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Showbread (Commentary of Rashi on Exodus 25:30 – "Bread of the Faces: because it had faces," "לחם פנים - שהיה לו פנים", and commentary of Nachmanides on the same verse – "Bread of the Faces: because it had faces facing this way and that way," "לחם פנים - שיש לו פנים רואים לכאן ולכאן".), in the King James Version shewbread, in a Bible or Judaism context, refers to the cakes or loaves of bread which were always present, on a specially-dedicated table, in the Temple in Jerusalem as an offering to God. An alternative, and more appropriate, translation would be presence bread, Jewish Encyclopedia. since the Bible requires that the bread be constantly in the presence of God (). The twelve loaves were ritually consumed in the presence of God each week by the Aaronic priesthood ().
According to Chronicles, the clan had charge of the baking and setting in order of the bread,. suggesting that there were secret extra requirements in preparing the bread, known only to the Kohathites. Since leavened products were prohibited from the altar,. and the cakes are not described as being korban, it is possible that the showbread was leavened; however, as they were carried into the inner part of the sanctuary, it is highly probable that they were unleavened.
The cakes were to be left on the table for a week, and then be replaced with new ones on the Shabbat, so that there were always fresh loaves on the table, and those that had started going stale were removed; the biblical text states that the Kohen were entitled to eat the cakes that had been removed, as long as they did so in a holy place, as it considered the bread to be holy. The narrative of David's sojourn at Nob mentions that Ahimelek (the priest) gave David the holy bread, at his request..
The feet of the table are described as having a ring-like enclosure to which four gold rings were fastened, so that rods (made from acacia wood, and covered with gold) could be passed through the rings, and used to make the table portable, in the same manner as the other features of the tabernacle. The biblical text indicates that, when being carried, the table would be covered with a purplish-blue cloth, the loaves and vessels would be placed on the cloth, and another cloth, in scarlet, would be placed over it, with a fine skin being added on top of that.. In each sanctuary there was one table, except for the Temple in Jerusalem, which Chronicles describes as having ten tables within its sanctuary..
Gold utensils ("dishes, cups, bowls, and pitchers for pouring") were provided for the table,Exodus 25:29 and 37:16. suggesting that other food and drink was served on the table as well as the showbread. The King James Version of the Bible states that the utensils are to be "set in order upon it". King James Version.
In Solomon's Temple, there was provision made for the proper exhibition of the showbread., cf. , . Antiochus Epiphanes plundered the table of showbread from the Second Temple,. but under Judas Maccabeus a replacement was made..
The custom seems to have been widespread in the region,cf. , , et sequentia, and . an example being the practice of offering to their gods a number of different kinds of cakes/bread ( akalu); the Hebrew term for showbread, Lehem haPanim, is exactly translated by the Assyrian phrase akal pânu, which refers to the Babylonian cake/bread offerings. In the Israelite case, a number of biblical scholars connect the use of showbread directly to the ancient cult of the Ark of the Covenant, the Ark being seen as the home of the deity, and the bread being an offering of food, ready for consumption whenever the deity chose to make an appearance.Stade, Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, (1905), 1:168.
Like the biblical showbread, the Babylonians and Assyrians generally laid twelve cakes/loaves, or an integer multiple of twelve cakes/loaves, on tables in front of images of their deities; Peake's commentary on the Bible. the number twelve, which is so prominent in the showbread rite, has always borne mysterious religious significance, and with the Assyrian practice of laying out twelve cakes/loaves, was directly connected with the Zodiac. The Babylonian cakes/bread were also required to be sweet (i.e. unleavened), and like the biblical showbread were baked from wheat flour.
According to some Mishnaic contributors, the kneading of the dough was done outside the sanctuary, but the baking was done inside,Men. 11:2. but others state that all the preparations were carried out in the Temple courtyard, and others in the house of Pagi, which according to Maimonides was very close to the Temple courtyard; no reason is given for these geographic distinctions, but the Gemara argues that the House of Garmu were responsible for baking the showbread, and kept their methods and reasoning secret. The Mishnah states that to replace the bread, two priests would enter the sanctuary ahead of another four priests carrying the replacement bread; the two priests without the bread would go to the southern end of the table, while those with the new bread would go to the northern end, and while the priests at the south removed the old bread from the table, it would be replaced with the new bread by the priests at the northern side, so that the bread would always be present. Menahot, 99b.Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Tamid: 5:4.
Josephus states that the cakes were placed in two equal piles (rather than rows),Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, volume 3, 10:7. as does the Mishnah, which describes the existence of hollow golden tubes to carry air between the bread, and two golden fork-shaped supports attached to the table, each one to hold up a pile. Menahot, 94b, 96a.Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Tamid: 5:2. Josephus also states that the frankincense was placed in two golden cups – one on top of each pile; the Mishnah states that a handful of incense was placed in each cup, and the Tosefta states that the cups, called bezikin, had flat bottoms/rims, so that they could also be placed on the table. Tosefta on Menahot 11. According to the Mishnah, while the new bread was being carried in by the four priests, two other priests would carry in replacement cups of incense, and two further priests would go ahead of them to remove the old cups of incense.
The Mishnah argues that after being removed, the old bread was placed on a golden table in the Temple's hall, and then the old incense would be burnt; once this was done, the cakes would be divided, with the Jewish High Priest getting five of the twelve loaves, and the remainder being divided among the other priests on duty during the previous week. Yoma. On the occasion of certain Jewish Holidays occurring during the Sabbath, there were adjustments made, for example, if Yom Kippur occurred on the Sabbath, the old bread wouldn't be divided between the priests until the evening.Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Tamid: 5:5.
The Mishnah states that there were 28 ventilation tubes, 14 for each pile, each of which was open at one end only. The Gemara extrapolates from this the conclusion that the fork-like supports were set into the floor, two at each end of the table, and the tubes went between the fork-like supports above the table. The Gemara essentially has the view that the supports and tubes formed a complex receptacle for the loaves, similar to a grate, with the lowest loaf in each pile resting directly on the table, but with the next loaf resting on the two lowest of the tubes, and so forth up the pile. Presumably a device as complex as this would have been mentioned at least briefly in the Bible had it been a biblical requirement, but it isn't.Josephus, The Jewish Wars, volume 5, 5:5.Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, volume 3, 6:6. The table is depicted on the Arch of Titus during the emperors Titus and Vespasian's triumphal procession in 71 CE, which celebrated their defeat of Judea.Michael Pfanner, Der Titusbogen, 1981, pp. 50–54.
As well as the golden cups for the incense, Tetzaveh and the Mishnah enumerate several other dishes (singular קְעָרָה ) and hand-like bowls ( kappoṯ, singular קְף ), including mənaqqiyyoṯ (singular מְנַקִּיָּה , probably for dipping) and qəśwoṯ (singular קשׂוה ); the qəśwoṯ are identified by the Mishnah as being for the wine , but the argue that they were to cover the showbread. The Mishnah also suggests that the Table could be dismantled into small portions, so that if any part of it ever became ritual impurity, it could be regain its ritual purity by washing the parts in a Mikvah.
The Mishnah also speaks of a tradition in which the table with the showbread would be elevated before the pilgrims in the Temple courtyard and the priests would say "See your affection before the Omnipresent." (חיבתכם לפני המקום).Menahot 29a.9.
Among the Dead Sea Scrolls, a number of Aramaic fragments, found in cave 2, discuss eschatology connections to the eating of showbread, which Matthew Black links with the sacred community meal discussed in a scroll from cave 1 (1QSVI), and the Jewish Messiah meal discussed in another scroll in the same cave (1QSall);Matthew Black, Dead Sea Scrolls, p. 110. Professor Black suggests that the Qumran community may have considered their regular bread sharing to be an enactment of the Sabbath division of showbread at the Jerusalem Temple.
There is dispute among scholarly groups as to whether the Qumran community was identifiable with the , but scholars do generally agree that there was an association between the Essenes and the Therapeutae. Philo reported that the Therapeutae's central meal was intended to emulate the holy table set forth in the sacred hall of the temple,Philo, The contemplative life, pp. 81–82. but though the Qumran community are portrayed in the Dead Sea Scrolls as viewing the Jerusalem service as having failed to achieve priestly holiness, Philo describes the Therapeutae as deliberately introducing slight differences in their practices from those at the Temple, as a mark of respect for the Temple's showbread.
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