2
I. Patristic Exegesis: The Smearing of Blood on the Door
post "Typifies"
Christian Baptismal Anointing
I label this section "patristic exegesis" because the baptismal interpretation of
the blood-smearing in Exod 12 is not limited to Melito, but extends as a
consistent line of interpretation all throughout the church fathers.
5
Still, Melito,
along with Justin Martyr, would be the earliest representatives of this tradition.
We focus on two sections: PP 14-16 and PP 30, which I produce below from
Halls edition.
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But take the blood of the lamb
and smear the front of the doors of your houses,
putting on the posts of the entrance
the sign of the blood to win the angel's respect.
(PP 14)
Then Moses, when he had slain the sheep,
and at night performed the mystery with the sons of Israel,
marked the doors of the houses
to protect the people and to win the angel's respect.
(PP 15)
But while the sheep is being slain
and the Pascha is being eaten
and the mystery is being performed
and the people is making merry
and Israel is being marked,
then came the angel to strike Egypt,
the uninitiated in the mystery,
the non-participating in the Pascha,
the unmarked with the blood,
the unguarded by the Spirit,
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The typological identification between the blood-smearing in Exod 12 and Christian
baptismal anointing may be found in the following patristic writers: (1) Justin Dialogue 40.1;
111.3,4 (based on disputations in Ephesus, 132-135 AD; see Eusebius, E.H. 4.18.6); (2) Ps-
Chrysostom In Sanctum Pascha (IP) 2.2; 15.1-2; 25.1-2; 37-38 (2
nd
cent Asia Minor); (3)
Hippolytus Apostolic Tradition 37.1-4 (Rome, 215 AD); (4) Origen Peri Pascha 25 (Caesarea,
244-249 AD); (5) Cyprian Letter to Demetrius 22 (Carthage 252 AD); (6) Methodius Symposium
9.1 (Olympus, 300 AD); (7) Lactantius Divine Institutes 4.26 (Nicomedia, 311 AD); (8) Eusebius
De Solemnitate Paschali 1-3 (Caesarea, 335 AD); (9) Cyril Mystagogical Catechesis 1.2
(Jerusalem, 348 AD); (10) Hilary De Mysteriis 2.9 (Poitiers, mid 4
th
cent AD); (11) Basil Homily
13.4; On the Holy Spirit 13.41(Caesarea, late 4
th
cent AD); (12) Gregory First Oration on Easter
1.3-4 (Nanzianus, 362 AD); Second Easter Sermon 45.15 (383 AD); (13) Jerome Commentary on
Matthew (Palestine, early 5
th
cent AD); (14) Augustine Catechizing the Uninstructed 20.34.1-4
(Hippo, 400 AD). For references in critical editions and English translations, see Chan, Melito,
403-22.
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Often added to this list is a fifth allusion in PP 103: "Come . . . receive forgiveness for
your sins." By the second century, "forgiveness of sins" had taken on baptismal ove
rtones. We
will forego the discussion of PP 103 in this paper.