A Gospel Contradiction of the Resurrection?

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

A Gospel Contradiction of the Resurrection?

Cited by critics and skeptics is a seeming contradiction is between the Matthew and John Gospel Resurrection accounts of Jesus of Nazareth as proof the Gospels’ lack integrity.^[1] At first glance, a contradiction indeed appears to exist, but is there really one?

Matthew reports “they” were interrupted with a resurrection appearance by Jesus and when compared to John, it poses potential conflict. John 20:12-16 details the lone Mary Magdalene Resurrection encounter with Jesus at the tomb. How can both be correct?

^{MT 28:9} “Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.” _NRSV

Named in Matthew are two women present at the tomb during the angelic incident, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. Mark and Luke together also identify Joanna, Mary the mother of James, Salome and “other women” of Galilee also at the empty tomb, at least 6 women. Mary Magdalene and the other women hurried to tell the Disciples of their experience.

Greek text words of kai idou begins the sentence of Matthew 28:9. The actual meaning of the Greek words provide important clues as part of the literary assessment.

A conjunction, kai is interpreted the same in almost all English Bible translations. Appearing over 9000 times in the New Testament Greek texts, about 98% translate kai as “and.”^[2]

Second is idou, appearing about 200 times in the New Testament Greek texts where over 90% of 32 translations use English words of exclamation that do not denote a specific point of occurrence, such as “Behold,” “Look,” “Suddenly,” or “lo.” Barely more than just 6% use a word that indicates a specific point in time, such as “here” or “now.”^[3]

Using the most common English translations of kai idou in Matthew 28:9, the verse would begin with something like, “And look” or “And behold.” Bottom line: the timing of this encounter with the resurrected Jesus is not specific.

Flipping over to John 20:12-16, at least some of the women including Mary Magdalene ran to the location of two Disciples, Peter and John, to report the empty tomb. The two Disciples then ran to the tomb to see for themselves.

Mary Magdalene followed Peter and John back to the tomb, according to John’s Gospel, while Luke reports that only Peter ran back to see the empty tomb. Had all the Disciples been present at the location where Mary made her exclamation, logic dictates all the Disciples would have gone to see the empty tomb with Peter and John.

Keep in mind, John’s account is an eyewitness statement and Luke’s account is written from the perspective of an investigative reporter with one of his main sources being Peter. Both statements are consistent even though John is not mentioned in Luke’s account. Luke’s Gospel reports that all the Disciples and others were told details of the incident at the tomb, but the author doesn’t specifically say when.

John’s account does not indicate if the other women of Galilee were with Mary Magdalene when she returned to the tomb – there is no mention of them. Not surprising since these women had already been there; the other time that morning was a traumatizing experience; and they knew the tomb was empty anyway.

Mary waited as the two Disciples inspected the empty tomb; saw the burial clothes; and marveled at what they had witnessed. Peter and John then returned to the city leaving Mary Magdalene behind, weeping. Time required for this second interlude at the tomb is subjective although it is probably more than just minutes.

Then it happened, Jesus appeared at the tomb only to Mary Magdalene.

^JN:20:16Jesus *said to her, “Mary!” She turned and *said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). _NASB

Consistent with the NET and King James Bible translations, Jesus told Mary Magdalene not to “touch” him because he had not yet ascended to “My Father.”

^{JN 20:17} “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”_KJV

Understandably excited, Mary Magdalene wanted to hug Jesus, but his response was don’t haptou or haptomai me.^[4] Again, the Greek word’s meaning is a very important detail where translation nuances can make a big difference.

Greek texts of the New Testament have at least 32 various instances of haptomai with 28 instances appearing in the four Gospels. All instances are translated in the NET version as a form of “touch.” The King James Bible translates haptomai in John 20:17 as “touch me not.”

That said, John 20:17 is translated differently in most Gospel versions. Greek word haptomai is translated in only about 28% of instances as “touch” or “touched.” The remainder of translations use English words implying that touching has already occurred, such as “hold” and “cling.”^[5]

Question: Was Mary Magdalene allowed to “touch” Jesus when he appeared to her? Depending on the translation, Mary was not allowed to “touch” Jesus in John’s account because he had not yet ascended to his “Father.” Matthew’s account, not affected by translation variances, says the “women” wrapped their arms around his feet and worshiped Jesus.

If Mary was not allowed to touch Jesus, it then corroborates the incident described in Matthew’s account after Jesus had presented himself to God. The circumstances are completely different between John and Matthew: one vs. many; not touched vs. touched.

Pieces of the puzzle are coming together. Much of the day on Sunday remained when the other Disciples could have been informed by the women of Galilee at the tomb at sunrise. Whether Mary Magdalene was with the women in the Matthew encounter is not clear; however, based on the preceding verses in Matthew, it is likely she was with them.

An actual eyewitness statement is always of great value and there is one – Cleopas‘ statement quoted in Luke’s Gospel account. Heading back home, Cleopas and his partner were unwittingly joined along the way by the resurrected Jesus.

Cleopas stated, “Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” Most significantly, no one had encountered the resurrected Jesus.

John’s Gospel is corroborated by the statement of Cleopas on key details: women reported their experience at the tomb; the tomb was empty; and only “some” went to verify the empty tomb.

Is there really a Gospel Resurrection conflict or were there two different incidents described by the Gospels of Matthew and John?

Updated September 25, 2023.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

[1] Cline, Austin. “Jesus: Contradictions in Resurrection and Ascension.” Learn Religions. 2019. <https://www.learnreligions.com/jesus-resurrection-and-ascension-contradictions-250145> Lowder, Jeffery Jay. “The Historicity of Jesus’ Resurrection The Debate between Christians and Skeptics.” TheSecularWeb. Chapter 4. 1995. <https://infidels.org/library/modern/jeff_lowder/jesus_resurrection/chap4.html> Seidensticker, Bob. “Contradictions in the Resurrection Account.” Patheos.com. 2012. <https://www.patheos.com/blogs/crossexamined/2012/04/contradictions-in-the-resurrection-account-2> Heuvel, Curt van den. “The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.” 2Think.org. 1997. <http://www.2think.org/hundredsheep/bible/ressur.shtml> Agard, Margaret. In His Footsteps. “The Tomb Is Only Empty Because Christ is Risen.” image. 2013. <https://inhisfootsteps.com/wp-content/uploads/jesus_christ_empty_tomb_goshen_utah.jpeg>
[2] “kai.” Netbible.org. Matthew 28:9. kai <2532>. 2020. Matthew 28:9. Footnote 1. NetBible.org. 2020. “kai.” BibleHub.com. Strong’s Greek 2532. 2011. “kai <2532>.” NetBible.org. 2020. ;
[3] “idou.” NetBible.org. 2020. <http://classic.net.bible.org/strong.php?id=2400> Matthew 28:9, Footnote 1. NetBible.org. 2020. <http://classic.net.bible.org/verse.php?book=Mat&chapter=28&verse=9#> “2400. idou.” Bi-bleHub.com. 2020. <https://biblehub.com/greek/2400.htm> “idou.” BibleHub.com. Strong’s Greek 2400. 2020. <https://biblehub.com/parallel/matthew/28-9.htm> Matthew 28:9. Bi-bleHub.com. Interlinear. 2020. <https://biblehub.com/interlinear/matthew/28-9.htm> Matthew 28:9. BibleHub.com. Lexicon. 2020. <https://biblehub.com/lexicon/matthew/28-9.htm> Matthew 28:9. BibleHub.com. 2020. <https://biblehub.com/matthew/28-9.htm> Matthew 28:9. NetBi-ble.org. 2020. <http://classic.net.bible.org/verse.php?book=Mat&chapter=28&verse=9>
[4] “haptomai.” NetBble.net. 2020. <http://classic.net.bible.org/strong.php?id=680> “ἁψάμενος.” Bi-bleHub.com. 2020. <https://biblehub.com/greek/apsamenos_680.htm> “ἅπτου.” BibleHub.com. 2020. <https://biblehub.com/greek/haptou_680.htm> John 20:l7. BibleHub.com. Parallel. <https://biblehub.com/john/20-17.htm> John 20:17. NetBible.org. <http://classic.net.bible.org/verse.php?book=Joh&chapter=20&verse=17>
[5] “haptomai.” NetBble.net. n.d. <http://classic.net.bible.org/strong.php?id=680> “ἁψάμενος.” John 20:17. BibleHub.com. n.d. interlinear. <https://biblehub.com/interlinear/john/20-17.htm> John 20:17. BibleHub.com. n.d. lexicon. <https://biblehub.com/lexicon/john/20-17.htm> “G0680.” Lexicon Concordance. n.d. <http://lexiconcordance.com/greek/0680.html>

Are the Gospels in Sync with the Passover?

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

Are the Gospels in Sync with the Passover?

Final days of Jesus of Nazareth took place during the annual Passover observance in Jerusalem Circumstances surrounding the Passover are the trial, execution and Resurrection.

Interwoven throughout the Gospels are 21 references to the Passover by name and 6 references to either “the feast” or “the festival.” Skeptics make the charge that the Gospels contain Passover observance contradictions.^[1]

Passover began when Moses defied Pharaoh in Egypt ending with the 10^th plague, death of the firstborn.^[2] Hebrews were spared when the angel of death passed over their homes bearing the blood of the sacrificial lambs over their doorposts.

God declared at Mount Sinai that this act of salvation was to be observed annually by the Hebrews to “sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God” in the place where the LORD chooses to establish His name.”^[3] Yet to be revealed was the location of the place.

Strict requirements for the Passover appear in the books of the Law of Moses – Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.^[4] A key distinction, Jewish days begin at twilight just after sunset.^[6]

Passover began at twilight of Nissan 14 just after the Pascal Lamb had been sacrificed earlier that afternoon. At the onset of Nissan 15, the Feast of Unleavened Bread was to be eaten.^[5]

Roasted lamb from the Pascal sacrifice became the main course.^[9] The meal was literally a feast intended to feed 10 to 20 people, a festive and joyous occasion to celebrate God’s deliverance from bondage – freedom.^[10] At midnight, any leftovers were to be promptly burned.

Sunrise brought the initial daylight hours of the first day of Passover, Nissan 15, along with the daily necessities still to come. People were busy with required and traditional activities including meals and more sacrifices.

Jewish Talmudic law defined the sacrifices for each day including the meal plan for the first day of Passover. An entire tractate in the Babylonia Talmud entitled Chagigah is devoted to addressing the various expectations and requirements.^[11] Two “chagigah sacrifices” were associated with the Passover.^[12]

As an optional festal offering, the first chagigah sacrifice was to be offered on Nissan 14 intended to supplement the Paschal sacrifice ensuring there would be enough meat to feed a large Passover company.^[13] It was “in all respects equal to the paschal sacrifice itself” expected to provide for “the duty of enjoying the festival.”^[14]

If this optional festal sacrifice was to be offered, it was to occur before the Pascal sacrifice so that there was no interruption between it and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.^[15] Like the Paschal lamb, it had to be consumed by midnight with any leftovers to be burned.

Traditionally offered on Nissan 15, the first day of Passover, this second chagigah sacrifice was offered and the meal was called exactly that, the Chagigah. The sacrifice had a different purpose and rules than the first chagigah sacrifice. It was an obligatory, private “peace offering” to be offered by an individual at the Temple with the assistance of a Priest who became a beneficiary to it.^[16]

A portion of this second chagigah sacrifice on Nisan 15 of Passover was to be given to God, a portion to the Priest as a tithe for his own meal, and the remaining portion of meat was to be taken home by the offerer for his own Chagigah meal.^[17] For this reason, a priest had a vested personal interest to assist in the sacrifice.

Meat from this second chagigah sacrifice was to be prepared during the afternoon and served as the main course before of the first day of Passover evening.^[18] The meal was to be consumed over the course of two days and one night – the first and second days of Passover, Nissan 15 and 16, and the night in between.

Things get interesting as it relates to the Gospels’ accounts describing the final hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, especially John 18:28.^[19] Two references are the cause of contention – the meal and the defilement.

^{JN 18:28} “They did not go into the governor’s residence so they would not be ceremonially defiled, but could eat the Passover meal.”_(NET)

The Feast of Unleavened Bread had been eaten, Jesus was later arrested that evening and put on trial during the night. Early that same morning of Nisan 15, Jesus was taken by the Jewish leadership to Pilate at the Praetorium where the priests refused to go inside.

Entering the Praetorium was one of those things that could place a priest in a state of ritual defilement. When the author added “so they would not be defiled,” this could only be referring to the second Passover chigigiah meal since it was after the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

John does not explain the reason for the defilement. One possibility is the Jewish legal concept known as “abortus,” touching a dead body or home that once contained a dead body (the presumption was that it was common practice for mourning Romans to display a dead body in a building).^[20]

After sunset, a ritualistic purification bath by the priest before the Feast of Unleavened Bread would have absolved this type of ritual defilement that may have occurred day on Nisan 14. In this case, however, it would be too late to absolve a ritual defilement.

A defiled priest on Nisan 15 could not perform any sacrifice that day. As a consequence, he would not receive his lawful portion of the chagigah sacrificial meat for his own meal.

Are the Gospel references to the Passover during the final days in the life of Jesus of Nazareth in agreement with Jewish Law defined in the Old Testament, the Tenakh, and the Talmud?

Updated February 25, 2024.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

[1] Wells, Steve. <u>The Skeptic’s Annotated Bible</u>. 2017. “423. When was Jesus crucified? <http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/passover_meal.html> “101 Bible Contradictions.” Islamic Awareness. n.d. Contradiction #69. <https://www.islamawareness.net/Christianity/bible_contra_101.html> “Passover.” SVGmall.com. image. n.d. <https://svgmall.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Passover-PNG-Free-Download.jpg?v=1619147248>
[2] Exodus 8-12. Roth, Don. “What year was the first Passover?” Biblical Calendar Proof. 2019. <http://www.biblicalcalendarproof.com/Timeline/PassoverDate>
[3] Deuteronomy 16. NASB.
[4] Exodus 12; Leviticus 23; Numbers 9; Deuteronomy 16. <http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/The%20Temple%20by%20Alfred%20Edersheim.pdf>
[5] Exodus 12; Leviticus 23; Numbers 9; Deuteronomy 16. Edersheim, Alfred. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. 1826-1889. “The Roasting of the Lamb.” pp 66 – 67, 71-72. <http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/The%20Temple%20by%20Alfred%20Edersheim.pdf>
[6] Edersheim. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. p 71.
[7] Deuteronomy 16. Edersheim, Alfred. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. “The Roasting of the Lamb.” p 75.
[8] Gill. John Gill’s Exposition of the Whole Bible. John; chapters 18-19 commentary. <https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/john-18.html> Edersheim. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. pp 70-71, 76, 79, 81-82. Josephus, Flavius. Wars of the Jews. Trans. and commentary William Whitson. The Complete Works of Josephus.1850. Book VI, Chapter IX.3. <https://books.google.com/books?id=e0dAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false> Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. 1883. p 1324. <http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/The%20Life%20and%20Times%20of%20Jesus%20the%20Messiah.pdf>
[9] Talmud Bavli. Sefaria. Trans. William Davidson. n.d. <https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Talmud>
[10] Edersheim. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. “The Three Things.” pp 70-71.
[11] Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. p 1324.
[12] The Babylonian Talmud. Rodkinson. Tract Pesachim, Book 3, Chapter VI. <http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t03/psc09.htm> Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. pp 1324. Edersheim. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. pp 70-71. Gill. John Gill’s Exposition of the Whole Bible. John chapters 18 & 19 commentary.
[13] The Babylonian Talmud. Rodkinson. Tract Pesachim, Book 3, Chapter V. Edersheim. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. p 79.
[14] Leviticus 3. Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. p 1383-85. Edersheim. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. p 70. Streane, A. W, ed. A Translation of the Treatise Chagigah from the Babylonian Talmud. 1891. Chagigah 7b, Gemara. Pages 35 – 36. <http://www.archive.org/stream/translationoftre00streuoft/translationoftre00streuoft_djvu.txt>
[15] Leviticus 7. Streane. A Translation of the Treatise Chagigah from the Babylonian Talmud. Glossary: “Chagigah.” pp 147-148. Edersheim. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. pp 41, 82.
[16] Edersheim. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. p 1382. Edersheim. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. p 70. The Babylonian Talmud. Rodkinson. Book 3. Tract Pesachim Chapters VI, VIII, IX.
[17] Matthew 26-27; Mark 14-15; Luke 22-2 3; John 18-19. Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. pp 1382, 1384. Edersheim. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. p 70. The Babylonian Talmud. Rodkinson. Book 3. Tract Pesachim. Chapters VI, VIII, IX.
[18] NASB.
[19] Numbers 9. CR Mark 14:12. Edersheim. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. p. 83. Soncino Babylonian Talmud. “Introduction to Seder Tohoroth.” #2. <https://israelect.com/Come-and-Hear/talmud/tohoroth.html > “Priest.” Jewish Encyclopedia.
[20 ] Leviticus 22:4-8. CR Numbers 9:6-12; 19:11-13. Edersheim. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. Edersheim. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. pp 1383-1385. “The First Day of the Feast” pp 82-83, 85, 130-131, “Appendix.” pp 130-131. “Priest.” Jewish Encyclopedia. 2011. <http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12358-priest Streane. A Translation of the Treatise Chagigah from the Babylonian Talmud. Glossary: “Chagigah.” p 148.

It’s All About a Meal

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

It’s All About a Meal

Tradition says Jesus was crucified on Good Friday of Easter weekend. Not everyone agrees – some say that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified earlier in the week or even before the Feast of Unleavened Bread.^[1] A meal plays a big role in determining when Jesus was crucified…and it may not be the one that first comes to mind.

^{JN 18:28} Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover._(NRSV)

John says the priests were worried about becoming defiled which would then disqualify them from “eating the Passover” meal.^[2] It is easy to draw the conclusion that “to eat the Passover” refers to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but it had already been eaten.

Playing this out farther, if the verse is referring to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it would mean Jesus was crucified on Nisan 14^thbefore the Feast. In this scenario John 18:28 would then indeed be a contradiction with the other Gospel accounts saying Jesus was crucified and died on the first day of Passover.^[3]

Many people may not be aware there were two other meal possibilities at the beginning of Passover called a chagigah addressed in the Talmud.^[4] It is helpful to know the Jewish day begins at sunset and the following sunrise begins the daylight portion of that same day ending at dusk.

First of the two Passover meals was optional and was a supplement to the Feast of Unleavened Bread launching the Passover after sunset. If it was necessary to feed a larger party, this optional first chagigah sacrifice was in addition to the Pascal lamb sacrifice and to be treated the same with any leftovers to be burned by midnight.

A second, separate chagigah was to be offered and consumed the first day of Passover, after the Feast of Leavened Bread the previous evening.^[5] That meal was to be consumed over the course of two days and one night.^[6]

Jewish Law stipulated the second chagigah was to occur on the first actual day of Passover Nisan 15^th. The remaining sacrificial meat was to be given to the priest for his own personal chagigah meal.^[7]

Priests were held to a higher Rabbinical standard with special rules that did not apply to the general populace. Entering Pilate‘s headquarters, the Praetorium in John 18:28, was one of those things that would place the priests in a state of ritual defilement.^[8] Rabbinic ritual defilement could be absolved by means of a ritualistic purification bath.

Since the Feast of Unleavened Bread occurred after sunset, a priest ritually defiled the day of Nisan 14^th could still partake of the Feast of Unleavened Bread if he performed a ritual purification bath before sunset. The second chagigah sacrifice occurred during first day of Passover meaning a ritual purification bath that evening would be too late because the sacrifice occurred during that day.

Disqualification from performing their chagigah sacrificial duty on the first day of Passover meant the priests would not have received their lawful gratuity portion of the sacrificial meat – no meat for their own chagigah meal on the first day of Passover.^[9] Defilement worries in John 18:28 “to be able to eat the Passover” centered on the consequences involving the second chagigah meal by the Priests.

Logically, perhaps even much bigger, is why the defilement concern of John 18:28 over a meal does not infer the crucifixion of Jesus occurred on Nisan 14^th. According to Josephus, earlier in the afternoon shortly after midday of Nisan 14^th upwards of a quarter million paschal sacrifices were performed at the Temple!

Offerings of the Pascal sacrifices preceding the Feast of Unleavened Bread was an all-hands-on-deck scenario where all the Priests served a vitally important role at the Temple requiring massive preparations with a packed and rigid schedule. Activities for the most popular annual Festival in all the land drew crowds of about 3 million people.^[10]

With this in mind, how conceivable is a scenario where high level priests pursued their vendetta against Jesus beginning after the evening dinner of Nisan 13^th with an arrest, an inquisition and an aberrant overnight trial; Roman hearings the next morning; and ending with the crucifixion of Jesus at 9am, Nisan 14^th , at the very same time tens of thousands of pascal lamb sacrifices were to be sacrificed at the Temple that same day? It would be like NFL Super Bowl event managers taking the day off on Super Bowl Sunday to attend to personal business.

Consider, too, the Roman factor. Passover worried the Romans more than any other because it drew to Jerusalem the potentially troublesome Jewish crowds of millions of pilgrims.^[11]

Alternatively, the next day, the first day of Passover on Nisan 15, the crowds were dispersed. Jewish Law stipulated Jews were to be in their local housing accommodations to celebrate the Passover with very minimal activity.

Did John’s reference to the priest’s defilement concern of missing the Passover meal actually pose a credibility issue with the other Gospels that said Jesus was crucified on the first day of Passover?

Updated June 5, 2024.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

NRSV = New Revised Standard Version translation

[1] Doig, Kenneth F. New Testament Chronology. Chapter 18. <http://nowoezone.com/NTC18.htm> Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. 1883. Book V. <http://philologos.org/__eb-lat/default.htm> “Sharing a Meal.” Pinterest.com. image. n.d. <https://www.pinterest.com/pin/785737466232633826/>
[2] Wells, Steve. The Skeptic’s Annotated Bible. 2017. “423. When was Jesus crucified?” http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/passover_meal.html> “101 Bible Contradictions.” Islamic Awareness. n.d. Contradiction #69. https://www.islamawareness.net/Christianity/bible_contra_101.html>
[3] Edersheim, Alfred. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. Chapter 10. 1826 -1889. The NTSLibrary. 2016. <http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20BooksJewish Encyclopedia. 2011. <http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com>
[4] Leviticus 23:7-8; Numbers 28:18. Net.Bible.org. Hebrew text, footnote #20. CR Exodus 23:14. Netbible.org. n.d. Hebrew text. “G5656.” Lexicon-Concordance. n.d. <http://lexiconcordance.com/search6.asp?sw=5656&sm=0&x=0&y=0 Babylonian Talmud. Rodkinson trans. Book 3, Tracts Pesachim, Chapter IV and Book 4, Tract Betzah (Yom Tob); Book 4, Tract Moed, Chapter II.. <https://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/talmud.htm#t03>
[5] Leviticus 3.
[6] The Babylonian Talmud. Trans. Michael L. Rodkinson. 1918. Book 3, Tract Pesachim. <http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/talmud.htm> Streane, A. W, ed. A Translation of the Treatise Chagigah from the Babylonian Talmud. 1891. Chagigah 7b. <http://www.archive.org/stream/translationoftre00streuoft/translationoftre00streuoft_djvu.txt>
[7] Leviticus 7:29-32. Edersheim. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. Chapters 5 & 11. Streane. A Translation of the Treatise Chagigah from the Babylonian Talmud. Glossary: “Chagigah.”
[8] Leviticus 22.
[9] Leviticus 22; Numbers 9. Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities of the Jews. Book III, Chapter X. Google Books. n.d <http://books.google.com/books?id=e0dAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false>
[10] Josephus, Flavius. Wars of the Jews. Book VI.. < http://books.google.com/books?id=e0dAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false>
[11] Antiquities. Book XI, Chapter IV; Book XX, Chapter V. Josephus. Wars. Book V, Chapter V.