Admittedly, it is certainly something that makes one think. Thank you for your kind words. Something else to consider as well is this:
They were familiar already with what not to have during חג מצות. For Paul to tell them not to keep the feast with old, wicked or bitter leaven, seems like an odd thing, for it almost appears, by itself, in referring to types of leaven to avoid, to imply that he wants them to use some kind of leaven, something different from the leaven having those qualities.
In other words, if I were to say to you, 'Don't use a sword of bronze or silver, but...'
you would be thinking that I am now going to tell you what kind of sword to use, such as:
'Don't use a sword of bronze or silver, but use a sword of iron'.
Just in thinking of the logic of how we speak of things, it does not make as much sense to us to say:
'Don't use a sword of bronze or silver, but use a bow of wood.'
If we were wanting to indicate the use of a bow rather than a sword, we would not put in types of swords, but simply say:
'Don't use a sword, but use a bow.'
Putting this in the context of what Paul was writing, to me it appears to make more sense to indicate leaven across the board, with the only differences being what types to avoid, and what types to use.
If I were living back then, knowing what I know about חג מצות, I might think, "Why is Paul even telling us not to keep the feast with certain bad types of leaven?" During the feast we do not have ANY leaven at all. This, along with what I shared above, brings me personally to the conclusion, that he is using פסח and מצות in a deeper level that speaks of behavior as having an affect on others around us.
Hope this at least gets us to really think deeply about the text, regardless of what conclusion we end up coming to. It has certainly done this for me, and I thank you for it brother.
Shlama,
Ronen
They were familiar already with what not to have during חג מצות. For Paul to tell them not to keep the feast with old, wicked or bitter leaven, seems like an odd thing, for it almost appears, by itself, in referring to types of leaven to avoid, to imply that he wants them to use some kind of leaven, something different from the leaven having those qualities.
In other words, if I were to say to you, 'Don't use a sword of bronze or silver, but...'
you would be thinking that I am now going to tell you what kind of sword to use, such as:
'Don't use a sword of bronze or silver, but use a sword of iron'.
Just in thinking of the logic of how we speak of things, it does not make as much sense to us to say:
'Don't use a sword of bronze or silver, but use a bow of wood.'
If we were wanting to indicate the use of a bow rather than a sword, we would not put in types of swords, but simply say:
'Don't use a sword, but use a bow.'
Putting this in the context of what Paul was writing, to me it appears to make more sense to indicate leaven across the board, with the only differences being what types to avoid, and what types to use.
If I were living back then, knowing what I know about חג מצות, I might think, "Why is Paul even telling us not to keep the feast with certain bad types of leaven?" During the feast we do not have ANY leaven at all. This, along with what I shared above, brings me personally to the conclusion, that he is using פסח and מצות in a deeper level that speaks of behavior as having an affect on others around us.
Hope this at least gets us to really think deeply about the text, regardless of what conclusion we end up coming to. It has certainly done this for me, and I thank you for it brother.
Shlama,
Ronen