanites, which He solemnly promised to you and your ancestors. When He gives it to you, you must offer every FIRST-BORN MALE to YAHWEH. Every FIRST-BORN MALE of your animals belongs to YAHWEH, but you must buy back from Him every FIRST-BORN MALE donkey by offering lamb in its place. If you do now want to buy back the donkey, break its neck. You must buy back every FIRST-BORN MALE child of yours. In the future, when your SON asks what this OBSERVANCE MEANS, you will answer him. ‘By using great power YAHWEH brought us out of Egypt, the place where we were slaves. When the king of Egypt was stubborn and refused to let us go, YAHWEH killed every FIRST-BORN MALE in the land of Egypt, BOTH HUMAN AND ANIMAL. THAT IS WHY WE SACRIFICE EVERY FIRST-BORN MALE ANIMAL TO YAHWEH, BUT BUY BACK OUR FIRST-BORN SONS. This observance will be A REMINDER, like something tied on our hands or on our foreheads; it will REMIND us THAT YAHWEH brought us out of Egypt by His great power.”
Therefore, when we read in Exodus 12:3 “Give these instructions to the whole community of Yisra’el: On the tenth day of this month each man must choose either a lamb or a young goat for his household.” That this would be according to the instructions given from the Temple Scroll and Jubilees.
We can now connect the dots to the Passover that YESHUA had with His disciples!
Matthew 26:20 (Hebrewgospels.com)
“And when it was evening He sat by the table to eat with His TWELVE TALMIDIM (disciples).”
Mark 14:17-18 (Hebrewgospels.com)
“And when it was evening, YESHUA came with the TWELVE TALMIDIM—and while they were eating, YESHUA said to them, “Truth I say to you that one of you who EATS WITH ME will betray Me.”
Luke 22:14 (Lamsa Aramaic)
“And when it was time, YESHUA came and sat down, and the TWELVE APOSTLES with Him.”
We see that there were no women in attendance, even His own mother Mary was not there even though she was alive (Acts 1:14). There has been a conjecture about other people being present in the room, but there is no evidence for it. The scriptures say plainly that it was YESHUA and the twelve disciples who were all males! YESHUA’s Passover did not look like our modern versions where males and females gather and partake of it. This is further evidence that the Temple Scroll and Jubilees are both Torah and that YESHUA was following the guidelines contained within them, as we know He followed the Torah perfectly.
Numbers 9:6-14 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
6 But there were certain people who had become UNCLEAN because of someone’s corpse, so that they could not observe Pesach on that day. So they came before Moshe and Aharon that day 7 and said to him, “We are unclean because of someone’s corpse; but why must we be kept from bringing the offering for YAHWEH at the time designated for the people of Isra’el?” 8 Moshe answered them, “Wait, so that I can hear what YAHWEH will order concerning you.” 9 YAHWEH said to Moshe, 10 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘If any of you now or in future generations is unclean because of a corpse, or if he is on a trip abroad, nevertheless he is to observe Pesach. 11 But he will observe it in the second month on the fourteenth day at dusk. They are to eat it with matzah and maror, 12 they are to leave none of it until morning, and they are not to break any of its bones — they are to observe it according to all the regulations of Pesach. 13 But the person who is clean and not on a trip who fails to observe Pesach will be cut off from his people; because he did not bring the offering for YAHWEH at its designated time, that person will bear the consequences of his sin. 14 If a foreigner is staying with you and wants to observe Pesach for YAHWEH, he is to do it according to the regulations and rules of Pesach — you are to have the same law for the foreigner as for the citizen of the land.’”
The only unclean concern mentioned for Pesach was touching a dead body or away on a long journey. It is interesting that they did not asking about the menstruating women. This would have been a concern since this is a reoccurring bodily function of a woman. And what would happen if this occurred on Passover? However, there is complete silence on this issue as they did not even bring it up, so the issue of purity concerning Passover was already understood amongst the children of Yisra’el. Baumgarten confirms this as well in an article on this subject which I will quote in another section.
Qumran
by Aharon Shemesh Qumran | Jewish Women's Archive jwq.org/encyclopedia/qumran
“The comparison of women with little children is also the basis for the following halakhah in 4Q265: “No young boy and woman shall eat from the Paschal sacrifice.” This halakhah is also found in the Book of Jubilees, where it is written explicitly that TWENTY IS THE AGE OF MATURITY: “Any man who has come of age, that is twenty years and more, shall eat it in the Temple of your God, before God” (Jubilees 49:17). There appears to be NO DOUBT that “MAN” here DOES NOT INCLUDE WOMEN. The exclusion of women from ritual thus finds expression in two ways: they are not permitted to enter the Temple beyond a certain point, though men may do so; and they may not eat from the Paschal sacrifice.”
I would like to confirm what Aharon Shemesh said in the article regarding women not being able to enter the Temple beyond a certain point is true. This is found in The Temple Scroll gives us the specifics regarding the Temple Courts where only priests could enter the inner court, men 20 years old and upward could enter the middle court, and only women and children under 20 would enter the third court. page 611
The Temple Scroll (Wise, Abegg, Cook) Column 38:12-15, Column 39:1-11
“You shall build a second court surrounding the inner court at a distance of one hundred cubits. The length of its eastern wall shall be four hundred eighty cubits, the same dimension applying to all its walls: south, west, and north. Its wall is to be four cubits thick and twenty-eight cubits high. Chambers must be built into the outside surface of the wall, distant from each other three and one-half cubits…Entering the courtyard shall be all the congregation of Yisra’el, together with any fourth-generation proselyte born among you, AGES TWENTY AND UP. And when they enter to prostrate themselves before Me, all the congregation of the sons of Yisra’el, NO WOMAN SHALL ENTER IT, NOR ANY YOUNG MAN BEFORE THE DAY on which he fulfills the law and pays his atonement money to YAHWEH: one half-shekel. This is an eternal law, a memorial wherever they may dwell. The shekel shall equate to twenty gerah. When they collect a man’s half-shekel, I shall be satisfied; afterward he may enter-anyone TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UP.”
The next section is a article written by Joseph M. Baumgarten on the topic:
Scripture and Law in 4Q265
Joseph M. Baumgarten
Baltimore Hebrew College
“Let us now narrow our focus to one fragment of 4Q265, which juxtaposes a biblical citation with a very specific 'halakhic' ruling. The passage quotes Malachi 2:10, "Have we not all one father ? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother?". The following line, which is the last of the column, reads:
hGsph hG[bzb] h#)w +w+(z r(n lk)wy [l)]
Let [neither] a young lad nor a woman eat the paschal [sacrifi]ce
The word before xsp was restored by one of the original editors to read g[xb] but gx without xbz usually refers to a festival, and only rarely to its offering (Ex 23:18). The lectio facilior xG[bzb] may in this case be preferable and it seems compatible with the vestiges on the facsimile.
The exclusion of women and children from sharing in the paschal lamb at first sight seems odd, particularly in the light of the description in Exodus 12, where it is an offering shared by all the 'souls' of each household. However, the passover sacrifice of later generations, twrwd xsp, as the Rabbis called it, was fashioned in accordance with the deuteronomic centralization of all sacrifice in the Temple (Deut 16:5-6). The levitical purity of all who partook of the paschal lamb was consequently a cardinal requirement. It is noteworthy that in Numbers 9:6, r#) My#n) yhyw
xsph t#(l wlky )lw Md) #pnl My)m+ wyh , the problem of those who were impure at the time of Passover SEEMS TO PERTAIN ONLY TO My#n) MEN. The description of the paschal offerings in the days of Josiah as having been distributed M(h ynb lkl (2 Chron 35:13) is likewise susceptible of being understood as limited to males. The author of Jubilees makes this explicit when he restricts the consumption of the paschal sacrifice to men twenty years or older who are to eat it in the sanctuary of the Lord (49:17). A similar ruling is found in the Temple Scroll 17 8-9:
hlylb whwlk)w wtw) w#(y hl(mw hn# [M]yr#( Nbm
#dwq[h ] twrcxb
Those twenty years and older shall perform it and eat it at night in the sacred courts.
The implied exclusion of women and minors from partaking of the paschal offering was apparently a sectarian stringency, later perpetuated in Karaite exegesis.7 The practice prevalent in the late Second Temple period was evidently more lenient, as one gathers from the description of Josephus. He states that each offering was eaten by a fraternity of between ten to twenty people, from which were EXCLUDED "those afflicted with leprosy or gonorrhea, or MENSTROUS WOMEN (gunaixi\n e_pemmh&noij), or persons otherwise defiled" (J.W. 6.426). This is in accord with tannaitic (rabbinic) halakha, such as M. Pesahim 8,1, which allows a woman to partake of the paschal lamb offered by either her father or her husband. Even a menstruant (hbz) who had completed her seven days of purification, could be counted as a participant on the eighth day (8,5): ynym#b hyl( Ny+xw# hbzhw.
The Mishnah does have some limitation on women and minors, that is that they must not be joined with slaves as participants in the Passover offering: Myn+qw Mydb(w My#n trwbx Ny#w( Ny)w "One should not form a group consisting of women, slaves, and minors" (8,7). The reason given in Tosefta (Pes. 8,6) is to prevent indecency, hlpth t) twbrl )l#. In Yerushalmi (Pes. 8,7 36a) the reason stated is "in order to avoid disgracing sacred offerings," Nwyzb ydyl My#dqh t) w)yby )l#, which S. Lieberman took to refer to a hrwbx of all women.8 In 4Q265 the exclusion of women and young lads from the paschal feast is not explained. We note, however, that the same exclusion is applied in 1QM 7:3 to their presence in the war camp: h#(w +w+(z r(n lwkw
Mtwnxml w)wby )wl. Presumably, in both cases their presence was viewed as incompatible with the maintenance of STRICT PURITY.
We must now consider the question: What is the relationship between the quote of Malachi 2:10 in Frg. 4 and the exclusion of women and minors which follows it? That there is such a relationship we consider as assured, for the possibility that the sequence of rhetorical questions ("Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother?") pertained to something in the preceding context which is missing appears remote. On the other hand, it seems plausible that the Qumran legist, AWARE OF LAX PRACTICES by which men who were participants in the paschal meal would share their portions with their wives and children, was impelled to denounce them as a BREACH OF TRUST AGAINST THEIR PARTNERS. For by involving those whose ritual purity was in doubt the errant partner was seen as subverting the purity of the common meal. It is noteworthy that tannaitic halakha was lenient also in this regard; for according to the Mishnah a paschal lamb which was slaughtered with the intention of feeding it to both the ritually pure and the impure is held to be kosher; those who are pure are not affected by the participation of the unqualified (M. Pes. 5,3).
From a literary perspective, the use of the Malachi quote as a prelude to the Passover rule seems to be an unusual rhetorical device in Qumran 'halakhic' writings. The Damascus Document, which we now recognise as primarily a legal composition, begins with an extended admonition and a historical discourse, but the function of the latter is to bolster the general call for repentance and the acceptance of the sect's interpretation of the laws. The laws themselves are set forth in the legal corpus without additional paraenetic material. Only the ban on polygamy, uncle-niece marriage, and the defilement resulting from failure to properly observe the separation from menstruants, are intertwined with a quote from Isaiah which serves to depict the three nets of Belial (CD 4, 9 -5, 11).
In MMT, the hortatory appeal to the addressee follows the 'halakhic' assertions, which repeatedly use the formula Myrmw) wnxn) "we say". However, the pronouncement concerning intermarriage (twnz) is accompanied by an extended analogy to the biblically forbidden mixing of species. Thus, the use of biblical allusions in 4Q265 in order to support Qumran legal rulings is not entirely without parallels. Moreover, rhetorical questions as literary devices are found elsewhere in Qumran writings (e.g. 1Q27 1 i 10-11)
As the article stated is that the rabbi’s became lenient on allowing women to eat it as long as she was not on her period and given to her by her father or husband. The explanation given by Baumgarten saying “AWARE OF LAX PRACTICES by which men who were participants in the paschal meal would share their portions with their wives and children, was impelled to denounce them as a breach of trust against their partners.” And in another section of the article he says “It is noteworthy that tannaitic halakha was LENIENT ALSO IN THIS REGARD; for according to the Mishnah a paschal lamb which was slaughtered with the intention of feeding it to both the ritually pure AND THE IMPURE IS HELD TO BE KOSHER; those who are pure are not affected by the participation of the unqualified (M. Pes. 5,3).”
The lax practices is a theme that the Zadok priests accused the Pharisees of doing which is being a “seeker of smooth things”
Damascus Document (Ken Johnson) page 25
“Then the curses of the covenant took hold on them, delivering them to the sword to avenge the breaches of the covenant. THESE “SEEKERS OF SMOOTH THINGS” CHOSE DECEIT AND LOOPHOLES IN THE LAW.”
Mary
A theologian by the name of John Gill comments on Luke 2:41 regarding Mary:
Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year…”Joseph was obliged to go three times a year, as were all the males in Israel, at the feasts of the Passover, Pentecost, and tabernacles, Deu 16:16. The first of these is expressed here, at the feast of the Passover; BUT THE WOMEN WERE NOT OBLIGED TO GO UP: FOR SO IT IS SAID BY THE JEWS, “the Passover of women is voluntary”, or in their own power; they might go up to the feast, or not, as they pleased. It is indeed said of HILLEL, who was now alive, that HE OBLIGED THE WOMEN TO THE FIRST, BUT NOT TO A SECOND PASSOVER: to which THE KARAITES OBJECT; the account they gives is as follows “truly the women WERE OBLIGED BY THE SCHOOL OF HILLEL, to the offering of the Passover; but if they were hindered from the first Passover; the second was in their power; that is, the thing depended upon their will and pleasure, whether they would offer or not, which may be justly wondered at; for why should they be obliged to the first, and not the second? For behold, as to the obligation of the Passover, there is no difference between the first Passover, and the second, the sum of the matter is, our wise men on whom be peace, have determined and say, that THERE IS NO OBLIGATION BUT TO MALES, WHO ARE ARRIVED TO MATURITY.”
The ruling of the Karaite Jews happens to agree with the Temple Scroll and Jubilees that only males who were 20 years old and upward could partake of the Passover. This matches what we read in the article above by Joseph Baumgarten in his article regarding the Karaites’ objection to Hillel’s ruling on the topic stating:
“The implied exclusion of women and minors from partaking of the paschal offering was apparently a sectarian stringency, later perpetuated in Karaite exegesis.7 “
We can determine that Mary traveled with Joseph but was not in the Temple courtyard eating the Passover nor did YESHUA as He was not yet 20 years old. And again, she was not present during the Passover of YESHUA when He was an adult. So, we see that even during the first century there were disagreements on this topic, but the Karaites got this right and it aligns with the Temple Scroll and Jubilees! There would be no room for conjecture or guessing had Israelites been following the ancient Torah to this day. I have exhorted the Body of Messiah to run away from the Hillel lunar calendar to the 364-Day Solar Zadok Priestly Calendar and now it’s time to walk away from Hillel’s and the rabbi’s doctrine concerning women eating Passover.
And more evidence that we should be reading these priestly books that have been suppressed by Judaism but revealed by YAHWEH in these last days.
As always may YAHWEH bless you in YESHUA’s Name!