The Arma Christi and the Haggada

As Pesach approaches, TheTorah talks Arma-Christi. Davila has supplemented that - so, enough content for a brief post. I doubt the Haggadah as reacting to Christian hoodoo.

I do agree that Christianity assembled a list of Artifacts of the Crucifixion, like the crown of thorns and the cross itself, maybe that lance. These items were all indigenous to Christianity, before the Christendom made magick of them. The now-lost predecessor to John (vv. 3:14+12:34) had already associated the Cross with Moses' staff.

And no-one doubts an effort in Judaism to excise or at least neutralise prooftexts which Christians were using. In Haggadah, Davila notes Exodus 23:20-23 in which an angel of YHWH is at work. Another (failed!) attempt hit the Song of Moses and Miriam wherein YHWH is a "man of war" (protoSamaritan: "hero"). Infamously our "Hebrews" tractate cites Second Ode of Moses / Deuteronomy 32 from the Greek, which the rabbis have since undercut. Also note here if Bull El, son of [the] Most High ('alyun), had made an appearance earlier in that Ode now Deuteronomy 32.

My point is that Judaism also had a magickal tradition, already. Jews already remembered Artifacts - helloooo, the Ark, anyone? Several of these ancient D&D treasuretypes even got into Islamic apocalyptic. The need to nail down and promote a standard version against angel-veneration came with Enoch and Jubilees - long before him whom we name the Christ.