Exodus 12:23

Hebrew Bible

21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel, and told them, “Go and select for yourselves a lamb or young goat for your families, and kill the Passover animals. 22 Take a branch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply to the top of the doorframe and the two side posts some of the blood that is in the basin. Not one of you is to go out the door of his house until morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the Lord will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 24 You must observe this event as an ordinance for you and for your children forever. 25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give to you, just as he said, you must observe this ceremony.

Psalms of Solomon 7:4

Pseudepigrapha

2 because you have pushed them away, O God. May their feet not trample your holy inheritance. 3 Discipline us as you wish, but don't turn us over to the Gentiles; 4 for if you send Death away, it will be because you, yourself, have told him what to do about us. 5 Because you are kind, and you would not be angry enough to destroy us. 6 While your name lives among us, we will receive mercy; and the Gentiles will not defeat us.

 Notes and References

"... The first verse is the author’s pleading that God not depart from Israel in the challenging situation of an oncoming assault from the Gentiles (Psalms of Solomon 7:1). The next two verses are the plea of the psalmist God’s help, while the author asks God about God’s discipline (Psalms of Solomon 7:2–3). The author distinguishes between evil that comes from the Gentiles and the punishment of God, whose aim is to rectify the nation. God’s discipline is a contradiction to the destructive wrath of the Gentiles. Besides this, the psalmist states that his trust in God could protect the community of the devout and that he is convinced that all is in God’s hands and under God’s guidance (even the affliction of death could be understood as a way to preserve the community), which is for the author the assurance of God’s mercy (Psalms of Solomon 7:4–6). The author believes that God will respond to the prayer and will have compassion on the nation of Israel and will not reject them (Psalms of Solomon 7:7–8). Then, he again stresses that the righteous are under God’s discipline (Psalms of Solomon 7:9–10) ..."

Ábel, František The Psalms of Solomon and the Messianic Ethics of Paul (p. 131) Mohr Siebeck, 2016

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.