The Mishnah on the Showbread
5. The table was ten [handbreadths] in length and five [handbreadths] in width. The showbread was ten [handbreadths] in length and five [handbreadths] in width. [The priest] would place the length [of the showbread] opposite the width of the table and would double over two and a half handbreadths [of each loaf] on one side and two and a half handbreadths on the other side so that its length would fill the entire width of the table.1—These are the words of R. Judah. R. Meir says: The table was twelve [handbreadths] in length and six [handbreadths] in width. The showbread was ten [handbreadths] in length and five [handbreadths] in width, and [the priest] would double over two handbreadths on one side and two handbreadths on the other side, leaving two handbreadths’ space in the middle so that wind would blow between them. Abba Saul says: [In that space] they would put two dishes of frankincense for the showbread. [ . . . ]
6. There were four attachments of gold there, split at their tops, which supported [the showbread], two [attachments] for one row and two for the other row. [ . . . ]
7. There were two tables in the Temple entrance hall at the entrance to the sanctuary, one of marble and one of gold. On the [table] of marble they put the showbread when it was being brought in, and on the [table] of gold they put it when it was taken out, because [of the principle] that [something] can ascend in degrees of holiness but should not descend.2 The one [table] of gold was inside, on which the showbread was always [present]. Four priests would enter, two with the two rows [of showbread] in their hands and two with the two dishes [of frankincense] in their hands. And four [priests would go] before them, two to remove the two rows of showbread [from the table] and two to remove the two dishes [of frankincense]. Those entering would stand in the north facing south, and those exiting would stand in the south facing north. These [the first set of priests] would remove [the old showbread from the table], while these [the second set of priests] would place [the new showbread on the table], with one handbreadth of one [loaf being removed as] one handbreadth of the other [loaf was placed on the table], as it says: [And put on the table the showbread to be] before Me always (Exodus 25:30). R. Yosi says: Even if these [the first set of priests] removed [the old showbread], and these [the second set of priests] placed [the new showbread on the table afterward], this was also [considered before Me] always. [The priests removing the old showbread] exited and placed [the old showbread] on the table of gold that was in the Temple entrance hall. They lit the incense in the dishes, and the bread was divided among the priests. If the Day of Atonement fell on the Sabbath, they divided the bread in the evening.3 [ . . . ]
8. If one organized the bread on the Sabbath and the dishes [of frankincense] after the Sabbath and lit the [frankincense] in the dishes on [the following] Sabbath, it [the offering] is disqualified. [ . . . ] What should one do? Leave it until the following Sabbath, because even if it [the showbread] is on the table for many days this is not significant.4
9. The two loaves of bread [for Shavuot]5 were never eaten fewer than two [days from being baked] or more than three [days]. How so? [If] they were baked on the eve of the Festival [of Shavuot] and eaten on the festival, this was two [days.] [If] the festival fell after the Sabbath, [the bread] was eaten on the third [day]. The showbread was never eaten fewer than nine [days from being baked] or more than eleven [days]. How so? [If] it was baked on the eve of the Sabbath and eaten on [the next] Sabbath, this was nine [days]. [If] a festival fell on the eve of the Sabbath, [the bread was baked before the festival, and] it was eaten on the tenth [day]. [If it was] the two days of the New Year [before the Sabbath, the bread was baked before the New Year and] was eaten on the eleventh [day].6 [The baking of the showbread] does not override the Sabbath or a festival. R. Simeon ben Gamaliel says in the name of R. Simeon the son of the assistant [of the priests]: [The baking of the showbread] overrides a festival but does not override the fast day [i.e., the Day of Atonement].7
Notes
[Although not stated explicitly in the Bible or the Mishnah, the showbread loaves were likely unleavened, as codified in b. Menaḥot 5a. The soft flatbreads were folded over on each end so that the total length of each loaf would be five handbreadths.—Ed.]
[Since the table that displayed the showbread all week was plated with gold, when the bread was removed to be distributed to the priests, it had to be placed on another gold-plated table, not one made from a lesser material.—Ed.]
[If the Day of Atonement fell on the Sabbath, the showbread could not be eaten that day, so it would be eaten at night, following the fast.—Ed.]
[For the showbread to be valid, it had to be on the table with the frankincense for a full week, from one Sabbath to the next. If the frankincense was placed on the table only after the Sabbath (a day late), the showbread would have to be left on the table with the frankincense for an additional week.—Ed.]
[Leviticus 23:17. These two loaves of leavened bread were separate from the showbread.—Ed.]
[All festivals were observed for one day except the New Year, which was observed for two days.—Ed.]
[Baking was normally prohibited on the Sabbath and festivals, although activities prohibited on the Sabbath and festivals in other contexts were permitted for certain Temple rituals. The Mishnah considers whether the showbread, which was normally baked on Friday, could be baked on a festival that fell on Friday or had to be baked earlier.—Ed.]
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
