And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
(Exodus 13:14 ESV)
Robert Alter on this text:
I hope to someday have holy traditions in my own family that lead the kids to ask, "Why?", or "What is This?" Perhaps it will be how we spend the first day of the week differently than others, perhaps it will be family devotions, or other traditions and mores that find their roots in our Salvation. Along with hearing a child ask, "Daddy, why is the sky blue?", or "Why does water flow downhill?" I would love to hear "Why don't you work on Sundays", or "Why do we go to church on Sundays", or "Why do you teach us the Bible?"
For such questions one can give the greatest answer and news in the universe.
(Exodus 13:14 ESV)
Robert Alter on this text:
Again and again, these texts emphasize the educational and commemorative function of the Exodus story and of the Passover ritual embedded in it. The story encodes the very matrix and rationale of Israelite national existence, and it becomes a sustained exercise in collective remembering. The educational formulas here reiterate the verbal motif of "a strong hand" or "strength of hand" that punctuates the Exodus narrative proper.
I hope to someday have holy traditions in my own family that lead the kids to ask, "Why?", or "What is This?" Perhaps it will be how we spend the first day of the week differently than others, perhaps it will be family devotions, or other traditions and mores that find their roots in our Salvation. Along with hearing a child ask, "Daddy, why is the sky blue?", or "Why does water flow downhill?" I would love to hear "Why don't you work on Sundays", or "Why do we go to church on Sundays", or "Why do you teach us the Bible?"
For such questions one can give the greatest answer and news in the universe.
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