Difference between revisions of "Passover"

<p> In the NT we meet with two alternative names for the great [[Jewish]] festal season of the Passover-τὸ πάσχα and τὰ ἄζυμα. These are the LXX_ equivalents for the corresponding Heb. terms in the OT, πάσχα being a rough transliteration of Heb. pesaḥ (probably through the [[Aramaic]] form pasḥa), and τὰ ἄζυμα a translation of Heb. hammaẓẓôth (‘the unleavened bread,’ &nbsp;Exodus 12:17), a brief form of reference to ḥag hammaẓẓôth (‘the feast of the unleavened bread,’ &nbsp;Exodus 23:15). We have also one instance of the full phrase ἡ ἑορτὴ τῶν ἀζύμων in &nbsp;Luke 22:1. Similarly τὸ πάσχα is an abbreviation for ἡ ἑορτὴ τοῦ πάσχα (&nbsp;Luke 2:41); and this is parallel with the OT use of happesaḥ (e.g. &nbsp;Joshua 5:10) for the full ḥag happesaḥ (e.g. &nbsp;Exodus 34:25). In both cases the name of an essential feature of the feast (the lamb, the cakes) is used to denote the feast itself. The analogy of the use of the maẓẓôth (‘cakes’) as a short name for the festival suggests that pesaḥ was originally the special name for the lamb and that it is not the name of the feast transferred to the lamb. ‘Killing’ and ‘eating’ τὸ πάσχα are just as often spoken of as ‘keeping’ τὸ πάσχα. </p> <p> It would be impossible for readers of the LXX_, who were familiar only with Greek, to realize such word-play between ‘passover’ and ‘pass over’ as is found in Exodus 12 -word-play which is obvious alike in EVV_ and in Heb.; e.g. &nbsp;Exodus 12:27 : zebhaḥpesaḥ … ǎsher pâsaḥ, ‘passover-sacrifice (to the Lord) who passed over.’ The LXX_, which uses πάσχα invariably for pesaḥ, reads in the same passage, ‘A sacrifice to the Lord is this pasch (τὸ πάσχα), for He screened (ἐσκέπασε) the houses of the people of Israel.’ </p> <p> The Vulg._ handling of the term is very curious. At its first appearance in &nbsp;Exodus 12:11 it is a sort of transliteration yielding the odd form Phase followed by an explanatory parenthesis, ‘(id est, transitus) Domini.’ So throughout the OT, except in Ezra and Ezekiel, Phase as an indeclinable substantive continues to be used, but some caprice is shown in using sometimes Phase and sometimes phase. In &nbsp;Ezra 6:19-20 and &nbsp;Ezekiel 45:21 the form Pascha appears: and in the NT this term is invariably used. It appears to be generally intended to mark the distinction between the name as applied to the feast and as applied to the lamb by using Pascha in the former case (‘facere, celebrare Pascha’) and pascha in the latter (‘immolare, comedere, manducare pascha’). Uncertainty, too, is shown as to the declension of the word, it being treated both as feminine and as neuter (e.g. &nbsp;Luke 2:41 ‘in die solemni Paschae’; &nbsp;Luke 22:8, ‘parate nobis pascha’). Similarly we have in &nbsp;Mark 14:1 ‘Erat autem Pascha et Azyma,’ and in &nbsp;Luke 22:1 ‘appropinquabat autem dies festus Azymorum, qui dicitur Pascha.’ In &nbsp;Acts 12:3; &nbsp;Acts 20:6 is found ‘dies Azymorum.’ </p> <p> Whether we have not here traces of two ancient Spring festivals, one pastoral (peṣaḥ) and one agricultural (maẓẓôth), now merged into one and invested with a new significance as a historical commemoration which almost wholly obliterates the primitive origins, is a question that lies beyond the scope of this article. This much, however, may be said. The real origin of the term pesaḥ (and so πάσχα) is, to say the least, obscure. The explanation given in Exodus 12 quite possibly indicates the well-known tendency to supply a derivation for a term from itself, especially when it is to be adapted to new uses. For πάσχα, we know, a connection with πάσχω (‘suffer’), was found as early as [[Irenaeus]] (2nd cent. a.d.), who says: ‘A Moyse ostenditur Filius Dei, cuius et diem passionis non ignoravit, sed figuratim pronunciavit, eum pascha nominans’ (Haer. iv. 10). Tertullian and Chrysostom repeated the error of connecting πάσχα with our Lord’s Passion. There must have been very many, familiar only with Greek, to whom the term itself was meaningless. </p> <p> 1. The feast.-The [[Passover]] was a ḥag, i.e. a pilgrim feast characterized by joyousness; it was necessarily observed at the central sanctuary at Jerusalem. [[Josephus]] mentions more than once the large numbers that came up to the feast, and speaks of it as a particularly turbulent time when sedition was liable to break out on the slightest provocation (see Ant. XVII. ix. 3, XX. v. 3). He calculates that there were 2,700,200 capable of celebrating the Passover at the time of the destruction of [[Jerusalem]] (BJ_ VI. ix. 3; see also [for a.d. 65] BJ_ II. xiv. 3). Whatever exaggeration there may be in these numbers, it is clear that the concourse of people at the feast must have been great. According to the same authority, more than once in the unquiet years which preceded the fall of Jerusalem the Passover was made the occasion of massacre and bloodshed in which many perished. </p> <p> With the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple, the Passover necessarily ceased to be a ḥag. It became simply a domestic festival, though of peculiar preciousness. Their downfall as a nation, their being scattered abroad throughout the world, could not blot out for the [[Jews]] the memory of their redemption from [[Egyptian]] bondage, which the festival commemorated, whilst it also kept alive hopes for the days to come. The scene of the celebration was the home, and those who kept the feast were the family circle or household. But we are largely in the dark as to how the Jews observed the feast, say in a.d. 71, when it was no longer possible to go up to Jerusalem, and how exactly the celebration of the Passover (as well as other matters) was adjusted to the new order of things. All we know is that out of a period of uncertainty and dimness the Passover feast emerges as one of the most distinctive features of Judaism, one that has been made the subject of a special tractate of the [[Mishna]] (Pesaḥim), and one that has continued to this day as a specially valued festival. </p> <p> 2. The Passover as a note of time.-Twice in the Acts (&nbsp;Acts 12:3; &nbsp;Acts 20:6) we have ‘the days of unleavened bread’ referred to as a note of time. No absolute certainty is attainable with reference to NT chronology; everything, therefore, that can shed light on it is to be welcomed. In &nbsp;Acts 12:3 we have the fact explicitly mentioned that it was the Passover time when the occurrences there recorded took place; but unfortunately that does not give us information as to the year. The uncertainties, however, are narrowed down to the limits of a very few years, and careful calculation has shown that Herod [[Agrippa]] I. most probably died in a.d. 44. St. Peter mysteriously disappears from view, leaving us henceforth dependent on uncertain tradition for all further knowledge of his career. The unfortunate translation of μετὰ τὸ πάσχα in AV_ as ‘after Easter’ is an obvious anachronism, unless, indeed, ‘Easter’ was in the 16th cent. used indiscriminately for the Jewish and the [[Christian]] Pasch. &nbsp;Acts 20:6 f. also probably indicates the Passover of a.d. 56 or 57 as marking the close of the missionary activity of St. Paul, who was arrested soon after (see art._ ‘Chronology of the NT’ in HDB_ i. 416, 420). </p> <p> Nothing could show better than these scanty notes of time how deep-rooted the custom was, how the feast was observed as regularly as the year came round. Men spoke naturally of ‘the days of the unleavened bread’ as a significant point in the calendar, just as we speak of ‘after Christmas’ or ‘at Christmas.’ [[Ordinary]] dates dwindle into insignificance beside these fixed, outstanding seasons. Similarly we find the other primary Jewish festivals (Tabernacles and Pentecost) used in the same way-&nbsp;John 7:2 (Tabernacles), &nbsp;Acts 2:1; &nbsp;Acts 20:16, &nbsp;1 Corinthians 16:8 (Pentecost). </p> <p> 3. How Passover was kept in apostolic times.-Even among the Jews the [[Paschal]] observance had undergone considerable changes in the course of time. [[Whilst]] a due reference was preserved to the all-important fact of the deliverance from Egypt, the emergence of the Jews as more or less a people, yet time and historical catastrophes had left their mark. What mention, e.g., is there in the Pentateuchal legislation of the four cups of wine? When were they introduced? We cannot tell; yet they were a settled feature of the feast in our Lord’s day. The cup which He took in the institution of the Lord’s Supper was no new thing. It is generally admitted that this was the third cup or cup of blessing which is still drunk at the conclusion of the meal (‘after supper,’ &nbsp;Luke 22:20, &nbsp;1 Corinthians 11:25). The greatest difference, however, was made by the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. Up to that time the paschal lambs had been slain in their thousands year by year. Then it all ceased. A roasted shank-bone of a lamb is all that remains of the most notable element of the feast as originally ordained. On the other hand, the unleavened cakes and the bitter herbs (now taking the form of horse-radish) go back to primitive times. </p> <p> But ‘the present Passover liturgy contains comparatively very few relics from New [[Testament]] times’ (A. Edersheim, The Temple: its [[Ministry]] and [[Services]] as they were at the Time of Jesus Christ, London, n.d., p. 231). Perhaps it is more correct to say that the present Passover liturgy contains large expansions of and additions to the ritual observed in the 1st cent. a.d. What that form was exactly it is impossible to tell. It was pre-eminently a time of revolution: the breakup and passing away of the old order to give place to a new. The transformation of Passover from a ḥag to a purely domestic festival was not so sudden as might at first appear. Even before the destruction of Jerusalem the domestic festivities were of growing importance, although that stupendous event made an end of the whole sacrificial system and yearly festal gatherings. We may be sure, however, that the kernel of the commemoration was jealously maintained, that the essential framework of the ritual to-day was there from the first. That ritual briefly is as follows. The search for leaven on the eve of Passover with quaint formulae ushers in the feast. The festival commences with a sanctification; then comes the first cup of wine; the aphiḳomen (half a maẓẓah, which is reserved to be eaten at the close) is set aside; the question is asked, ‘Why is this night distinguished from all other nights?’ to which a long response is given; this is followed by the first part of [[Hallel]] (Psalms 113, 114), the second cup of wine, washing of the hands; the unleavened bread (maẓẓôth) is eaten with bitter herbs (horse-radish); next comes Hillel’s ceremony (eating a piece of horse-radish placed between two pieces of unleavened bread); the aphiḳomen is eaten, grape after meals is said with considerable additions; then there is the third cup of wine and the opening of the door; Hallel is resumed (Psalms 115-118); Psalms 136 is recited with large expansions, followed by the fourth cup of wine and prayer for the [[Divine]] acceptance of the service; ‘Adir hu’, an impassioned song praying for the rebuilding of the Temple, brings all to a close. </p> <p> Such a curious feature as the opening of the door is of uncertain date, but, though most likely later than the 1st cent. a.d., is yet of considerable age. The expansions are mostly seen in the Haggâdic matter-the long narrative sections which are so conspicuous a feature of the observance. The compositions, ‘How many are the benefits which God has conferred upon us?’ ‘And it came to pass at midnight,’ ‘Ye shall say, “It is the sacrifice of Passover,” ’ ‘To Him praise has ever been and ever will be due,’ and others, must be dated long after apostolic times. On the other hand, the Hallel and other portions of the Psalms are most probably amongst the oldest features. </p> <p> One feature of the celebration on the second night of the Passover carries us back uninterruptedly to the primitive times when the Jews were settled in [[Canaan]] and were an agricultural people. It is the counting of the omer, and it most particularly reminds us that here we have originally a celebration of the recurring seasons of the year and the yearly ingathering of the earth’s fruits. The first-fruits of barley harvest were offered on the second day of Passover, and from then seven weeks were counted by primitive methods of calculation; this brought them to [[Pentecost]] and the beginning of wheat harvest. ‘Though one ephah, or ten omers, of barley was cut down, only one omer of flour, or about 5·1 pints of our measure, was offered in the [[Temple]] on the second Paschal’ (Edersheim, op. cit. p. 259). Ages have passed, the Jews are scattered throughout the world, there is no longer flour to be offered, there is no omer; still at the evening service in the synagogue and on the second night of the festival in the home, as regularly as the Passover comes round, the words are said: ‘Blessed art Thou, [[O]] Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast sanctified us with [[Thy]] precepts and commanded us concerning the counting of the Omer. This is the first day of the Omer. May it be Thy will, O Lord our God and the God of our fathers, to rebuild thy Temple speedily, in our days, and to make Thy law our portion.’ And at evening service in the synagogue daily the counting goes on until the night before Pentecost (see art._ Pentecost). </p> <p> Whenever the custom may have originated, it is curious to think that still in every Jewish home, just after the third cup, or cup of blessing, has been drunk, the door is opened to admit the prophet Elijah, for whom a spare cup of wine is always set, as the forerunner of the Messiah. ‘May the All-merciful send us [[Elijah]] the prophet … who shall give us good tidings, salvation, and consolation.’ We think of the question: ‘Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come?’ (&nbsp;Matthew 17:10), and of the answer: ‘Elijah is come already.’ That which differentiates between Jew and Christian is mainly the recognition of Jesus as the Christ. How can we fail to feel the pathos in the impassioned prayers with which the Paschal service closes? ‘O mighty God, rebuild Thy house speedily, speedily even in our days, rebuild it. O God, rebuild Thy Temple speedily!’ and in the aspiration repeated more than once, but especially before the fourth cup: ‘Next year in Jerusalem!’ We wonder how far these words really express the yearning of the Jewish heart. Words and formulae often live on and survive the original desire, very intense and sincere, which prompted them. </p> <p> The question arises, as in the matter of keeping [[Sabbath]] on the seventh day, whether the early [[Christians]] continued to observe these festivals just the same as the Jews. They did not at once break away from the practices in which they had been brought up (see, e.g., &nbsp;Acts 3:1). ‘The Christian Churches in [[Judaea]] existed as Jewish sects’ (C. von Weizsäcker, The [[Apostolic]] Age, i.2 [London, 1897] 175), and it is with Jewish Christians that we are first of all concerned. In all probability they went on for years observing the festivals with their old Jewish significance as they also complied with other traditional usages. J. Bingham, indeed, on very slender grounds holds that the ‘first Christians of Jerusalem … did not keep [[Easter]] with the Jews on what day of the week scever it fell, but on the Sunday following in honour of our Saviour’s resurrection’ (Ant. XX. v. 4 [in Works, Oxford, 1855, vol. vii.]). Apart even from the loose wording here, when we come to look into matters we see that he has little, if any, authority for the belief. The ‘first day of the week,’ the Lord’s Day, was the regular, weekly commemoration of our Lord’s resurrection. It is more than doubtful if there was an annual commemoration (‘Easter’) in apostolic times. </p> <p> But the old runs into the new. Even though still marking events by ‘the days of unleavened bread’ (&nbsp;Acts 12:3), they might well invest the season with a new significance as time went on, and associate it with a new commemoration. ‘When the apostles came to write of the bondage of sin and the new liberty and life in Christ, their teaching would be all the more easily understood and more lovingly accepted, because to many of their readers it recalled the Passover table of the family and the sound of silent voices’ (G. M. Mackie, ‘The Jewish Passover in the Christian Church,’ ExpT_ xiii. [1901-02] 392). </p> <p> St. Paul, however, who divined most accurately the true genius of [[Christianity]] as a religion with universal aims, evidently disapproved of the continuance of [[Judaism]] as a system crippling the spiritual energies of the Church, the new liberty in Christ. He explicitly deprecated the observance of Jewish feasts (&nbsp;Galatians 4:8-11) on the part of purely [[Gentile]] converts. &nbsp;Colossians 2:16 is equally decided. Though he was, as he himself proudly claimed, ‘a [[Hebrew]] of Hebrews,’ it is more than questionable if he kept the Passover after his conversion and after he had grasped the meaning of Christianity for the Gentile world. And when he makes an allusion to the feast in writing to the Corinthians (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:6-8), it shows only that the feast per se has no longer any interest for him. It may, indeed, show incidentally that it was somewhere about the time of its celebration that he was writing his Epistle; but his allusions are purely symbolic. He gives to the Paschal lamb and to the unleavened bread a meaning of which his forefathers never dreamed. To St. Paul more than to any other is it due that Christianity broke away from the swaddling-clothes of Judaism and became a faith with a far more glorious redemption than the Exodus to commemorate. </p> <p> As L. Duchesne remarks, ‘There was no reason why Christians should observe the feasts and fasts of the Jewish calendar. They were allowed to drop out of use. Nevertheless, each year one of these holy days, the Paschal Feast or the Feast of the Azymes, recalled the memory of the [[Passion]] of the Saviour. The memories which [[Israel]] had connected, and still connected, with this anniversary might no longer be of interest; but it was impossible to forget that Our Lord had died … on one of those days. The [[Pasch]] was therefore retained, though the ritual details of the Jewish observance were omitted’ (Early History of the Christian Church, Eng. tr._ of 4th ed., i. [London, 1909] 207 f.). </p> <p> 4. ‘Christ our Passover.’-We have already referred in passing to &nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:6-8, but both here and in &nbsp;1 Corinthians 15:20; &nbsp;1 Corinthians 15:23 there are allusions to Passover (‘the firstfruits,’ ἀπαρχή) which call for a rather more extended notice. For they show us better than anything else how the transition from the Jewish to the Christian Pasch was made, how the new interest and commemoration swallowed up and superseded the old. Once again Passover was in all probability being celebrated in the Jewish community. But St. Paul, perhaps for the very first time, was quick to see an illustration of Christ and His redeeming work in the sacrifice of the lamb, and in the complete removal of leaven which preceded the feast (&nbsp;Exodus 12:15) an illustration of the moral purification which Christianity calls for. He sees, again, in the first-fruits offered at the Passover an illustration of what Christ is in His resurrection to the harvest field of the dead. </p> <p> (a) τὸ πάσχα ἡμῶν: ‘our Paschal lamb,’ i.e. of Christians as distinct from Jews. It is altogether unnecessary to see in the lamb of the original institution an actual prototype of our Lord. To see in the Paschal lamb ‘the prefiguration of Jesus Christ whose death is the sacrifice which averts the wrath of God from His community’ (C. von Orelli, art._ ‘Passover’ in Schaff-Herzog_, viii. 370) is to go beyond what is warranted. The reference is too casual for so much to be built upon it. The [[Apostle]] never again speaks of Christ as a lamb. The lamb of the Passover, moreover, was partaken of in a festal meal, and St. Paul was probably thinking specially of this. For he immediately follows with ‘Therefore let us keep festival’ (ἑορτάζωμεν); not with a reference to any feast in particular, but to the new life of joyousness Christians are to live, in which ‘sincerity and truth’ are essential (so Chrysostom, Hom. in 1 Cor. xv. 3. 8). Again we have Christ compared to a ‘lamb without blemish and without spot’ (&nbsp;1 Peter 1:19), absolute purity, however, being a general requirement in any sacrifice offered to God (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 17:1). [[Allegory]] soon became busy with these representations of the Lord. He was ‘the Lamb of God’ (&nbsp;John 1:29) rather in antithesis to the whole sacrificial system of the Jews. The majestic apocalyptic figure of the Lamb which is all-prominent in Rev. is the outgrowth of this conception, and is mainly responsible for the Agnus Dei of Christian art._ </p> <p> (b) ἀπαρχή, LXX_ for Heb. re’shîth (&nbsp;Leviticus 23:10), ‘firstfruits.’ It is almost impossible that St. Paul should use this particular term without having in mind a reference to the offering of first-fruits at Passover, especially when we take it in connection with &nbsp;Leviticus 5:6. R. F. [[Weymouth]] (The NT in Modern Speech3, London, 1909, p. 469) translates (no doubt advisedly) &nbsp;1 Corinthians 15:20, ‘being the first to do so of those who are asleep’; and again &nbsp;1 Corinthians 15:23, ‘Christ having been the first to rise’: but this entirely obscures the beautiful figure of the harvest field. As used by St. Paul, the gathering of first-fruits and the presenting of them to God is a pledge that the whole harvest shall be reaped. </p> <p> 5. Passover and the Eucharist.-Is there any connection between the Passover of the Jews and the Lord’s Supper of the Christian Church? Our limitations forbid any treatment in detail of what is still a very vexed question. It must be admitted that the materials are scanty and not free from obscurity. The difference, e.g., between the Synoptists and the Fourth [[Gospel]] as to the actual time when the Lord held His Last Supper, whether the meal was an ‘anticipated Passover’ or Passover itself, is well known. Referring to the repeated attempts to harmonize them, Duchesne sensibly remarks: ‘It is wiser to acknowledge that, on this point, we are not in a position to reconcile the evangelists’ (op. cit. p. 209, n._ 4). And why trouble, when even the fact that the Lord instituted some memorial observance for His disciples is itself open to question? Wilder extremists see in the Supper, not a simple memorial instituted naturally by Jesus and suggested by the circumstances of the time, but the influence of mystery-religions and strange cults with their eating and drinking of a god. </p> <p> One thing is pretty certain. There was a meal in some form or another associated with Christianity from the very beginning. In &nbsp;Acts 2:42 the κλάσις τοῦ ἄρτου, ‘the breaking of the bread,’ suggests a distinctive custom of the first disciples. Still more in &nbsp;Acts 20:7 is it apparent that this custom was observed ‘on the first day of the week,’ and it becomes a more definitely religious ordinance. More than all we have fortunately St. Paul’s treatment of a crying scandal in the Church at [[Corinth]] which incidentally gives us some light on the practice of the times (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 10:16 f., &nbsp;1 Corinthians 11:17 ff.). From the first, apparently, the commemoration (Eucharist) was observed in connection with a common meal to symbolize and to foster fraternity (Agape). The Apostle’s action here was to set a hedge round the commemoration and rescue it from the disgraceful abuses which attended the common meal. It distinctly contributed to the ultimate separation of the [[Eucharist]] as a purely religious and symbolic feast, although at the time of the [[Didache]] (c._ a.d. 100) the [[Agape]] appears still to have been associated with it ( 10), at any rate in certain localities. </p> <p> But St. Paul’s mention of the ‘cup of blessing’ (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 10:16), coupled with the fact that he had already seen in the Paschal lamb an illustration of Christ, makes it clear that he at any rate viewed this ordinance as the Christian counterpart of the Jewish Passover. Edersheim (LT_4, London, 1887, ii. 511) is very decided as to this relation, and even goes so far as to venture the opinion that the broken bread was none other than the aphiḳomen or unleavened cake eaten at the close of the meal. A. C. McGiffert (A History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age, Edinburgh, 1897, p. 70) seems hardly consistent in saying there is no indication in our sources that the Lord’s Supper was viewed as thus related to the Jewish Passover, as he remarks, ‘It can hardly be doubted, in other words, that it was believed, at any rate at an early day, if not from the beginning, in the church of Jerusalem, that Jesus had commanded them to do as they actually were doing.’ If Jesus gave the command He gave it at the Paschal meal, or at least in close association with it. ‘Whether in the words and acts of Jesus there is an implied reference to the Passover or not, the association of the Eucharist with the Passover was a natural one, though we may have to admit that the Paschal features in the language of St. Paul represent the later reflexion of a period when the idea of Christ as the true Passover (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:7, &nbsp;John 19:36) had influenced the conception of the institution’ (art._ ‘Eucharist’ in ERE_ v. 543a). We may notice that really St. Paul’s language is separated from the [[Crucifixion]] only by a score of years or so, no great interval after all. It is the more natural to think, considering the relation of Christianity to Judaism, that we have here a close point of connection between the old and the new. </p> <p> 6. Passover and Easter.-The true celebration of Easter, the festival of our Lord’s resurrection, was, as we have seen above, a thing of weekly occurrence. ‘The first day of the week’ became established even in the Apostolic Church as the special day of joyful commemoration on the part of Christians. In that they were most sharply in contrast with the Jews. But whatever obscurity may hang round the original connection between the Paschal feast and the Eucharist, there can be no question that when Easter came to be observed, as it was observed at the same season of the year,-in spring-it was regarded as the counterpart of the Jewish Passover. [[Speaking]] of the movable feasts, Duchesne says: ‘Dans ces fêtes, comme en tant d’autres choses, l’Eglise est, à un certain degré, héritière de la Synagogue. L’année ecclésiastique n’est autre chose que la combinaison de deux calendriers, l’un juif et l’autre chrétien. Au calendrier juif correspondent les fêtes mobiles, au calendrier chrétien les fêtes fixes’ (Origines du culte chrétien4, Paris, 1909, p. 225). After observing that this symmetry must not be pressed too far, he remarks: ‘Les chrétiens ne conservèrent point toutes les fêtes juives; et quant à celles qu’ils retinrent, ils y attachèrent de bonne heure une signification appropriée à leurs croyances.… On ne conserva que celles de Pâques et de la Pentecôte’ (ib.). </p> <p> This correspondence is made abundantly clear by the fact that the name for the festival of the resurrection of our Lord is in most countries simply the name ‘Pascha’ reproduced in various forms. Thus Lat. festa paschalia, which has passed into Fr. as Pâques (a plur. form), Ital. Pasqua, etc. (see CED_, s.v. ‘Pasch’). The name ‘Easter’ is, quite differently, from A.S._ plur. eâstron, a relic of heathenism with dim suggestions of the worship of nature powers awakening in spring. But even where ‘Easter’ became the settled name, some form of Pascha such as ‘Pasch’ existed side by side with it. </p> <p> It was only to be expected that with the weekly celebration there should gradually grow up a special yearly commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is so tremendous and vital a fact that as each Paschal season came round the tendency would be more and more to give importance to the annual celebration at the very season when our Lord died and rose again. But this was after the Apostolic Age. </p> <p> So there is no need to enter with any minuteness upon a controversy which, springing up in the 2nd cent., continued for long to agitate the Christian Church and was the occasion of great and widespread bitterness of feeling. [[Pity]] that such things should be! But it was a controversy that grew up out of this very relation of the Christian to the Jewish feast; and it had reference to the time when the festival should be kept. A large section of the Church, believing that on the 14th Nisan, the day of the Paschal sacrifice, Jesus also died, were firm in their resolve to keep their Pasch on the same day as did the Jews. (The term Pascha, it may be said, originally included a reference to the death as well as the resurrection of Christ. A distinction was made between τὸ πάσχα σταυρώσιμον, the Pascha crucifixionis, and τὸ πάσχα ἀναστάσιμον, the Pascha resurrectionis.) On the other hand, seeing that the 14th [[Nisan]] could fall on any day of the week, and therefore the celebration of Easter also, the Roman Church, and those who were influenced by it, kept the festival on Sunday as a fixed day, arriving at the date by more or less intricate calculation. It was not, however, by any means the same Sunday that Christians observed even where this principle obtained. The former, mainly Asians, were called Quartodecimans or ‘Fourteenthers.’ At first they agreed to differ. ‘Polycarp [c._ a.d. 150], during his stay in Rome, tried to convince [[Pope]] [[Anicetus]] that the quartodeciman use was the only one permissible. He did not succeed. Neither could Anicetus succeed in persuading the old master to adopt the Roman method. They parted, nevertheless, on the best of terms’ (Duchesne, Early Hist. of the Christian Church, i. 210). A very different state of things followed when a later pope, Victor, interfered to secure one uniform way. It is a sorry story of schism and strife. But where now are the Tessarescaedecatitae, Audiani, Sabbatiani, Protopaschitae and other curious sects, who ‘would not hold any communion with … any that did not keep the Pasch at the same time that the Jews did’? (Bingham, op. cit. XX. v. 3). </p> <p> The two festivals still exist side by side. It is true that, quite apart from the Jewish feast, Christians would still have celebrated the resurrection of the Lord. But, be that as it may, the historical connection of Christianity and Judaism is indubitably signified as year by year at the same time the Christian keeps Easter and the Jew Passover-though with what radical difference of meaning! </p> <p> Literature.-In addition to works and articles quoted throughout, see artt._ ‘Passover’ in HDB_ (W. J. Moulton), in EBi_ (I. Benzinger), in JE_ (E. G. Hirsch); art._ ‘Pasch or Passover’ in CE_ (C. Aherne); in ERE_, artt._ ‘Festivals and [[Fasts]] (Christian)’ (J. G. Carleton), ‘Festivals and Fasts (Hebrew)’ (F. H. Woods); A. Hilgenfeld, Der Paschastreit der alten Kirche nach seiner Bedeutung für die Kirchengeschichte, Halle, 1860; [[Eighteen]] Treatises from the [[Mischna]] (including Pesahim), tr._ D. A. de [[Sola]] and M. J. Raphall, London, 1843; F. Delitzsch, ‘Der Passahritus zur Zeit des zweiten Tempels,’ Zeitschr. für die ges. luther. Theologie und Kirche, xvi. [1855] 257 ff.; P. Gardner, The Origin of the Lord’s Supper, London, 1893; A. A. Green, The Revised Hagada, do., 1897; H. C. Trumbull, The [[Blood]] Covenant, do., 1887. </p> <p> J. S. Clemens. </p>

<p> (See [[Feasts]] .) Ρecach (&nbsp;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 &nbsp;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" (&nbsp;Matthew 23:37, Greek episunagon , the "epi" expresses the hen's brooding over her chickens, the "sun" her gathering them together; &nbsp;Ruth 2:12; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;2 Samuel 24:16); [[Jehovah]] is distiller from the destroying angel, and interposes between him and the people while David intercedes. </p> <p> So &nbsp;Hebrews 11:28; &nbsp;Exodus 12:23. Israel's deliverance front Egyptian bondage and adoption by Jehovah was sealed by the Passover, which was their consecration to Him. &nbsp;Exodus 12:1-14 directs as to the Passover before the Exodus, &nbsp;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, '' &nbsp;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" (&nbsp;John 1:29). The unleavened loaves, called "broad of affliction" (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 16:3) as reminding them of past affliction, symbolized the new life cleansed from the leaven of the old Egyptian-like nature (&nbsp;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": '' &nbsp;Exodus 23:15-18''; '' &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Leviticus 2:4-5; &nbsp;Leviticus 7:12; &nbsp;Leviticus 10:12); symbol of hypocrisy and misleading doctrine (&nbsp;Matthew 16:12; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Isaiah 43:1; &nbsp;Isaiah 43:15-17). From the 14th to the 21st of Nisan. See also &nbsp;Exodus 13:3-10; &nbsp;Leviticus 23:4-14. In &nbsp;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 &nbsp;Numbers 28:16-25 the offering for each day is prescribed. In &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Numbers 28:17-24; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 30:22-24; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 16:6) "between the two evenings" (margin &nbsp;Exodus 12:6; &nbsp;Leviticus 23:5; &nbsp;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: &nbsp;1 Peter 1:2; &nbsp;Hebrews 9:22; &nbsp;Hebrews 10:22) on the lintel and two sideposts of the house door (not to be trodden under; so not on the threshold: &nbsp;Hebrews 10:29). </p> <p> The lamb was roasted whole (&nbsp;Genesis 22:8, representing Jesus' complete dedication as a holocaust), not a bone broken (&nbsp;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 &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:7-8) and bitter herbs (repentance &nbsp;Zechariah 12:10). </p> <p> No uncircumcised male was to partake (&nbsp;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: '' &nbsp;1 Peter 1:13''; '' &nbsp;1 Peter 2:11''; '' &nbsp;Hebrews 11:13''; '' &nbsp;Luke 12:35-36''; '' &nbsp;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" (&nbsp;Exodus 12:12; &nbsp;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 '' &nbsp;Exodus 12:21'', 'Kill The Passover')'' , to Jehovah" (Hebrew &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Leviticus 23:10-14) God directed an omer or sheaf of firstfruits (barley, first ripe, &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Joshua 5:11). If &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Romans 8:23); also Israel, the firstfruit of the church (&nbsp;Romans 11:16; &nbsp;Revelation 14:4), and elect believers (&nbsp;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" (&nbsp;Exodus 9:31-32). The seasons in Judaea and Egypt. were much the same. Therefore in &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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: &nbsp;Luke 22:7-9; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Numbers 9:5-10; &nbsp;Numbers 18:11), and that the males alone should appear (&nbsp;Exodus 23:17; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 16:16), was unknown at the first celebration; nor was the Hallel sung as afterward (&nbsp;Isaiah 30:29); nor were there days of holy convocation; nor were the lambs slain at a consecrated place (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 16:2-7). [[Devout]] women, as [[Hannah]] and Mary, even in late times attended (&nbsp;1 Samuel 1:7; &nbsp;Luke 2:41-42). </p> <p> The fat was burned by the priests (&nbsp;Exodus 23:18; &nbsp;Exodus 34:25-26), and the blood sprinkled on the altar (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 35:11; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 30:16). Joy before the Lord was to be the predominant feeling (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 30:17). Numbers at Hezekiah's Passover partook "otherwise than it was written," "not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary" (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 35:6; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Hosea 6:6; &nbsp;Micah 6:8; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Exodus 12:9; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Exodus 12:15-20; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Luke 22:62). The sauce is not mentioned in the Pentateuch, but in &nbsp;John 13:26; &nbsp;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 &nbsp;Luke 22:17; &nbsp;Luke 22:20; &nbsp;1 Corinthians 10:16; and (See [[Lord]] 'S SUPPER.) </p> <p> The second cup was filled before the lamb was eaten, and the son (&nbsp;Exodus 12:26) asked the father the meaning of the Passover; he in reply recounted the deliverance, and explained &nbsp;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" (&nbsp;Luke 22:20). Schoettgen says "cup of blessing" was applied to any cup drunk with thanksgiving (compare &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Matthew 26:30; &nbsp;Mark 14:26). The ancient [[Israelites]] sat. But reclining was the custom in our Lord's time (&nbsp;Luke 22:14; &nbsp;Matthew 26:20; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Matthew 26:18; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Matthew 26:5; &nbsp;Luke 13:1). After the Passover meal many of the country pilgrims returned to keep the remainder of the feast at their own homes (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 16:7). The release of a prisoner at the Passover was a Jewish and Roman custom which Pilate complied with (&nbsp;Matthew 27:15; &nbsp;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 &nbsp;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, &nbsp;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 &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 16:2; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 35:7-9); the Passover might be eaten by those not yet cleansed (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Mark 15:43). Had the Passover supper not been until that evening (&nbsp;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, &nbsp;John 19:14, "the preparation of the passover," is explained by &nbsp;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 &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;John 7:32-45). </p> <p> Peter was seized during the Passover (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Matthew 26:5). On the Sabbath itself not only Joseph but the chief priests come to Pilate, probably in the praetorium (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 16:5-6); the blood was sprinkled on the altar, the fat burned (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 30:16; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 35:11; &nbsp;Exodus 12:27; &nbsp;Exodus 23:18; &nbsp;Numbers 9:7; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 16:2; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 16:5; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Exodus 19:6) was delegated to one family, Israel's rights were vindicated by the Passover priesthood of each father (&nbsp;Isaiah 61:6; &nbsp;1 Peter 2:5; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Mark 14:8; &nbsp;Mark 14:10-11). Christ's blood must be sprinkled on us by the hyssop of faith, else guilt and wrath remain (&nbsp;Isaiah 53:7; &nbsp;Acts 8:32; &nbsp;1 Peter 1:18-19). Being first in the religious year, and with its single victim, the Passover stands forth preeminent. </p>

<p> The Feast of Passover was God’s appointed way for the people of Israel to celebrate their miraculous escape from Egypt (&nbsp;Exodus 12:14; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Exodus 12:5; &nbsp;Exodus 12:7; &nbsp;Exodus 12:12-13; &nbsp;Exodus 12:21-23; cf. &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Exodus 12:6; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Exodus 12:11; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 16:1-8; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Exodus 12:33-34; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 16:5-6; &nbsp;Joshua 5:10-11; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 8:12-13; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 30:1; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 35:1; &nbsp;Luke 2:41; &nbsp;John 2:13; &nbsp;John 11:55). </p> <p> All adult male Israelites had to attend the Passover celebration (&nbsp;Exodus 23:14; &nbsp;Exodus 23:17), and so could foreigners, provided they had accepted circumcision and so become part of the covenant people (&nbsp;Exodus 12:43-49). There were special provisions for those Israelites who were unable to attend because of unavoidable circumstances (&nbsp;Numbers 9:6-13; cf. &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 30:5; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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; &nbsp;1 Corinthians 10:16), and which he passed around among the participants, both before and after the eating of unleavened bread (&nbsp;Mark 14:22-24; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Luke 22:15; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;John 18:28; &nbsp;John 19:14; &nbsp;John 19:31; &nbsp;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. &nbsp;Exodus 12:5 with &nbsp;1 Peter 1:18-19; cf. &nbsp;Exodus 12:46 with &nbsp;John 19:36; cf. &nbsp;Exodus 12:21; &nbsp;Exodus 12:27 with &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Matthew 26:17-30; &nbsp;1 Corinthians 10:16; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:7-8; see [[Leaven]] ). </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, &nbsp;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, &nbsp;Mark 14:12,14 &nbsp; 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," &nbsp;Luke 22:1; but only the first and the seventh day were peculiarly solemn, &nbsp;Leviticus 23:5-8 &nbsp; Numbers 28:16,17 &nbsp; 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, &nbsp;Exodus 12:1-51 &nbsp; 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, &nbsp;Numbers 9:6-14 &nbsp; 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, &nbsp;Numbers 28:19 . On the second day also the first fruits of the barley harvest were offered in the temple, &nbsp;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 &nbsp;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, &nbsp;Matthew 26:27 &nbsp; 1 Corinthians 10:16; this was called "the cup of blessing." The repast was usually closed by a fourth cup and psalms of praise, &nbsp;Psalm 136:1-26 &nbsp; 145:10 &nbsp; 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, &nbsp;Matthew 26:17 &nbsp; Mark 14:12 &nbsp; 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," &nbsp;John 13:29 &nbsp; 18:28 &nbsp; 19:14,31 . Compare &nbsp;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," &nbsp;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>

<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., &nbsp;Matthew 26:2; &nbsp;John 2:13,23; &nbsp;6:4; &nbsp;11:55; &nbsp;12:1; &nbsp;13:1; &nbsp;18:39; &nbsp;19:14; &nbsp;Acts 12:4; &nbsp;Hebrews 11:28; (II) by metonymy, (a) "the Paschal Supper," &nbsp;Matthew 26:18,19; &nbsp;Mark 14:16; &nbsp;Luke 22:8,13; (b) "the Paschal lamb," e.g., &nbsp;Mark 14:12 (cp. &nbsp; Exodus 12:21 ); &nbsp;Luke 22:7; (c) "Christ Himself," &nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:7 . </p>

<p> ''''' pas´ō ''''' - ''''' vẽr ''''' ( פּסח , <i> ''''' peṣaḥ ''''' </i> , from <i> ''''' pāṣaḥ ''''' </i> , "to pass" or "spring over" or "to spare" (&nbsp; Exodus 12:13 , &nbsp;Exodus 12:23 , &nbsp;Exodus 12:17; compare &nbsp;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 (&nbsp; 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 (&nbsp;Exodus 12:12 f; &nbsp; Exodus 13:2 , &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp; Exodus 12:1-23 ). </p> 3. Pesah Doroth: <p> This service was to be observed as an ordinance forever (&nbsp;Exodus 12:14 , &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 16:2; compare &nbsp;Ezekiel 45:22 ). (3), (6) and (7) disappeared entirely, and judging from &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Exodus 23:18; &nbsp;Exodus 34:25; &nbsp;Leviticus 7:12 ), independently perhaps of the fact that the Passover came in such close proximity with the Feast of Unleavened Bread (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Exodus 12:15 , &nbsp;Exodus 12:18; &nbsp;Exodus 13:6 , &nbsp;Exodus 13:7; &nbsp;Exodus 23:15; &nbsp;Exodus 34:18; &nbsp;Leviticus 23:6; &nbsp;Numbers 28:17 ). The eating of leavened bread is strictly prohibited, however, during the entire week under the penalty of <i> '''''kārēth''''' </i> , "excision" (&nbsp;Exodus 12:15 , &nbsp;Exodus 12:19 f; &nbsp; Exodus 13:3; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp; Deuteronomy 16:9 ) and of bringing the sheaf of the peace offering is spoken of as the morrow after the Sabbath (&nbsp;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 &nbsp; Exodus 13:11-13; &nbsp;Exodus 22:29 , &nbsp;Exodus 22:30; &nbsp;Exodus 23:19; &nbsp;Exodus 34:19 , &nbsp;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 &nbsp; Leviticus 23:8 (H) and &nbsp; Numbers 28:19 (P), nor in the omission of a specific reference to the holy convocation on the first day in the contexts of &nbsp; Deuteronomy 16:8 and &nbsp; 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 &nbsp;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 &nbsp;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) (&nbsp;Exodus 34:18-21 , &nbsp;Exodus 34:25 ) is said to subordinate the Passover to <i> '''''maccōth''''' </i> , the great feast of the Jehovistic history (JE) (&nbsp;Exodus 12:21-27 , &nbsp;Exodus 12:29-36 , &nbsp;Exodus 12:38 , &nbsp;Exodus 12:39; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp; 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 (&nbsp;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]] (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;1 Kings 9:25 = &nbsp; 2 Chronicles 8:13 ). The later prophets speak of appointed seasons for pilgrimages and sacrifices (compare &nbsp;Isaiah 1:12-14 ), and occasionally perhaps refer to a Passover celebration (compare &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;2 Kings 23:21; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp; Ezekiel 45:18 ). In post-exilic times it was probably observed more scrupulously than ever before (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;John 11:55; compare also &nbsp;John 2:13; &nbsp;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 &nbsp;Acts 12:3; &nbsp;Acts 20:6 ). [[Naturally]] the details were impressed on the minds of the people and lent themselves to symbolic and homiletic purposes (compare &nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:7; &nbsp;John 19:34-36 , where the paschal lamb is made to typify Jesus; and &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Luke 22:7; &nbsp;Matthew 26:17; &nbsp;Mark 14:12 ); while according to John, the Passover was to be eaten some time following the Last Supper (&nbsp;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 &nbsp; 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 &nbsp;Exodus 6:6 , &nbsp;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>