It is strange that the Hebrew word for “threshold” (_saph_) in this
narrative is translated “bason” in our English Bible. It is because of
this that the identity of the passover sacrifice with the primitive
Threshold Covenant is so generally lost sight of. This word _saph_
occurs many times in the Old Testament text, and in nine cases out of
ten it is translated “threshold,” or “door,” or “door-post,” or the
like.[549] It would seem that it should be so translated in this
instance.
In some cases where _saph_ is translated “bason,” or “cup,” the term
“threshold” would be more appropriate, as when included in an
enumeration of the temple furniture.[550] Bronze and silver thresholds
were often mentioned in the furniture of Babylonian and Assyrian
temples;[551] and they might well have had mention among the Hebrews. It
is possible, however, that there was a cavity, as a blood receptacle, in
the threshold of houses or temples where sacrifices were so frequent;
and this would account for the use of the word _saph_ as “bason,” even
where it referred to the threshold of the door.
The translators of the Septuagint, living in Egypt and familiar with the
customs of that land, rendered _saph_ by _thyra_, “doorway,”[552] in the
story of the exodus. Jerome, with his understanding of Oriental life,
gives _limen_, “threshold,” for _saph_, at this point.[553] Philo
Judæus, out of his Egyptian Jewish experiences, describing the Jewish
passover festival, speaks of it as “the feast _diabateria_, which the
Jews called _paskha_.”[554] “_Diabateria_” are “offerings before
crossing a border,”[555] or threshold sacrifices. Rabbi Ishmael, a
Talmudist, in explaining the passage descriptive of the institution of
the passover in Egypt, says: “One dug a hole in the [earthen] threshold,
and slaughtered into that,” “for _saph_ signifies here nothing else than
threshold.”[556]
A striking illustration of the error of translating _saph_ “a bason” or
“a cup,” is shown in the rendering of Zechariah 12 : 1–3 in our English
Bible. The Lord is there promising to protect the borders of Jerusalem
against all besiegers. “Thus saith the Lord, which ... layeth the
foundation of the earth:... Behold, I will make Jerusalem a _threshold_
[or, boundary stone, Hebrew, _saph_] of reeling unto all the peoples
round about.... I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the
peoples.” The figure seems to be that of the besiegers staggering as
they come against that foundation, or threshold stone, which the Lord
has established. Yet _saph_ is here translated “cup,” and the passage
thereby rendered meaningless.
There would seem, indeed, to be little room for doubt that _saph_ should
be translated “threshold” in the description of the pass-over sacrifice.
In Assyrian, the word _sippu_, from the same root as the Hebrew _saph_,
means only threshold, not bason or cup.[557]