Difference between revisions of "Passover"

<p> (See FEASTS.) Ρecach (Exodus 12:11, etc.). The word is not in other Semitic languages, except in passages derived from the Hebrew Bible; the Egyptian word pesht corresponds, "to extend the arms or wings over one protecting him." Also she'or , "leaven," answers to Egyptian seri "seething pot," seru "buttermilk," Hebrew from shaar something left from the previous mass. Pass-over is not so much passing by as passing so as to shield over; as Isaiah 31:5, "as birds flying so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem, defending also He will deliver it, passing over He will preserve it" (Matthew 23:37, Greek episunagon , the "epi" expresses the hen's brooding over her chickens, the "sun" her gathering them together; Ruth 2:12; Deuteronomy 32:11). Lowth, "leap forward to defend the house against the destroying angel, interposing His own person." Vitringa , "preserve by interposing." David interceding is the type (2 Samuel 24:16); [[Jehovah]] is distiller from the destroying angel, and interposes between him and the people while David intercedes. </p> <p> So Hebrews 11:28; Exodus 12:23. Israel's deliverance front Egyptian bondage and adoption by Jehovah was sealed by the Passover, which was their consecration to Him. Exodus 12:1-14 directs as to the Passover before the Exodus, Exodus 12:15-20 as to the seven days' "feast of unleavened bread" (leaven symbolising corruption, as setting the dough in fermentation; excluded therefore from sacrifices, Leviticus 2:11). The Passover was a kind. of sacrament, uniting the nation to God on the ground of God's grace to them. The slain lamb typified the "Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). The unleavened loaves, called "broad of affliction" (Deuteronomy 16:3) as reminding them of past affliction, symbolized the new life cleansed from the leaven of the old Egyptian-like nature (1 Corinthians 5:8), of which the deliverance from the external [[Egypt]] was a pledge to the believing. </p> <p> The sacrifice (for Jehovah calls it "My sacrifice": Exodus 23:15-18; Exodus 34:25) came first; then, on the ground of that, the seven days' feast of unleavened bread to show they walked in the strength of the pure bread of a new life, in fellowship with Jehovah. [[Leaven]] was forbidden in all offerings (Leviticus 2:4-5; Leviticus 7:12; Leviticus 10:12); symbol of hypocrisy and misleading doctrine (Matthew 16:12; Luke 12:1). The seven stamped the feast with the seal of covenant relationship. The first and seventh days (the beginning and the end comprehending the whole) were sanctified by a holy convocation and suspension of work, worship of and rest in Jehovah, who had created Israel as His own people (Isaiah 43:1; Isaiah 43:15-17). From the 14th to the 21st of Nisan. See also Exodus 13:3-10; Leviticus 23:4-14. In Numbers 9:1-14 God repeats the command for the Passover, in the second year after the Exodus; those disqualified in the first month were to keep it in the second month. </p> <p> [[Talmudists]] call this "the little Passover," and say it lasted but one day instead of seven, and the Hallel was not sung during the meal but only when the lamb was slain, and leaven was not put away. In Numbers 28:16-25 the offering for each day is prescribed. In Deuteronomy 16:1-6 directions are given as to its observance in the promised land, with allusion to the voluntary peace offerings (chagigah , "festivity") or else public offerings (Numbers 28:17-24; 2 Chronicles 30:22-24; 2 Chronicles 35:7-13). The chadigah might not be slain on the Sabbath, though the Passover lamb might. The chagigah might be boiled, but the Passover lamb only roasted. This was needed as the Passover had only once been kept in the wilderness (Numbers 9), and for 38 years had been intermitted. Joshua (Joshua 5:10) celebrated the Passover after circumcising the people at Gilgal. First celebration. On the 10th of [[Abib]] 1491 B.C. the head of each family selected a lamb or a kid, a male of the first year without blemish, if his family were too small to consume it, he joined his neighbor. </p> <p> Not less than ten, generally under 20, but it might be 100, provided each had a portion (Mishna, Pes. 8:7) as large as an olive, formed the company (Josephus, B. J., 6:9, section 3); Jesus' party of 13 was the usual number. On the 14th day he killed it at sunset (Deuteronomy 16:6) "between the two evenings" (margin Exodus 12:6; Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 9:3-5). The rabbis defined two evenings, the first the afternoon (proia ) of the sun's declension before sunset, the second (opsia ) began with the setting sun; Josephus (B. J., 6:9, section 3) "from the ninth (three o'clock) to the 11th hour" (five o'clock). The ancient custom was to slay the Passover shortly after the daily sacrifice, i.e. three o'clock, with which hour Christ's death coincided. Then he took blood in a basin, and with a hyssop sprig sprinkled it (in token of cleansing from Egypt-like defilements spiritually: 1 Peter 1:2; Hebrews 9:22; Hebrews 10:22) on the lintel and two sideposts of the house door (not to be trodden under; so not on the threshold: Hebrews 10:29). </p> <p> The lamb was roasted whole (Genesis 22:8, representing Jesus' complete dedication as a holocaust), not a bone broken (John 19:36); the skeleton left entire, while the flesh was divided among the partakers, expresses the unity of the nation and church amidst the variety of its members; so 1 Corinthians 10:17, Christ the antitype is the true center of unity. The lintel and doorposts were the place of sprinkling as being prominent to passers by, and therefore chosen for inscriptions (Deuteronomy 6:9). The sanctity attached to fire was a reason for the roasting with fire; a tradition preserved in the hymns to [[Agni]] the fire god in the Rig Veda. Instead of a part only being eaten and the rest burnt, as in other sacrifices, the whole except the blood sprinkled was eaten when roast; typifying Christ's blood shed as a propitiation, but His whole man hood transfused spiritually into His church who feed on Him by faith, of which the Lord's supper is a sensible pledge. [[Eaten]] with unleavened bread (1 Corinthians 5:7-8) and bitter herbs (repentance Zechariah 12:10). </p> <p> No uncircumcised male was to partake (Colossians 2:11-13). Each had his loins girt, staff in hand, shoes on his feet; and ate in haste (as we are to be pilgrims, ready to leave this world: 1 Peter 1:13; 1 Peter 2:11; Hebrews 11:13; Luke 12:35-36; Ephesians 6:14-15), probably standing. Any flesh remaining was burnt, and none left until morning. No morsel was carried out of the house. Jehovah smote the firstborn of man and beast, and so "executed judgment against all the gods of Egypt" (Exodus 12:12; Numbers 33:3-4), for every nome and town had its sacred animal, bull, cow, goat, ram, cat, frog, beetle, etc. But the sprinkled blood was a sacramental pledge of God's passing over, i.e. sparing the Israelites. The feast was thenceforth to be kept in "memorial," and its significance to be explained to their children as "the sacrifice of the Passover (i.e. the lamb, as in Exodus 12:21, 'kill the Passover'), to Jehovah" (Hebrew Exodus 12:27). </p> <p> In such haste did Israel go that they packed up in their outer mantle (as the [[Arab]] haik or "burnous") their kneading troughs containing the dough prepared for the morrow's provision yet unleavened (Exodus 12:34). Israel's firstborn, thus exempted from destruction, became in a special sense Jehovah's; accordingly their consecration follows in Exodus 13. This is peculiar to the Hebrew; no satisfactory reason for so singular an institution can be given but the [[Scripture]] account. Subsequently (Leviticus 23:10-14) God directed an omer or sheaf of firstfruits (barley, first ripe, 2 Kings 4:42), a lamb of the first year as a burnt offering, with meat offerings, on the morrow after the sabbath (i.e. after the day of holy convocation) to be presented before eating bread or parched grain in the promised land (Joshua 5:11). If Luke 6:1 mean "the first Sabbath after the second day of unleavened bread," the day on which the firstfruit sheaf was offered, from whence they counted 50 days to Pentecost, it will be an undesigned coincidence that the disciples should be walking through fields of standing grain at that season, and that the minds of the [[Pharisees]] and of Jesus should be turned to the subject of grain at that time (Blunt, Undesigned Coincidences, 22). (But (See SABBATICAL YEAR.) </p> <p> The consecration of the firstborn in Exodus 13, naturally connects itself with the consecration of the firstfruits, which is its type. Again these typify further "Christ the firstfruits of them that slept"; also the Spirit, the firstfruits in the believer and earnest of the coming full redemption, namely, of the body (Romans 8:23); also Israel, the firstfruit of the church (Romans 11:16; Revelation 14:4), and elect believers (James 1:18). "The barley was smitten, for the barley was in the ear ... but the wheat was not smitten, for it was not grown up" (Exodus 9:31-32). The seasons in Judaea and Egypt. were much the same. Therefore in Deuteronomy 16:9 the direction is "seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the grain," namely, at the Passover when the wave sheaf was offered, the ceremony from which the feast of weeks was measured. By "grain" the barley harvest is meant: had [[Moses]] written "wheat" it would have been impossible to reconcile him with himself; but as "corn" means here barley, all is clear, seven weeks still remaining until wheat harvest, when at Pentecost or the feast of weeks the firstfruit loaves were offered (Blunt, Undesigned Coincidences, 1). </p> <p> Moreover, the Passover lambs were to be slain at the sanctuary, and their blood sprinkled on the altar, instead of on the lintel and doorposts (Deuteronomy 16:1-6). The Mishna (Pesachim, 9:5) marks the distinctions between "the Egyptian Passover" and "the perpetual passover." The lamb was at the first Passover selected on the tenth day of the month (not so subsequently: Luke 22:7-9; Mark 14:12-16); the blood was sprinkled on the lintels and side-posts; the hyssop was used; the meal was eaten in haste; and only for a day was unleavened bread abstained from. The subsequent command to burn the fat on the altar, and that the pure alone should eat (Numbers 9:5-10; Numbers 18:11), and that the males alone should appear (Exodus 23:17; Deuteronomy 16:16), was unknown at the first celebration; nor was the Hallel sung as afterward (Isaiah 30:29); nor were there days of holy convocation; nor were the lambs slain at a consecrated place (Deuteronomy 16:2-7). [[Devout]] women, as [[Hannah]] and Mary, even in late times attended (1 Samuel 1:7; Luke 2:41-42). </p> <p> The fat was burned by the priests (Exodus 23:18; Exodus 34:25-26), and the blood sprinkled on the altar (2 Chronicles 35:11; 2 Chronicles 30:16). Joy before the Lord was to be the predominant feeling (Deuteronomy 27:7). The head of the family or anyone ceremonially clean brought the lamb to the sanctuary court, and slew it, or on special occasions gave it to [[Levites]] to slay (2 Chronicles 30:17). Numbers at Hezekiah's Passover partook "otherwise than it was written," "not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary" (Numbers 9:5-10). Instead therefore of the father of the family slaying the lamb and handing the blood to the priest, to sprinkle on the altar, the Levites did so; also at Josiah's Passover (2 Chronicles 35:6; 2 Chronicles 35:11). [[Hezekiah]] prayed for the unpurified partakers: "the good Jehovah pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God ... though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary." </p> <p> Hezekiah presumes that those out of [[Ephraim]] coming to the Passover were sincere in seeking Jehovah the God of their fathers, though they had been unable to purify themselves in time for the Passover. [[Sincerity]] of spirit in seeking the Lord is acceptable to Him, even where the strict letter of the law has been unavoidably unfulfilled (Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:8; Matthew 9:13). Hezekiah kept the Passover as "the little passover" in the second month, for "they could not keep it" at the regular time, "because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the priests gathered themselves to Jerusalem." They kept other seven days beside the first seven, </p> <p> (1) because Hezekiah had given so many beasts that there was more than they could use during the ordinary seven days; </p> <p> (2) so many priests bad sanctified themselves as to be able to carry on the altar services with such numerous sacrifices. </p> <p> Josiah's Passover is the next recorded (2 Chronicles 35). Then Ezra's (6). The Pesachim (7:1) say a wooden (pomegranate) spit was thrust lengthwise through the lamb; Justin [[Martyr]] says (Trypho, 40) another spit was put crosswise, to which the front feet were attached; so do the modern [[Samaritans]] in roasting the Passover lamb; type of the cross, it was roasted thoroughly in an earthen beehive-shaped oven, but not touching the sides, that the roasting might be wholly by fire (Exodus 12:9; 2 Chronicles 35:6-13). The modern Jews use dry thin biscuits as unleavened bread; a shoulder of lamb thoroughly roasted, instead of a whole one; a boiled egg, symbolizing wholeness; sweet sauce to represent the sort of work in Egypt; a vessel of salt and water (representing the Red Sea) into which they dip their bitter herbs; a cup of wine stands all the night on the table for Elijah (Malachi 4:5); before filling the guests' cups a fourth time an interval of dead silence follows, and the door is opened to admit him. The purging away of leaven from the house, and the not eating leavened bread, is emphatically enforced under penalty of cutting off (Exodus 12:15-20; Exodus 13:7). </p> <p> The rabbis say that every corner was searched for leaven in the evening before the 14th Nisan. The bitter herbs (wild lettuces, endive, chicory, or nettles, all articles of Egyptian food: Pesachim 2:6) symbolized Israel's past bitter affliction, and the sorrow for sin which becomes us in spiritually feeding on the Lamb slain for us (Luke 22:62). The sauce is not mentioned in the Pentateuch, but in John 13:26; Matthew 26:23. Called haroseth) in the Mishna: of vinegar and water (Bartenora). Some say it was thickened to the consistency of mortar to commemorate Israel's brick-making hardships in Egypt. Four cups of wine handed round in succession were drunk at the paschal meal (Mishna, Pes. 10:1, 7), which the [[Pentateuch]] does not mention; usually red, mixed with water (Pes. 7:13). (See Luke 22:17; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 10:16; and (See LORD'S SUPPER.) </p> <p> The second cup was filled before the lamb was eaten, and the son (Exodus 12:26) asked the father the meaning of the Passover; he in reply recounted the deliverance, and explained Deuteronomy 26:5, which was also connected with offering the firstfruits. The third was "the cup of blessing." The fourth the cup of the Hallel; others make the fourth, or "cup of the Hallel," the "cup of blessing" answering to "the cup after supper" (Luke 22:20). Schoettgen says "cup of blessing" was applied to any cup drunk with thanksgiving (compare Psalms 116:13). The Hallel consisted of Psalm 113; 114, sung in the early part of the Passover, before the lamb was carved and eaten; Psalm 115-118, after the fourth cup (the greater Hallel sung at times was Psalm 120-138). So the "hymn" sung by Jesus and His apostles (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26). The ancient [[Israelites]] sat. But reclining was the custom in our Lord's time (Luke 22:14; Matthew 26:20; John 21:20 Greek). </p> <p> A marble tablet found at [[Cyricus]] shows the mode of reclining at meals, and illustrate, the language of the [[Syrophoenician]] woman, "the dogs eat of the crumbs." The inhabitants of Jerusalem accommodated at their houses as many as they could, so that our Lord's direction to His disciples as to asking for a guestchamber to keep the Passover in was nothing unusual, only His divine prescience is shown in His command (Matthew 26:18; Mark 14:13-15). Those for whom there was no room in the city camped outside in tents, as the pilgrims at Mecca. In Nero's reign they numbered, on one occasion, 2,700,000, according to Josephus (B. J. 6:9, section 3); seditions hence arose (Matthew 26:5; Luke 13:1). After the Passover meal many of the country pilgrims returned to keep the remainder of the feast at their own homes (Deuteronomy 16:7). The release of a prisoner at the Passover was a Jewish and Roman custom which [[Pilate]] complied with (Matthew 27:15; John 18:39). (See PILATE.) </p> <p> As to the reconciling of the synoptical Gospels, which identify the last supper with the Passover, and John, who seems to make the Passover a day later, probably John 13:1-2 means "before the Passover (i.e. in the early part of the Passover meal) Jesus gave a proof of His love for His own to the end. And during supper" (ginomenou , the Vaticanus, Sinaiticus manuscripts, even if genomenou be read with the Alexandrinus manuscript it means when supper had, begun to be), etc. Again, John 13:29, "buy those things that we have need of against the feast," refers to the chagigah provisions for the seven days of unleavened bread. The day for sacrificing the chagigah was the 15th, then beginning, the first day of holy convocation. The lamb was slain on the 14th, and eaten after sunset, the beginning of the 15th. Also John 18:28, the rulers "went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover," means that they might go on keeping the Passover, or that they might eat it even yet, though having suffered their proceedings against Christ to prevent their eating it before, or especially that they might eat the chagigah (Deuteronomy 16:2; 2 Chronicles 35:7-9); the Passover might be eaten by those not yet cleansed (2 Chronicles 30:17), but not so the chagigah . </p> <p> [[Joseph]] however did not scruple to enter the praetorium and beg Jesus' body from Pilate (Mark 15:43). Had the Passover supper not been until that evening (John 18:28) they might have been purified in good time for it by ablution; but as the feast had begun, and they were about to eat the chagigah (or the Passover lamb itself, which they ought to have eaten in the early part of the night), they could not. Lastly, John 19:14, "the preparation of the passover," is explained by Mark 15:42, "the preparation, the day before the subbark" in the Passover week; the day of holy convocation, the 15th Nisan, not "before the Passover." So John 19:31, "the preparation for the sabbath" began the ninth hour of the sixth day of the week (Josephus, Ant. 16:6, section 2). "That sabbath was a high day," namely, because it was the day (next after the day of holy convocation) on which the omer sheaf was offered, and from which were reckoned the 50 days to Pentecost. It is no valid objection that our Lord in this view was tried and crucified on the day of holy convocation, for on the "great day of the feast" of tabernacles the rulers sent officers to apprehend Jesus (John 7:32-45). </p> <p> Peter was seized during the Passover (Acts 12:3-4). They themselves stated as their reason for not seizing Him during the Passover, not its sanctity, but the fear of an uproar among the assembled multitudes (Matthew 26:5). On the Sabbath itself not only Joseph but the chief priests come to Pilate, probably in the praetorium (Matthew 27:62). However, Caspari (Chronicles and Geogr. Introduction Life of Christ) brings arguments to prove Christ did not eat the paschal lamb, but Himself suffered as the true Lamb at the paschal feast. (See JESUS CHRIST.) The last supper and the crucifixion took place the same (Jewish) day. No mention is made of a lamb in connection with Christ's last supper. Matthew (Matthew 27:62) calls the day after the crucifixion "the next day that followed the day of preparation." The phrase, Caspari thinks, implies that "the preparation" was the day preceding not merely the Sabbath but also the first day of the Passover feast. All the characteristics of sacrifice, as well as the term, are attributed to the Passover. </p> <p> It was offered in the holy place (Deuteronomy 16:5-6); the blood was sprinkled on the altar, the fat burned (2 Chronicles 30:16; 2 Chronicles 35:11; Exodus 12:27; Exodus 23:18; Numbers 9:7; Deuteronomy 16:2; Deuteronomy 16:5; 1 Corinthians 5:7). The Passover was the yearly thank offering of the family for the nation's constitution by God through the deliverance from Egypt, the type of the church's constitution by a coming greater deliverance. It preserved the patriarchal truth that each head of a family is priest. No part of the victim was given to the [[Levitical]] priest, because the father of the family was himself priest. Thus when the nation's inherent priesthood (Exodus 19:6) was delegated to one family, Israel's rights were vindicated by the Passover priesthood of each father (Isaiah 61:6; 1 Peter 2:5; 1 Peter 2:9). </p> <p> The fact that the blood sprinkled on the altar was at the first celebration sprinkled on the lintel and doorposts of each house attested the sacredness of each family, the spiritual priesthood of its head, and the duty of family worship. Faith moving to obedience was the instrumental mean of the original deliverance (Hebrews 11:28) and the condition of the continued life of the nation. So the Passover kept in faith was a kind of sacrament, analogous to the Lord's supper as circumcision was to baptism. The laying up the lamb four days before Passover may allude to the four centuries before the promise to [[Abram]] was fulfilled (Genesis 15), typically to Christ's being marked as the Victim before the actual immolation (Mark 14:8; Mark 14:10-11). Christ's blood must be sprinkled on us by the hyssop of faith, else guilt and wrath remain (Isaiah 53:7; Acts 8:32; 1 Peter 1:18-19). Being first in the religious year, and with its single victim, the Passover stands forth preeminent. </p>

<p> Pass'over. The first of the three great annual festivals of the Israelites, celebrated in the month Nisan, (March-April) from the 14th to the 21st. (Strictly speaking the Passover only applied to the Paschal Supper, and the Feast of [[Unleavened]] [[Bread]] followed, which was celebrated to the 21st). (For the corresponding dates in our month, see the Jewish Calendar, at the end of this volume). The following are the principal passages, in the Pentateuch, relating to the Passover : Exodus 12:1-51; Exodus 13:3-10; Exodus 23:14-19; Exodus 34:18-26; Leviticus 23:4-14; Numbers 9:1-14; Numbers 28:16-25; Deuteronomy 16:1-6. </p> <p> Why instituted. - This feast was instituted by God, to commemorate the deliverance of the Israelites, from Egyptian bondage, and the sparing of their firstborn, when the destroying angel smote the first-born of the Egyptians. The deliverance from Egypt was regarded, as the starting-point of the Hebrew nation. The Israelites were, then, raised from the condition of bondmen under a foreign tyrant, to that of a free people owing allegiance to no one, but Jehovah. The prophet, in a later age, spoke of the event as a creation and a redemption of the nation. </p> <p> God declares himself to be "the [[Creator]] of Israel." The Exodus was, thus, looked upon as the birth of the nation; the Passover was its annual birthday feast. It was the yearly memorial, of the dedication of the people to him, who had saved their first-born from the destroyer, in order that they might be made holy to himself. </p> <p> First celebration of the Passover. - On the tenth day of the month, the head of each family was to select from the flock, either a lamb or a kid, a male of the first year, without blemish. If his family was too small to eat the whole of the lamb, he was permitted to invite his nearest neighbor to join the party. </p> <p> On the fourteenth day of the month, he was to kill his lamb, while the sun was setting. He was then to take blood in a basin, and with a sprig of hyssop, to sprinkle it on the two side-posts, and the lintel of the door of the house. The lamb was then thoroughly roasted, whole. It was expressly forbidden that it should be boiled, or that a bone of it should be broken. Unleavened bread and bitter herbs were to be eaten with the flesh. </p> <p> No male who was uncircumcised was to join the company. Each one was to have his loins girt, to hold a staff in his hand, and to have shoes on his feet. He was to eat in haste, and it would seem that, he was to stand during the meal. The number of the party was to be calculated as nearly as possible, so that all the flesh of the lamb might be eaten; but if any portion of it happened to remain, it was to be burned in the morning. No morsel of it was to be carried out of the house. </p> <p> The lambs were selected, on the fourteenth, they were slain, and the blood sprinkled, and in the following evening, after the fifteenth day of the Passover had commenced, the first Paschal [[Meal]] was eaten. At midnight, the firstborn of the [[Egyptians]] were smitten. The king and his people were now urgent that the Israelites should start immediately, and readily bestowed on them supplies for the journey. In such haste did the Israelites depart, on that very day, Numbers 33:3, that they packed up their kneading troughs, containing the dough prepared, for the morrow's provisions, which was not yet leavened. </p> <p> Observance of the Passover in later times. - As the original institution of the Passover in Egypt, preceded the establishment of the priesthood, and the regulation of the service of the Tabernacle, it necessarily fell short, in several particulars, of the observance of the festival , according to the fully-developed ceremonial law. The head of the family slew the lamb in his own house, not in the [[Holy]] Place; the blood was sprinkled on the doorway, not on the altar. </p> <p> But when the law was perfected, certain particulars were altered, in order to assimilate the Passover, to the accustomed order of religious service. In the twelfth and thirteenth chapters of Exodus, there are not only distinct references, to the observance of the festival in future ages, for example, Exodus 12:2; Exodus 12:14; Exodus 12:17; Exodus 12:24-27; Exodus 12:42; Exodus 13:2; Exodus 13:5; Exodus 13:8-10, but there are several injunctions, which were evidently not intended for the first Passover, and which, indeed, could not possibly have been observed. </p> <p> Besides the private family festival, there were public and national sacrifices offered, each of the seven days of unleavened bread. Numbers 28:19. On the second day, also, the first-fruits of the barley harvest were offered in the Temple. Leviticus 23:10. In the latter notices of the festival in the books of the law, there are particulars added, which appear as modifications of the original institution. Leviticus 23:10-14; Numbers 28:16-25; Deuteronomy 16:1-6. Hence, it is not without reason that the Jewish writers have laid great stress on the distinction between "the Egyptian Passover, " and "the perpetual Passover." </p> <p> Mode and order of the Paschal Meal. - All work, except that belonging to a few trades, connected with daily life was suspended, for some hours before the evening of the 14th Nisan. It was not lawful to eat any ordinary food after midday. No male was admitted to the table unless he was circumcised, even if he were of the seed of Israel. Exodus 12:48. It was customary for the number of a party to be not less than ten. </p> <p> When the meal was prepared, the family was placed round the table, the paterfamilias taking a place of honor, probably, somewhat raised above the rest. When the party was arranged, the first cup of wine was filled, and a blessing was asked by the head of the family on the feast, as well as a special one, on the cup. The bitter herbs were then placed on the table, and a portion of them eaten, either with or without the sauce. The unleavened bread was handed round next, and afterward, the lamb was placed on the table, in front of the head of the family. </p> <p> The Paschal Lamb could be legally slain, and the blood and fat offered only in the national sanctuary. Deuteronomy 16:2. Before the lamb was eaten, the second cup of wine was filled, and the son, in accordance with Exodus 12:26, asked his father, the meaning of the feast. In reply, an account was given of the sufferings of the Israelites in Egypt , and of their deliverance, with a particular explanation of Deuteronomy 26:5, and the first part of the Hallel, (a contraction from Hallelujah), Psalms 113; Psalms 114, was sung. </p> <p> This being gone through, the lamb was carved and eaten. The third cup of wine was poured out and drunk, and soon afterward the fourth. The second part of the Hallel, Psalms 115 to Psalms 118, was then sung. A fifth wine-cup appears to have been occasionally produced, but perhaps, only in later times. What was termed the greater Hallel, Psalms 120 to Psalms 138, was sung on such occasions. </p> <p> The Israelites, who lived in the country, appear to have been accommodated at the feast, by the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in their houses, so far if there was room for them. Matthew 26:18; Luke 22:10-12 Those who could not be received into the city, encamped without the walls in tents, as the pilgrims now do at Mecca. </p> <p> The Passover as a type. - The Passover was not only commemorative, but also typical. "The deliverance which it commemorated was a type of the great salvation it foretold." - No other shadow of things to come contained in the law can vie with the festival of the Passover, in expressiveness and completeness. </p> <p> (1) The Paschal Lamb must of course be regarded, as the leading feature, in the ceremonial of the festival. The lamb slain typified Christ, the "Lamb of God," slain for the sins of the world. Christ, "our Passover, is sacrificed for us." 1 Corinthians 5:7. </p> <p> According to the divine purpose, the true Lamb of God was slain, at nearly the same time as, "the Lord's Passover," at the same season of the year; and at the same time of the day, as the daily sacrifice at the Temple, the crucifixion beginning at the hour of the morning sacrifice, and ending at the hour of the evening sacrifice. That the lamb was to be roasted and not boiled, has been supposed to commemorate the haste of the departure of the Israelites. It is not difficult to determine the reason of the command, "not a bone of him shall be broken." The lamb was to be a symbol of unity - the unity of the family, the unity of the nation, the unity of God with his people, whom he had taken into covenant with himself. </p> <p> (2) The unleavened bread ranks, next in importance to the Paschal Lamb. We are warranted in concluding that, unleavened bread had a peculiar sacrificial character, according to the law. It seems more reasonable to accept St, Paul's reference to the subject, 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, as furnishing the true meaning of the symbol. Fermentation is decomposition, a dissolution of unity. The pure dry biscuit would be an apt emblem of unchanged duration, and, in its freedom from foreign mixture, of purity also. </p> <p> (3) The offering of the omer, or first sheaf of the harvest, Leviticus 23:10-14, signified deliverance from winter: the bondage of Egypt being well considered, as a winter in the history of the nation. </p> <p> (4) The consecration of the first-fruits, the firstborn of the soil, is an easy type of the consecration of the first born of the Israelites, and of our own best selves, to God. Further than this... </p> <p> (1) the Passover is a type of deliverance from the slavery of sin. </p> <p> (2) It is the passing over of the doom we deserve for your sins, because the blood of Christ has been applied to us by faith. </p> <p> (3) The sprinkling of the blood upon the door-posts was a symbol of open confession of our allegiance and love. </p> <p> (4) The Passover was useless unless eaten; so we live upon the Lord Jesus Christ. </p> <p> (5) It was eaten with bitter herbs, as we must eat our Passover with the bitter herbs of repentance and confession, which yet, like the bitter herbs of the Passover, are a fitting and natural accompaniment. </p> <p> (6) As the Israelites ate the Passover all prepared for the journey, so do we with a readiness and desire to enter the active service of Christ, and to go on the journey toward heaven. - Editor). </p>

<p> The Feast of Passover was God’s appointed way for the people of Israel to celebrate their miraculous escape from Egypt (Exodus 12:14; Exodus 12:24). The name of the feast recalled God’s act of ‘passing over’ the houses of the Israelites while killing the firstborn of the Egyptians (Exodus 12:27). However, God withheld judgment from the [[Israelite]] households only when he saw the blood of the sacrificial animal around the front door. The blood was a sign that an innocent life had been taken in place of the one under judgment (Exodus 12:5; Exodus 12:7; Exodus 12:12-13; Exodus 12:21-23; cf. Leviticus 17:11; see BLOOD). </p> <p> Regulations and practices </p> <p> The month of the Passover became the first month of the Jewish religious year (Exodus 12:2). (This was the season of spring in Israel and corresponds with March-April on our calendar.) Late in the afternoon of the fourteenth day, each household killed a lamb, which the people ate in a sacrificial meal that night. This was now the beginning of the fifteenth day according to Israelite reckoning, for they considered sunset to mark the end of one day and the beginning of the next (Exodus 12:6; Exodus 12:8). </p> <p> Each Passover meal was a re-enactment of the first Passover meal, when people prepared and ate it in haste, dressed ready for their departure in the morning (Exodus 12:11; Exodus 12:25-27). They did not cut up the animal and boil it, but roasted it whole over an open fire. They made their bread without yeast (leaven), to save time waiting for the dough to rise. The entire meal was deliberately kept simple, to keep the people from any feeling of self-glory. They were to burn the leftovers, and so prevent any defilement of the solemn occasion through the meat’s spoiling or the people’s keeping portions as sacred charms (Exodus 12:8-10). </p> <p> Following the Passover, and joined to it, was the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread. The two were considered one festival (Deuteronomy 16:1-8; Mark 14:1). Having removed leaven from their houses before preparing the Passover, the people kept their houses free of leaven for the week after the Passover (Exodus 12:14-20). This reminded them that, having been saved through the Passover, they had fled from Egypt hastily, cooking unleavened bread as they travelled (Exodus 12:33-34; Exodus 12:39). (Concerning the offerings made at the Feast of Unleavened Bread see FEASTS.) </p> <p> Once the Israelites arrived in Canaan, they were to celebrate the Passover only at the central place of worship. At first this was the tabernacle, and later the temple (Deuteronomy 16:5-6; Joshua 5:10-11; 2 Chronicles 8:12-13; 2 Chronicles 30:1; 2 Chronicles 35:1; Luke 2:41; John 2:13; John 11:55). </p> <p> All adult male Israelites had to attend the Passover celebration (Exodus 23:14; Exodus 23:17), and so could foreigners, provided they had accepted circumcision and so become part of the covenant people (Exodus 12:43-49). There were special provisions for those Israelites who were unable to attend because of unavoidable circumstances (Numbers 9:6-13; cf. 2 Chronicles 30:17-20). The reforms that became necessary at various times in Israel’s later history show that people had frequently neglected or misused the Passover (2 Chronicles 30:5; 2 Chronicles 35:16-18). </p> <p> Jesus’ last Passover </p> <p> By the time of Jesus, the Passover had developed into a set form with a number of added rituals. Although people killed the lamb at the temple, they ate the meal privately with friends and relatives (Luke 22:8-13). Among the additions to the meal was a cup of wine, for which the head of the household offered a prayer of thanks (or blessing; 1 Corinthians 10:16), and which he passed around among the participants, both before and after the eating of unleavened bread (Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:15-20). </p> <p> [[Singing]] also became part of the celebration, the participants singing a collection of psalms known as the Hallel (Psalms 113; Psalms 114; Psalms 115; Psalms 116; Psalms 117; Psalms 118). They usually sang the first two psalms before eating the lamb, the other psalms after (Mark 14:26). </p> <p> It appears that on the occasion of Jesus’ last Passover, he and his disciples ate the meal a day earlier than the official time, and probably without a lamb (Luke 22:15; John 13:1). If this was so, the reason was probably that Jesus knew that he himself was now the Passover lamb. On the next day he would lay down his life at the same time as the animals were being killed in preparation for the meal that was to follow that night (John 18:28; John 19:14; John 19:31; John 19:42). </p> <p> Jesus’ death on the cross was the great act of redemption of which the Israelite Passover was but a picture (cf. Exodus 12:5 with 1 Peter 1:18-19; cf. Exodus 12:46 with John 19:36; cf. Exodus 12:21; Exodus 12:27 with 1 Corinthians 5:7). Once Jesus had died, the Passover was of no further use. It was replaced by a new remembrance ceremony, the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:17-30; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; see LORD’S SUPPER). </p> <p> Nevertheless, the New Testament refers to the requirements of the Passover to provide a lesson for Christians. Just as the Passover festival meant that Israelites removed leaven from their houses, so the sacrifice of Jesus Christ means that Christians should remove sin from their lives (1 Corinthians 5:7-8; see LEAVEN). </p>

<p> While we have the comment which God the Holy [[Ghost]] hath given us by his servant Paul, (1 Corinthians 5:7) concerning the Passover, in expressly calling Christ by that name, we must be convinced that it is our highest interest and most bounden duty to study the subject with the closest apprehension, in order to obtain the clearest sense of that the important subject of the Passover means. The reader, therefore, I trust, will bear with me if I call his attention somewhat more particularly to this point. </p> <p> The Jews called the Passover Paschah or Pesach, and the original meaning is flight or passage—perhaps in allusion to the flight or hasty departure of Israel from Egypt. We have a very circumstantial account of the Passover, Exodus 12:1-51 to which I refer. The Israelites, no doubt, had higher views in the institution itself than to suppose it merely referred as a memorial of their deliverance from Egypt. They considered it typical; and the ordination of it being of perpetual standing in the church, must have led them to this conclusion. And may we not add, that, since all the leading features of the redemption by the Lord Jesus, in his person, work, offices, and character, are more or less exhibited in shadow and figure in the Passover, surely the Lord the Spirit gave to many a true Israelite grace and faith to eye, in the paschal lamb, the type of the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Revelation 13:8) </p> <p> If the lamb appointed in the Jewish Passover was to be a male of the first year without blemish and without spot; such was Christ. If the lamb was set apart four days before the Passover—so was Christ, not only in the original purpose, and council, and foreknowledge of God before all worlds, but also in four days' entrance into Jerusalem, as it is remarkable Christ did before his sufferings and death. And if the Jewish lamb was roasted whole with fire, and not a bone of him broken, who but must see in this a type of him who, in the accomplishment of salvation sustained all the fire of divine wrath against sin in his sacrifice, and whose bones, it is expressly said, were not broken, that this Scripture might be fulfilled? (John 19:36) </p> <p> Various are the accounts given by various writers of the manner in which the Jews of modern times observe the Passover. They all make it a very high festival. [[Eight]] days, for the most part they continue this festivity, during which time they would not for the world knowingly have any leaven within their houses. Nothing would hurt the mind of a Jew more than the discovery of any thing disposed to fermentation, or to make leaven. And on the fourteenth day of Nisan the Passover begins. And the ceremony generally commenceth in every family by the first-born observing fasting, by way of reference to the destruction of the first-born in Egypt. When this is over, and the time of the evening service being come, all the household enter on prayer, which when finished they proceed to the feast of unleavened bread, with some portion of a lamb, and bitter herbs. During the service they hold wine in their hands, and recount the history of their fathers in Egypt, and the Lord's deliverance of them. The close of their devotions is generally with some of the Psalms, such as from Psalms 112:1-10, to Psalms 118:1-29, always beginning with Hallelujah. When the devotional part is all over, they sit down to eat and drink, generally break up their meeting with praying for the health and prosperity of the prince in whose dominions they dwelt, agreeably to the advice of Jeremiah 29:7. So much concerning the method of the observance of the Passover by the children of Israel. I cannot dismiss this part of the subject without first remarking, that as far as decency and seriousness are observed by them in their seasons of worship, it were to be wished that many Christians would follow their example. </p> <p> It appears from the relation given by the several evangelists, that the Lord Jesus observed this feast of the Passover four times during his ministry, which was but about three years and a half; but by our Lord's entering upon his ministry sometime before the first of the four Passovers he kept, the annual period came round the fourth time before his crucifixion, and therefore we count four in the life of Jesus. </p> <p> The first public Passover Christ observed is related to us by John 2:13-25. </p> <p> The second Passover which Christ graced with his presence is recorded John 5:1, etc. when he healed the cripple at the pool of [[Bethesda]] </p> <p> The third public Passover where we find the Lord Jesus also present is recorded John 6:4. The feast we read of John 7:37 was the feast of tabernacles. (See John 7:2, etc.) </p> <p> The fourth and last Passover the Lord Jesus honoured in the observance was, as is recorded by all the evangelists, when in the midst of it he summed up and finished the whole shadow of types and ordinances in that one offering of himself upon the cross, whereby "he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (See the relation of this Passover at large, Matthew 26:1-75; Mark 14:1-72; Luke 22:1-71; John 12:1-50 and John 13:1-38) </p> <p> I would only make one observation upon the whole in this place, namely, if the Lord Jesus never once during his ministry omitted his attendance on the Passover, how hath he thereby endeared to his redeemed his holy Supper, instituted and appointed as it was by himself to take place in his church in the room of the Jewish Passover! Surely by this Jesus might be supposed to intimate his holy pleasure, that his people should be always present at the celebration of it. Methinks by this constant attendance of the Lord, he meant to say that not one of his little ones should be absent at his Supper. And his servant, the apostle, seems to have had the same views of his Master's gracious design in this particular when he saith, "For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he comes." (1 Corinthians 11:26) </p>

<p> Hebrew PESACH, Greek PASCHA, a passing over, a name given to the festival established and to the victim offered in commemoration of he coming forth out of Egypt, Exodus 12:1-51; because the night before their departure, the destroying angel, who slew the firstborn of the Egyptians, passed over the houses of the Hebrews without entering them, they being marked with the blood of the lamb, which for this reason was called he Passover, Mark 14:12,14 1 Corinthians 5:7 , or the paschal lamb. </p> <p> The month of the exodus from Egypt, called Abib by Moses, and afterwards named Nisan, was ordained to be thereafter the first month of the sacred or ecclesiastical year. On the fourteenth day of this month, between the two evenings, (See EVENING,) they were to kill the paschal lamb, and to abstain from leavened bread. The day following, being the fifteenth, reckoned from six o'clock of the preceding evening, was the grand feast of the Passover, which continues seven days, usually called "the days of unleavened bread," or "the Passover," Luke 22:1; but only the first and the seventh day were peculiarly solemn, Leviticus 23:5-8 Numbers 28:16,17 Matthew 26:17 . They were days of rest, and were called Sabbaths by the Jews. The slain lamb was to be without defect, a male, and of that year. If no lamb could be found, they might take a kid. They killed a lamb or a kid in each family; but if any family was not large enough to eat the lamb, they might associate another small family with them. The Passover was to be slain and eaten only at Jerusalem, though the remainder of the festival might be observed in any place. The lamb was to be roasted entire, and eaten the same night, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; not a bone of it was to be broken; and all that was not eaten was to be consumed by fire, Exodus 12:1-51 John 19:36 . If any one was unable to keep the Passover at the time appointed, he was to observe it on the second month; he that willfully neglected it, forfeited the covenant favor of God; while on the other hand resident foreigners were admitted to partake of it, Numbers 9:6-14 2 Chronicles 30:1-27 . The direction to eat the Passover in the posture and with the equipments of travelers seems to have been observed only on the first Passover. Besides the private family festival, there were public and national sacrifices offered on each of the seven days of unleavened bread, Numbers 28:19 . On the second day also the first fruits of the barley harvest were offered in the temple, Leviticus 23:10 . </p> <p> Jewish writers give us full descriptions of the Passover feast, from which we gather a few particulars. Those who were to partake having performed the required purification and being assembled at the table, the master of the feast took a cup of unfermented wine, and blessed God for the fruit of the vine, of which all ten drank. This was followed by a washing of hands. The paschal lamb was then brought in, with unleavened cakes, bitter herbs, and a sauce or fruit-paste. The master of the feast then blessed God for the fruits of the earth, and gave the explanations prescribed in Exodus 12:26,27 , specifying each particular. After a second cup, with a second washing of hands, an unleavened cake was broken and distributed, and a blessing pronounced upon the [[Giver]] of Bread. When all had eaten sufficiently of the food before them, a third cup of thanksgiving, for deliverance from Egypt and for the gift of the law, was blessed and drunk, Matthew 26:27 1 Corinthians 10:16; this was called "the cup of blessing." The repast was usually closed by a fourth cup and psalms of praise, Psalm 136:1-26 145:10 Matthew 26:30 . </p> <p> Our [[Savior]] partook of the Passover for the last time, with his disciples, on the evening with which the day of his crucifixion commenced, Matthew 26:17 Mark 14:12 Luke 22:7 . The following day, commencing with the sunset three hours after his death, was the Jewish Sabbath, and was also observed as "a Passover," John 13:29 18:28 19:14,31 . Compare Matthew 27:62 . </p> <p> This sacred festival was both commemorative and typical in its nature and design; the deliverance which it commemorated was a type of the great salvation it foretold. The Savior identified himself with the paschal lamb as its great Antitype, in substituting the Lord's supper for the Passover. "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us," 1 Corinthians 5:7; and as we compare the innocent lamb slain in Egypt with the infinite lamb of God, the contrast teaches us how infinite is the perdition which He alone can cause to "pass over" us, and how essential it is to be under the shelter of his sprinkled blood, before the night of judgment and ruin overtakes us. </p> <p> The modern Jews also continue to observe the Passover. With those who live in [[Palestine]] the feast continues a week; but the Jews out of Palestine extend it to eight days, according to an ancient custom, by which the [[Sanhedrin]] sent two men to observe the first appearance of the new moon, who immediately gave notice of it to the chief of the council. For fear of error, they dept two days of the festival. </p> <p> As to the Christian Passover, the Lord's supper, it was instituted by Christ when, at the last Passover supper he ate with his apostles, he gave them a symbol of his body to eat, and a symbol of his blood to drink, under the form of bread and wine; prefiguring that he should give up his body to the Jews and to death. The paschal lamb, which the Jews killed, tore to pieces, and ate, and whose blood preserved them from the destroying angel, was a type, and figure of our Savior's death and passion, and of his blood shed for the salvation of the world. </p>

<p> פסח , signifies <em> leap, passage. </em> The passover was a solemn festival of the Jews, instituted in commemoration of their coming out of Egypt; because the night before their departure the destroying angel that slew the first-born of the Egyptians passed over the houses of the Hebrews without entering them, because they were marked with the blood of the lamb, which, for this reason, was called the paschal lamb. The following is what God ordained concerning the passover: the month of the coming out of Egypt was after this to be the first month of the sacred or ecclesiastical year; and the fourteenth day of this month, between the two evenings, that is, between the sun's decline and its setting, or rather, according to our reckoning, between three o'clock in the afternoon and six in the evening, at the equinox, they were to kill the paschal lamb, and to abstain from leavened bread. The day following, being the fifteenth, reckoned from six o'clock of the preceding evening, was the grand feast of the passover, which continued seven days; but only the first and seventh days were peculiarly solemn. The slain lamb was to be without defect, a male, and of that year. If no lamb could be found, they might take a kid. They killed a lamb or a kid in each family; and if the number of the family was not sufficient to eat the lamb, they might associate two families together. With the blood of the lamb they sprinkled the door posts and lintel of every house, that the destroying angel at the sight of the blood might pass over them. They were to eat the lamb the same night, roasted, with unleavened bread, and a sallad of wild lettuces, or bitter herbs. It was forbid to eat any part of it raw, or boiled; nor were they to break a bone; but it was to be eaten entire, even with the head, the feet, and the bowels. If any thing remained to the day following it was thrown into the fire, Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; John 19:36 . They who ate it were to be in the posture of travellers, having their reins girt, shoes on their feet, staves in their hands, and eating in a hurry. This last part of the ceremony was but little observed; at least, it was of no obligation after that night when they came out of Egypt. During the whole eight days of the passover no leavened bread was to be used. They kept the first and last day of the feast; yet it was allowed to dress victuals, which was forbidden on the Sabbath day. The obligation of keeping the passover was so strict, that whoever should neglect it was condemned to death, Numbers 9:13 . But those who had any lawful impediment, as a journey, sickness, or uncleanness, voluntary or involuntary, for example, those who had been present at a funeral, &c, were to defer the celebration of the passover till the second month of the ecclesiastical year, the fourteenth day of the month Jair, which answers to April and May. We see an example of this postponed passover under Hezekiah, 2 Chronicles 30:2-3 , &c. </p> <p> The modern Jews observe in general the ceremonies practised by their ancestors in the celebration of the passover. While the temple was in existence, the Jews brought their lambs thither, and there sacrificed them; and they offered their blood to the priest, who poured it out at the foot of the altar. The paschal lamb was an illustrious type of Christ, who became a sacrifice for the redemption of a lost world from sin and misery; but resemblances between the type and antitype have been strained by many writers into a great number of fanciful particulars. It is enough for us to be assured, that as Christ is called "our passover;" and the "Lamb of God," without "spot," by the "sprinkling of whose blood" we are delivered from guilt and punishment; and as faith in him is represented to us as "eating the flesh of Christ," with evident allusion to the eating of the paschal sacrifice; so, in these leading particulars, the mystery of our redemption was set forth. The paschal lamb therefore prefigured the offering of the spotless Son of God, the appointed propitiation for the sins of the whole world; by virtue of which, when received by faith, we are delivered from the bondage of guilt and misery; and nourished with strength for our heavenly journey to that land of rest, of which Canaan, as early as the days of Abraham, became the divinely instituted figure. </p>

<p> Passover, the principal annual feast of the Jews. Comp. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8. It was appointed to commemorate the "passing over" of the families of the Israelites when the destroying angel smote the first-born of Egypt, and also their departure from the land of bondage. Exodus 12:1-51. At even of the 14th day of the first month (Nisan) the Passover was to be celebrated, and on the 15th day commenced the seven days' feast of unleavened bread. The term "Passover" is strictly applicable only to the meal of the paschal lamb, and the feast of unleavened bread was celebrated on the 15th onward for seven days to the. 21st inclusive. This order is recognized in Joshua 5:10-11. But in the sacred history the term "Passover" is used also to denote the whole period—the 14th day, and the festival of the seven days following. Luke 2:41; John 2:13; John 2:23; John 6:4; John 11:55. As to the time of the celebration of the Passover, it is expressly appointed "between the two evenings," Exodus 12:6; Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 9:3; Numbers 9:5, or, as it is elsewhere expressed, "at even, at the going down of the sun." Deuteronomy 16:6. This is supposed to denote the commencement of the 15th day of Nisan, or at the moment when the 14th day closed and the 15th began. The twenty-four hours, reckoned from this point of time to the same period of the next day, or 15th, was the day of the Passover. At sunset of the 14th day the 15th began, and with it the feast of unleavened bread. The lamb was to be selected on the 10th day, and kept till the 14th day, in the evening of which day it was to be killed. Exodus 12:3-6. The feast began by the handing around of a cup of wine mixed with water; over which the head of the family or the chief of the association pronounced the benediction. The lamb, roasted whole, and the other dishes were then placed on the table, and after a second cup of wine the meal was eaten. Everybody present partook of the lamb, the bitter herbs, and the unleavened bread, and care was taken that no bone was broken. What was left of the flesh was immediately burnt. After the meal followed the third cup of wine, then the singing of psalms and hymns, and finally a fourth, and perhaps a fifth, cup of wine. Then followed the feast of unleavened bread, occupying seven days, the first and last or which were peculiarly holy, like the Sabbath. Exodus 12:15-16. That the Passover was a type of the sacrifice of Christ is clearly shown by Christ himself, where he says, "With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Luke 22:15-16. He at that time instituted what is called the Lord's Supper to commemorate his death and which since then has taken the place of the Passover in his church. </p>

Exodus 12:13Exodus 23:15Mark 14:1Acts 12:3Exodus 12:15Mark 14:12-141 Corinthians 5:7 <p> A detailed account of the institution of this feast is given in Exodus 12,13 . It was afterwards incorporated in the ceremonial law (Leviticus 23:4-8 ) as one of the great festivals of the nation. In after times many changes seem to have taken place as to the mode of its celebration as compared with its first celebration (Compare Deuteronomy 16:2,5,6; 2 Chronicles 30:16; Leviticus 23:10-14; Numbers 9:10,11; 28:16-24 ). Again, the use of wine (Luke 22:17,20 ), of sauce with the bitter herbs (John 13:26 ), and the service of praise were introduced. </p> <p> There is recorded only one celebration of this feast between the Exodus and the entrance into Canaan, namely, that mentioned in Numbers 9:5 . (See [[Josiah]] .) It was primarily a commemorative ordinance, reminding the children of Israel of their deliverance out of Egypt; but it was, no doubt, also a type of the great deliverance wrought by the [[Messiah]] for all his people from the doom of death on account of sin, and from the bondage of sin itself, a worse than Egyptian bondage ( 1 Corinthians 5:7; John 1:29; 19:32-36; 1 Peter 1:19; Galatians 4:4,5 ). The appearance of Jerusalem on the occasion of the Passover in the time of our Lord is thus fittingly described: "The city itself and the neighbourhood became more and more crowded as the feast approached, the narrow streets and dark arched bazaars showing the same throng of men of all nations as when Jesus had first visited Jerusalem as a boy. Even the temple offered a strange sight at this season, for in parts of the outer courts a wide space was covered with pens for sheep, goats, and cattle to be used for offerings. Sellers shouted the merits of their beasts, sheep bleated, oxen lowed. Sellers of doves also had a place set apart for them. Potters offered a choice from huge stacks of clay dishes and ovens for roasting and eating the Passover lamb. [[Booths]] for wine, oil, salt, and all else needed for sacrifices invited customers. [[Persons]] going to and from the city shortened their journey by crossing the temple grounds, often carrying burdens...Stalls to change foreign money into the shekel of the temple, which alone could be paid to the priests, were numerous, the whole confusion making the sanctuary like a noisy market" (Geikie's Life of Christ). </p>

<div> 1: Πάσχα (Strong'S #3957 — Noun Neuter — pascha — pas'-khah ) </div> <p> the Greek spelling of the Aramaic word for the Passover, from the Hebrew pasach, "to pass over, to spare," a feast instituted by God in commemoration of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and anticipatory of the expiatory sacrifice of Christ. The word signifies (I) "the Passover Feast," e.g., Matthew 26:2; John 2:13,23; 6:4; 11:55; 12:1; 13:1; 18:39; 19:14; Acts 12:4; Hebrews 11:28; (II) by metonymy, (a) "the Paschal Supper," Matthew 26:18,19; Mark 14:16; Luke 22:8,13; (b) "the Paschal lamb," e.g., Mark 14:12 (cp. Exodus 12:21 ); Luke 22:7; (c) "Christ Himself," 1 Corinthians 5:7 . </p>

<p> Exodus 12:11 (a) This is plainly a type of the Lord JESUS. the young man, the young King, sacrificed for us at [[Calvary]] and under the protection of whose Blood we are safe, as in1Co 5:7. (See also Leviticus 23:5; Deuteronomy 16:2; Matthew 26:19). </p>

<p> (1): (n.) The sacrifice offered at the feast of the passover; the paschal lamb. </p> <p> (2): (n.) A feast of the Jews, instituted to commemorate the sparing of the Hebrews in Egypt, when God, smiting the firstborn of the Egyptians, passed over the houses of the Israelites which were marked with the blood of a lamb. </p>

<p> P`ASSOVER, n. pass and over. A feast of the Jews, instituted to commemorate the providential escape of the Hebrews, in Egypt, when God smiting the first-born of the Egyptians, passed over the houses of the Israelites, which were marked with the blood of the paschal lamb. </p> 1. The sacrifice offered at the feast of the passover.

<p> ''''' pas´ō ''''' - ''''' vẽr ''''' ( פּסח , <i> ''''' peṣaḥ ''''' </i> , from <i> ''''' pāṣaḥ ''''' </i> , "to pass" or "spring over" or "to spare" ( Exodus 12:13 , Exodus 12:23 , Exodus 12:17; compare Isaiah 31:5 . Other conjectures connect the word with the "passing over" into a new year, with assyr <i> '''''pašâh̬u''''' </i> , meaning "to placate," with Hebrew <i> '''''pāṣah''''' </i> , meaning "to dance," and even with the skipping motions of a young lamb; Aramaic פּסחא , <i> '''''paṣḥā'''''' </i> , whence Greek Πάσχα , <i> '''''Páscha''''' </i> ; whence English "paschal." In early Christian centuries folk-etymology connected <i> '''''páscha''''' </i> with Greek <i> '''''páschō''''' </i> , "to suffer" (see [[Passion]] ), and the word was taken to refer to [[Good]] Friday rather than the Passover): </p> <p> 1. Pesach and Maccoth </p> <p> 2. Pesach Micrayim </p> <p> 3. Pesach Doroth </p> <p> 4. Maccoth </p> <p> 5. The 'Omer </p> <p> 6. Non-Traditional Theories </p> <p> 7. The [[Higher]] [[Criticism]] </p> <p> 8. [[Historical]] Celebrations: Old Testament Times </p> <p> 9. Historical Celebrations: New Testament Times </p> <p> 10. The Jewish Passover </p> 1. Pesach and Maccoth: <p> The Passover was the annual Hebrew festival on the evening of the 14th day of the month of <i> ''''' 'Ābhı̄bh ''''' </i> ( <i> ''''' Abib ''''' </i> ) or <i> ''''' Niṣan ''''' </i> , as it was called in later times. It was followed by, and closely connected with, a 7 days' festival of <i> ''''' maccōth ''''' </i> , or unleavened bread, to which the name Passover was also applied by extension ( Leviticus 23:5 ). Both were distinctly connected with the Exodus, which, according to tradition, they commemorate; the Passover being in imitation of the last meal in Egypt, eaten in preparation for the journey, while Yahweh, passing over the houses of the Hebrews, was slaying the firstborn of Egypt (Exodus 12:12 f; Exodus 13:2 , Exodus 13:12 ff); the <i> '''''maccōth''''' </i> festival being in memory of the first days of the journey during which this bread of haste was eaten (Exodus 12:14-20 ). </p> 2. Pesach Micrayim: <p> The ordinance of <i> ''''' peṣaḥ ''''' </i> <i> ''''' micrayim ''''' </i> , the last meal in Egypt, included the following provisions: (1) the taking of a lamb, or kid without blemish, for each household on the 10th of the month; (2) the killing of the lamb on the 14th at even; (3) the sprinkling of the blood on doorposts and lintels of the houses in which it was to be eaten; (4) the roasting of the lamb with fire, its head with its legs and inwards - the lamb was not to be eaten raw nor sodden ( <i> ''''' bāshal ''''' </i> ) with water; (5) the eating of unleavened bread and bitter herbs; (6) eating in haste, with loins girded, shoes on the feet, and staff in hand; (7) and remaining in the house until the morning; (8) the burning of all that remained; the Passover could be eaten only during the night ( Exodus 12:1-23 ). </p> 3. Pesah Doroth: <p> This service was to be observed as an ordinance forever (Exodus 12:14 , Exodus 12:24 ), and the night was to be lel <i> '''''shimmūrı̄m''''' </i> , "a night of vigils," or, at least, "to be much observed" of all the children of Israel throughout their generations (Exodus 12:42 ). The details, however, of the <i> '''''peṣaḥ''''' </i> <i> '''''dōrōth''''' </i> , or later observances of the Passover, seem to have differed slightly from those of the Egyptian Passover (Mishna, <i> '''''Peṣāḥı̄m''''' </i> , ix.5). Thus, it is probable that the victim could be taken from the flock or from the herd (Deuteronomy 16:2; compare Ezekiel 45:22 ). (3), (6) and (7) disappeared entirely, and judging from Deuteronomy 16:7 , the prohibition against seething (Hebrew <i> '''''bāshal''''' </i> ) was not understood to apply (unless, indeed, the omission of the expression with water" gives a more general sense to the Hebrew word <i> '''''bāshal''''' </i> , making it include roasting). New details were also added: for example, that the Passover could be sacrificed only at the central sanctuary (Deuteronomy 16:5 ); that no alien or uncircumcised person, or unclean person could partake thereof, and that one prevented by uncleanness or other cause from celebrating the Passover in season could do so a month later (Numbers 9:9 ff). The singing of the <i> '''''Hallel''''' </i> (Psalms 113 through 118), both while the Passover was being slaughtered and at the meal, and other details were no doubt added from time to time. </p> 4. Maccoth: <p> Unleavened bread was eaten with the Passover meal, just as with all sacrificial meals of later times (Exodus 23:18; Exodus 34:25; Leviticus 7:12 ), independently perhaps of the fact that the Passover came in such close proximity with the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:8 ). Jewish tradition distinguishes, at any rate, between the first night and the rest of the festival in that the eating of <i> '''''maccōth''''' </i> is an obligation on the first night and optional during the rest of the week ( <i> '''''Peṣāḥı̄m''''' </i> 120a), although the eating of unleavened bread is commanded in general terms (Exodus 12:15 , Exodus 12:18; Exodus 13:6 , Exodus 13:7; Exodus 23:15; Exodus 34:18; Leviticus 23:6; Numbers 28:17 ). The eating of leavened bread is strictly prohibited, however, during the entire week under the penalty of <i> '''''kārēth''''' </i> , "excision" (Exodus 12:15 , Exodus 12:19 f; Exodus 13:3; Deuteronomy 16:3 ), and this prohibition has been observed traditionally with great care. The 1st and 7th days are holy convocations, days on which no labor could be done except such as was necessary in the preparation of food. The festival of <i> '''''maccōth''''' </i> is reckoned as one of the three pilgrimage festivals, though strictly the pilgrimage was connected with the Passover portion and the first day of the festival. </p> <p> During the entire week additional sacrifices were offered in the temple: an offering made by fire and a burnt offering, 2 young bullocks, 1 ram, 7 lambs of the first year without blemish, together with meal offerings and drink offerings and a goat for a sin offering. </p> 5. The 'Omer: <p> During the week of the <i> ''''' maccōth ''''' </i> festival comes the beginning of the barley harvest in Palestine ( <i> ''''' Menāḥōth ''''' </i> 65b) which lasts from the end of March in the low [[Jordan]] valley to the beginning of May in the elevated portions. The time of the putting-in of the sickle to the standing grain ( Deuteronomy 16:9 ) and of bringing the sheaf of the peace offering is spoken of as the morrow after the Sabbath (Leviticus 23:15 ), that is, according to the Jewish tradition, the day after the first day, or rest-day, of the Passover ( <i> '''''Menā''''' </i> 65b; <i> '''''Meg''''' </i> <i> '''''Ta‛an''''' </i> . 1; Josephus, <i> Ant. </i> , III, x, 5), and according to [[Samaritan]] and Boethusian traditions and the modern Karites the Sunday after the Passover. At this time a wave offering is made of a sheaf, followed by an offering of a lamb with a meal and drink offering, and only thereafter might the new grain be eaten. From this day 7 weeks are counted to fix the date of Pentecost, the celebration connected with the wheat harvest. It is of course perfectly natural for an agricultural people to celebrate the turning-points of the agricultural year in connection with their traditional festivals. Indeed, the Jewish liturgy of today retains in the Passover service the [[Prayer]] of [[Dew]] ( <i> '''''ṭal''''' </i> ) which grew up in Palestine on the basis of the needs of an agricultural people. </p> 6. Non-Traditional Theories: <p> Many writers, however, eager to explain the entire festival as originally an agricultural feast (presumably a Canaanitic one, though there is not a shred of evidence that the [[Canaanites]] had such a festival), have seized upon the <i> ''''' ‛ōmer ''''' </i> , or sheaf offering, as the basis of the <i> ''''' ḥagh ''''' </i> (festival), and have attempted to explain the <i> ''''' maccōth ''''' </i> as bread hastily baked in the busy harvest times, or as bread quickly baked from the freshly exempted first-fruits. [[Wherein]] these theories are superior to the traditional explanation so consistently adhered to throughout the Pentateuch it is difficult to see. In a similar vein, it has been attempted to connect the Passover with the sacrifice or redemption of the firstborn of man and beast (both institutions being traditionally traced to the judgment on the firstborn of Egypt, as in Exodus 13:11-13; Exodus 22:29 , Exodus 22:30; Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:19 , Exodus 34:20 ), so as to characterize the Passover as a festival of pastoral origin. Excepting for the multiplication of highly ingenious guesses, very little that is positive has been added to our knowledge of the Passover by this theory. </p> 7. The Higher Criticism: <p> The Pentateuch speaks of the Passover in many contexts and naturally with constantly varying emphasis. Thus the story of the Exodus it is natural to expect fewer ritual details than in a manual of temple services; again, according to the view here taken, we must distinguish between the <i> ''''' peṣaḥ ''''' </i> <i> ''''' micrayim ''''' </i> and the <i> ''''' peṣaḥ ''''' </i> <i> ''''' dōrōth ''''' </i> . Nevertheless, great stress is laid on the variations in the several accounts, by certain groups of critics, on the basis of which they seek to support their several theories of the composition of the Pentateuch or Hexateuch. Without entering into this controversy, it will be sufficient here to enumerate and classify all the discrepancies said to exist in the several Passover passages, together with such explanations as have been suggested. These discrepancies, so called, are of three kinds: (1) mere omissions, (2) differences of emphasis, and (3) conflicting statements. The letters, J, E, D, P and H will here be used to designate passages assigned to the various sources by the higher criticism of today merely for the sake of comparison. (1) There is nothing remarkable about the omission of the daily sacrifices from all passages except Leviticus 23:8 (H) and Numbers 28:19 (P), nor in the omission of a specific reference to the holy convocation on the first day in the contexts of Deuteronomy 16:8 and Exodus 13:6 , nor even in the omission of reference to a central sanctuary in passages other than Dt 16. Neither can any significance be attached to the fact that the precise day is not specified in [[Ex]] 23 (E) where the appointed day is spoken of, and in Leviticus 23:15 (H) where the date can be figured out from the date of Pentecost there given. (2) As to emphasis, it is said that the socalled [[Elohist]] [[Covenant]] (E) (Ex 23) has no reference to the Passover, as it speaks only of <i> '''''maccōth''''' </i> in Exodus 23:15 , in which this festival is spoken of together with the other <i> '''''reghālı̄m''''' </i> or pilgrimage festivals. The so-called Jehovistic source (Jahwist) (Exodus 34:18-21 , Exodus 34:25 ) is said to subordinate the Passover to <i> '''''maccōth''''' </i> , the great feast of the Jehovistic history (JE) (Exodus 12:21-27 , Exodus 12:29-36 , Exodus 12:38 , Exodus 12:39; Exodus 13:3-16 ); in Dt (D) the Passover is said to predominate over <i> '''''maccōth''''' </i> , while in Lev (P and H) it is said to be of first importance. Je and P emphasize the historical importance of the day. Whether these differences in emphasis mean much more than that the relative amount of attention paid to the paschal sacrifice, as compared with <i> '''''maccōth''''' </i> , depends on the context, is of course the fundamental question of the higher criticism; it is not answered by pointing out that the differences of emphasis exist. (3) Of the actual conflicts, we have already seen that the use of the words "flock" and "herd" in Dt and Hebrew <i> '''''bāshal''''' </i> are open to explanation, and also that the use of the <i> '''''maccōth''''' </i> at the original Passover is not inconsistent with the historical reason for the feast of <i> '''''maccoth''''' </i> - it is not necessary to suppose that <i> '''''maccōth''''' </i> were <i> invented </i> through the necessity of the Hebrews on their journey. There is, however, one apparent discrepancy in the Biblical narrative that seems to weaken rather than help the position of those critics who would ascribe very late dates to the passages which we have cited: Why does Ezekiel's ideal scheme provide sacrifices for the Passover different from those prescribed in the so-called P ascribed to the same period ( Ezekiel 45:21 )? </p> 8. Historical Celebrations: Old Testament Times: <p> The children of Israel began the keeping of the Passover in its due season according to all its ordinances in the wilderness of Sinai (Numbers 9:5 ). In the very beginning of their national life in Palestine we find them celebrating the Passover under the leadership of Joshua in the plains of [[Jericho]] (Joshua 5:10 ). History records but few later celebrations in Palestine, but there are enough intimations to indicate that it was frequently if not regularly observed. Thus Solomon offered sacrifices three times a year upon the altar which he had built to Yahweh, at the appointed seasons, including the Feast of Unleavened Bread (1 Kings 9:25 = 2 Chronicles 8:13 ). The later prophets speak of appointed seasons for pilgrimages and sacrifices (compare Isaiah 1:12-14 ), and occasionally perhaps refer to a Passover celebration (compare Isaiah 30:29 , bearing in mind that the Passover is the only night-feast of which we have any record). In Hezekiah's time the Passover had fallen into such a state of desuetude that neither the priests nor the people were prepared for the king's urgent appeal to observe it. Nevertheless, he was able to bring together a large concourse in Jerusalem during the 2nd month and institute a more joyful observance than any other recorded since the days of Solomon. In the 18th year of King Josiah, however, there was celebrated the most memorable Passover, presumably in the matter of conformity to rule, since the days of the Judges (2 Kings 23:21; 2 Chronicles 35:1 ff). The continued observance of the feast to the days of the exile is attested by Ezekiel's interest in it ( Ezekiel 45:18 ). In post-exilic times it was probably observed more scrupulously than ever before (Ezra 6:19 ff). </p> 9. Historical Celebrations: New Testament Times: <p> Further evidence, if any were needed, of the importance of the Passover in the life of the Jews of the second temple is found in the Talmud, which devotes to this subject an entire tractate, <i> ''''' Peṣāḥı̄m ''''' </i> on which we have both Babylonian and Palestine <i> ''''' gemārā' ''''' </i> . These are devoted to the sacrificial side and to the minutiae of searching out and destroying leaven, what constitutes leaven, and similar questions, instruction in which the children of Israel sought for 30 days before the Passover. Josephus speaks of the festival often ( <i> Ant. </i> , II, xiv, 6; III, x, 5; IX, iv, 8; Xiv , ii, 2; Xvii , ix, 3; <i> Bj </i> , II, i, 3; V, iii, 1; VI, ix, 3). Besides repeating the details already explained in the Bible, he tells of the innumerable multitudes that came for the Passover to Jerusalem out of the country and even from beyond its limits. He estimates that in one year in the days of Cestius, 256,500 lambs were slaughtered and that at least 10 men were counted to each. (This estimate of course includes the regular population of Jerusalem. But even then it is doubtless exaggerated.) The New Testament bears testimony, likewise, to the coming of great multitudes to Jerusalem (John 11:55; compare also John 2:13; John 6:4 ). At this great festival even the Roman officers released prisoners in recognition of the people's celebration. [[Travel]] and other ordinary pursuits were no doubt suspended (Compare Acts 12:3; Acts 20:6 ). [[Naturally]] the details were impressed on the minds of the people and lent themselves to symbolic and homiletic purposes (compare 1 Corinthians 5:7; John 19:34-36 , where the paschal lamb is made to typify Jesus; and Hebrews 11:28 ). The best-known instance of such symbolic use is the institution of the Eucharist on the basis of the paschal meal. Some doubt exists as to Whether the Last Supper was the paschal meal or not. According to the Synoptic Gospels, it was (Luke 22:7; Matthew 26:17; Mark 14:12 ); while according to John, the Passover was to be eaten some time following the Last Supper (John 18:28 ). Various harmonizations of these passages have been suggested, the most in genious, probably, being on theory that when the Passover fell on Friday night, the Pharisees ate the meal on Thursday and the [[Sadducees]] on Friday, and that Jesus followed the custom of the Pharisees (Chwolson, <i> Das letzte Passahmal [[Jesu]] </i> , 2nd edition, Petersburg, 1904). Up to the Nicene [[Council]] in the year 325, the church observed Easter on the Jewish Passover. Thereafter it took precautions to separate the two, condemning their confusion as Arianism. </p> 10. The Jewish Passover: <p> After the destruction of the temple the Passover became a home service. The paschal lamb was no longer included. Only the Samaritans have continued this rite to this day. In the Jewish home a roasted bone is placed on the table in memory of the rite, and other articles symbolic of the Passover are placed beside it: such as a roasted egg, said to be in memory of the free-will offering; a sauce called <i> ''''' ḥārōṣeth ''''' </i> , said to resemble the mortar of Egypt; salt water, for the symbolic dipping (compare Matthew 26:23 ); the bitter herbs and the <i> '''''maccōth''''' </i> . The <i> '''''ṣēdher''''' </i> (program) is as follows: sanctification; washing of the hands; dipping and dividing the parsley; breaking and setting aside a piece of <i> '''''maccāh''''' </i> to be distributed and eaten at the end of the supper; reading of the <i> '''''haggādhāh''''' </i> <i> '''''shel''''' </i> <i> '''''peṣaḥ''''' </i> , a poetic narrative of the Exodus, in answer to four questions asked by the youngest child in compliance with the Biblical command found 3 times in Exodus and once in Deuteronomy, "Thou shalt tell thy son on that day"; washing the hands for eating; grace before eating; tasting the <i> '''''maccāh''''' </i> ; tasting the bitter herbs; eating of them together; the meal; partaking of the <i> '''''maccāh''''' </i> that had been set aside as <i> ''''''ăphı̄ḳōmēn''''' </i> or dessert; grace after meat; <i> '''''Hallel''''' </i> ; request that the service be accepted. Thereafter folk-songs are sung to traditional melodies, and poems recited, many of which have allegorical meanings. A cup of wine is used at the sanctification and another at grace, in addition to which two other cups have been added, the 4 according to the Mishna ( <i> '''''Peṣāḥı̄m''''' </i> x.1) symbolizing the 4 words employed in Exodus 6:6 , Exodus 6:7 for the delivery of Israel from Egypt. Instead of eating in haste, as in the Egyptian Passover, it is customary to recline or lean at this meal in token of Israel's freedom. </p> <p> The prohibition against leaven is strictly observed. The searching for hidden leaven on the evening before the Passover and its destruction in the morning have become formal ceremonies for which appropriate blessings and declarations have been included in the liturgy since the days when Aramaic was the vernacular of the Jews. As in the case of other festivals, the Jews have doubled the days of holy convocation, and have added a semi-holiday after the last day, the so-called <i> ''''' 'ı̄ṣṣur ''''' </i> <i> ''''' ḥagh ''''' </i> , in token of their love for the ordained celebration and their loathness to depart from it. </p>

<p> Pass´over. The Passover, like the sabbath and other institutions, had a twofold reference—historical and typical. As a commemorative institution it was designed to preserve among the Hebrews a grateful sense of their redemption from Egyptian bondage, and of the protection granted to their first-born on the night when all the first-born of the Egyptians were destroyed as a typical institute its object was to shadow forth the great facts and consequences of the Christian [[Sacrifice]] . </p> <p> The word Passover has three general acceptations in Scripture. First, it denotes the yearly solemnity celebrated on the 14th day of Nisan or Abib, which was strictly the Passover of the Lamb, for on that day the Israelites were commanded to roast the lamb and eat it in their own houses; Second, It signifies that yearly festivity, celebrated on the 15th of Nisan, which may be called the Feast of the Passover ; Third, it denotes the whole solemnity, commencing on the 14th, and ending on the 21st day of Nisan . The paschal lamb, in the age following the first institution of the Passover in Egypt, and after the settlement of the Hebrews in Palestine, could only be killed by the priests in the court of the temple (;; ), whence the owner of the lamb received it from the priests, and 'brought it to his house in Jerusalem, and roasted it, and ate it in the evening;' and it was thus that Christ kept the Passover, eating it in a chamber within Jerusalem but the feast of unfermented things the Jews thought themselves bound to keep in every place in which they might dwell, if they could not visit Jerusalem. As, however, from the evening of the 14th to the 21st day of Abib or Nisan (April), all ferment was banished from the habitations of the Hebrews, both institutions thus received a common name (;; ). </p> <p> On the 10th of the month Abib, the master of a family separated a ram or a goat of a year old, without blemish , which was slain on the 14th day, between the two evenings, before the altar . Originally the blood was sprinkled on the posts of the door , but afterwards the priests sprinkled the blood upon the bottom of the altar (comp.;;; ). The ram or kid was roasted in an oven whole, with two spits made of pomegranate wood thrust through it, the one lengthwise, the other transversely (crossing the longitudinal one near the fore-legs), thus forming a cross. Thus roasted with fire, as an emblem of purification, it was served up with a bitter salad unpickled, indicative of the bitterness of their bondage in Egypt, and with the flesh of the other sacrifices . What of the flesh remained uneaten was to b e consumed with fire, lest it should see corruption (comp.;; ). Not fewer than ten, nor more than twenty persons, were admitted to this sacred solemnity. At its first observance the Hebrews ate the Passover with loins girt about, sandals on their feet, staves in their hands, and in haste, like travelers equipped and prepared for immediate departure but subsequently the usual mode of reclining was adopted in token of rest and security . </p>

<p> The chief festival of the Jews in commemoration of the passing of the destroying angel over the houses of the Israelites on the night when he slew the first-born of the Egyptians; it was celebrated in April, lasted eight days, only unleavened bread was used in its observance, and a lamb roasted whole was eaten with bitter herbs, the partakers standing and road-ready as on their departure from the land of bondage. </p>