Consolidation of the “Avadim Hayyinu Complex” of the Passover Haggadah

The ʻavadim hayinu hayinu complex contains four elements: ʻavadim hayinu preamble; assertion that even scholars discuss yeṣiʼat Miṣrayim for it is praiseworthy; Bene Beraq narrative + mBer 1.5; pedagogic baraita (four sons).

The Bavli had said that ʻavadim hayinu could, like mitehillah, be used as a preamble for the miqra bikkurim midrash. It came to head its own textual complex when the Palestinian mitehillah complex was adopted by the Babylonian Haggadah, thereby eliminating its erstwhile function. When the pedagogic baraita was inserted before the mitehillah complex, ʻavadim hayinu was added to bridge from the Questions to that baraita.

tPes 10.11-12 provided a literary precedent of a rule on nightlong engagement with Passover and an anecdote exemplifying it. A similar pair is found in a unique Haggadah text, viz., a response to ʻavadim hayinu that asserts an obligation lesapper biyeṣiʼat Miṣrayim (for it is praiseworthy), followed by a version of the Bene Beraq maʻaśeh (using a different verb: meśiḥin biyeṣiʼat …). That story picked up the theme of a nightlong session.

The response had drawn sapper from an allegorical deliverance narrative in related sources. It is associated with rhetorical praise and thanksgiving. The story’s meśiḥin, however, is associated liturgically and textually with discussion of rules, but also with aggadic and theological exodus themes. So, the two texts form a related pair, albeit in slight tension, though they can replace each other in formulations in parallel or congruent sources.

Two processes saw their consolidation as the Bene Beraq tale evolved. Internally, Eliezer replaced Gamaliel as leader, the number of sages increased, and the literary structure of the story evolved from an initial dependance upon the Toseftan tale. Externally, the asserted obligation shifted focus from the initial preamble to concentrate on the Bene Beraq story that followed; and mesapper came to replace meśiaḥ there while adopting the latter’s connotation.