Although it is likely that there were a few full families in Jerusalem for the feast, since the law of Moses commanded all adult males to come, it is more probable that there were very few non-Jerusalem-native women or children present. Most of the gatherings for the Passover (and the same for the second-month passover, held barely three weeks before Pentecost) were probably exactly what we find in the Upper Room--13 men or so, gathered round a table.

Not only were women not required to come, and would have no doubt been minding their homes and children if youthful, at Passover time fully 1/4 to 1/3 of them would have been ceremonially unclean and thus forbidden to partake. Perhaps we do not have enough information to tell if women were allowed to partake, but it is absolutely certain that they were neither expected, nor required at the feast. If the requirement to be circumcised is taken in its most literal sense, then they may well have been excluded entirely.

If any haven't considered these facts before, it gives new force to Paul's dictum: "...neither male nor female...," hmmm? Not merely regarding circumcision-baptism, but Passover-Lord's Supper is affected as well.

The passage concerning Jesus' first visit to Passover (Luke 2), is noteworthy not only for his examination by the elders, but also would mark his bar-mitvah, or becoming a full covenant-society member. He would be expected to come henceforth to all the feasts as an adult male. And by the way, the mention of both parents going to Jerusalem for the feast annually 1) may be a general reference, and might not mean that Mary accompanied Joseph every single time, but did make it a more often than not; 2) says nothing at all about whether, on one or another grounds, Mary might have been excluded; 3) could be an argument that she had no other children still by this time; and 4) might be noteworthy not for its commonality, but for its less-than-common incidence.

To bring this back to the thread topic, I don't think that the crowd held a high percentage of women or children. The Greek indicates "hoi" for "those", a masculine (rather than neuter, which we might expect of a mixed-gender multitude), along with an additional masculine plural participle: "welcomed" or "received".

__________________
Rev. Bruce G. Buchanan
ChainOLakes Presbyterian Church, CentralLake, MI


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