2. The Passover as a note of time. — Twice in the Acts (12^ 211") we have ' the days of unleavened bread ' referred to as a note of time. No absolute certainty is attainable with reference to NT chrono- logy ; everything, therefore, that can shed light on it is to be welcomed. In 12^ we have the fact explicitly mentioned that it was the Passover time when the occuiTences there recorded took place ; but unfortunately that does not give us informa-
tion 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 disai>pears from view, leaving us henceforth dependent on uncertain tradition for all further knowledge of his career. The un- fortunate translation of iJ-tra rb wdaxa in AV as 'after Easter' is an obvious anachronism, unless, indeed, 'Kaster' was in the 16th cent, used indis- criminately for the Jewish and the Christian Pasch. Ac 2U'''- 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).
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 bre.ad ' as a signilicant point in the calendar, just as we speak of ' after Chiistmas' or ' at Christmas.' Ordinary dates dwindle into insignihcance beside these fixed, outstanding seasons. Similarly we find the other prim.ary .Jewish festivals (Tabernacles and Pentecost) used in the same way — Jn 7- (Tabernacles), Ac 2' 20'", 1 Co 16* (Pentecost).
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 preserveil 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 ? W^e 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,' Lk 22-", 1 Co 11'-^). The greatest difl'erence, 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 primi- tive times.
But ' the present Passover liturgy contains com- paratively very few relics from New Testament times ' (A. Edersheim, The Temple : its Ministry and Services as they were at the Time of Jesus C/wJsi, London, n.d., p. 231). Perhaps it is more correct to say that the present Passover liturgy contains large expansions of and additions to tlie 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 break- up and passing away of the old order to give place to a new. The transformation of Passover from a lutg to a purely domestic festival was not so sudden as might at first appear. Even before the destruc- tion 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 frame- work of tlie ritual to-day was thei'e from the first. That ritual briefly is as follows. The search for leaven on the eve of Passover with quaint formulse ushers in the feast. The festival commences with
PASSOVKK
PASSU VEK
133
a sanctilication ; then comes the first cup of wine ; tlie ajMkomen (half a mazzah, which is re- served to be eaten at the close) is set aside ; the question is asked, ' Why is this night distinguished from all other niphts ? ' to which a long resjionse is given ; this is followed by the lirst part ot Hallel (I'ss 113, 114), the second cup of wine, washing of the hands ; the unleavened bread (mazzOth) is eaten with bitter herbs (horse-radish) ; next conies Uillel's ceremony (eating a piece of horseradish jilaced between two pieces ot unleavened bread) ; the aphikomen is eaten, grace after meals is said with considerable additions ; then there is the third cup of wine and the opening of the door ; Hallel is resumed (Pss 115-1 IS) ; Ps 136 is recited with large expansions, followed by the fourth cup of wine and prayer for the Divine acceptance of the service ; 'At/ir hu', an impassioned song praj'ing for the rebuilding of the Temple, brings all to a close.