Showbread

Showbread (Hebrew: לֶחֶם הַפָּנִים Leḥem haPānīm, literally: "Bread of the Faces"[1]), in the King James Version shewbread, in a Biblical or Jewish 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.

[2] The cakes were to be left on the table for a week, and then be replaced with new ones on the Sabbath, so that there were always fresh loaves on the table, and those that had started going stale were removed;[2] the biblical text states that the Jewish priests 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.

[5] 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.

[12] Antiochus Epiphanes plundered the table of showbread from the Second Temple,[13] but under Judas Maccabeus a replacement was made.

[16] 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,[17] hence the need to be ritually pure,[18] and the bread not being burnt but instead consumed.

[2] The custom seems to have been widespread in the region,[19] an example being the Babylonian practice of offering to their gods a number of different kinds of cakes/bread (akalu);[2] the Hebrew term for showbread, Lehem haPanim, is exactly translated by the Assyrian phrase akal pânu, which refers to the Babylonian cake/bread offerings.

[2] 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,[2] 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.

[27] According to some Mishnaic contributors, the kneading of the dough was done outside the sanctuary, but the baking was done inside,[28] 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;[2] 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.

[35] 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."

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);[42] 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.