Sukkoth and the Passion Narratives

Abstract

Numerous clues in the New Testament, especially the Letter to the Hebrews, suggest an autumn setting for the Passion narrative, and the Jewish New Year festival complex also provides a better typological context for the perception of Jesus’ death as an atoning sacrifice. There is a similar ambiguity in liturgical context concerning the sacrifice of Isaac, where both Passover and New Year settings seem to be implicated at different stages of the tradition. The essay proposes a useful method of approach to these ambiguities, following the lead of M. Halbwachs, in order to suggest that early Christian memory preserved the Passion story within two different contexts, each attached to a major Jewish festival. The Synoptic tradition, followed by the Fourth Gospel (but without the Last Supper), have chosen the Passover setting which has therefore become canonical. However, the Passion narrative itself suggests that it was developed primarily with reference to various elements of the New Year festival complex, while the Letter to the Hebrews may reflect an ongoing tradition that linked the death of Jesus to the figure of the high priest’s performance at Kippurim.