Showbread

Within the Torah, the showbread is mentioned exclusively by the Priestly Code and Holiness Code, suggesting that there were secret extra requirements in preparing the bread, known only to the Kohathites. and the cakes are not described as being offered upon it, it is possible that the showbread was leavened; The table (shulchan) The table or shulḥan for the showbread was, according to biblical regulations, to be placed in the northern part of the sanctuary, opposite the Menorah with the altar of incense between them. The Septuagint describes the table as being of solid gold, but the Masoretic Text states that it was made from acacia and gilded, with a gold border around the top; the table's dimensions are given as two ells long, one ell wide, and ells high (about ). 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, 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". In Solomon's Temple, there was provision made for the proper exhibition of the showbread. Antiochus Epiphanes plundered the table of showbread from the Second Temple, but under Judas Maccabeus a replacement was made. ==Origin==

Although, according to textual scholars, the only source texts among those comprising the Torah which mention the showbread are the Holiness Code and later additions to the priestly source, which textual scholars generally view as predating the priestly source. In the Books of Samuel, Ahimelek is described as asking for an assurance that David's men were in a ritually pure state, namely that they had not been involved in sexual activity with women, before handing over the old showbread; biblical scholars view this as suggesting that the showbread was originally a sacrificial meal which was viewed as being shared with the deity, hence the need to be ritually pure, and the bread not being burnt but instead consumed. an example being the Babylonian practice of offering to their gods a number of different kinds of cakes/bread (akalu); 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; 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. ==In classical Jewish literature==

The somewhat scanty biblical details concerning the showbread are complemented by further information given by Josephus (a contemporary of Herod's temple), and, over the several centuries after the Temple's destruction, by classical rabbinical literature. The Mishnah argues that the loaves were kneaded separately, but baked in pairs; the Mishnah also states that the loaves were moulded into shape by three different moulds (made from gold, according to Maimonides, who lived more than a thousand years after the burning of Jerusalem), with one being used while the loaves were just dough, another while the bread was being baked in the oven, and a third after baking, to protect the shape. The Mishnah describes the loaves as being 10 Etzba long, and 5 Etzba wide, with rims/horns that were 7 Etzba long; Maimonides gives the same figures but with Tefah as the unit rather than Etzba. According to some Mishnaic contributors, the kneading of the dough was done outside the sanctuary, but the baking was done inside, 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; Josephus states that the cakes were placed in two equal piles (rather than rows), 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. Josephus also states that the frankincense was placed in two golden cups – one on top of each pile; 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. 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 would not be divided between the priests until the evening. The table The majority of contributors to the Mishnah state that the table was of the same dimensions as the loaves – 10 Etzba long, and 5 Etzba wide, The Mishnah states that there were 28 ventilation tubes, 14 for each pile, each of which was open at one end only. 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. As well as the golden cups for the incense, Exodus 29 and the Mishnah enumerate several other dishes (singular ) and hand-like bowls (kappoṯ, singular ), including mənaqqiyyoṯ (singular , probably for dipping) and qəśwoṯ (singular ); the qəśwoṯ are identified by the Mishnah as being for the wine libations, but the Targums argue that they were to cover the showbread. ==Among ancient groups==

There is evidence of Jewish groups around the turn of the common era, such as the Qumran community at the Dead Sea, and the Therapeutae in Egypt, which seem to have regarded themselves as part of the main Jewish body worshipping at the Jerusalem temple, despite being geographically isolated from it, and, in the eyes of later Jewish thought, theologically distinct from it. Among the Dead Sea Scrolls, a number of Aramaic fragments, found in cave 2, discuss eschatological 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 Messianic meal discussed in another scroll in the same cave (1QSall); 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. 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. ==In Christianity==

For Christians, the Holy Eucharist instituted among the Twelve Apostles during the Last Supper mirrors the consumption of the showbread by the priesthood. Hence, the Holy Place echoes the Holy Trinity with the Ark of the Covenant representing the unseen Father, the Temple Menorah representing the light of the Holy Spirit, and the Showbread representing the incarnation of the Son. ==See also==