Some have taken the meaning of HQS, the root of noc, to be that of "passing through," and have referred its application here to the passage of the Red Sea. Hence the Vulgate has rendered n03 by transitus, Philo (Z)e Vit. Mosis, lib. iii, c. 29) by EiaiiaTi}pia, and Greg- ory of Nazianzum by Su'ijSacFig. Augustine takes the same view of the word ; as do also Von Bohlen and a few other modern critics. Jerome applies transitrts both to the passing over of the destroyer and the passing through the Red Sea (in Matt. xxvi). But the true sense of the Hebrew substantive is plainly indicated in Exod. xii, 27 ; and the best authorities are agreed that riDB never expresses "passing through,'' but that its primary meaning is "leaping over." Hence the verb is regularly used with the preposition h'S. But since, when we jump or step over anything, we do not tread upon it, the word has a secondary meaning, " to spare," or " to show mercy" (comp. Isa. xxxi, 5 with Exod. xii, 27). The Sept. has therefore used aKtTrd'^tiv in Exod. xii, 13; and Onkelos has rendered nOSTI^.'f, " the sacrifice of the Passover," by Cn n^';', "the sacrifice of mercy." In the same purport agree Theodotion, Symmachus, several of the fathers, and the best modern critics. Our own translators, by using the word " Passover," have made clear Exod. xii, 12, 23, and other passages, which are not intelligible in the Sept. nor in several other ver- sions. (See Biihr, SymboUk, ii, 627 ; Ewald, A Iterthilmer, p. 390; Gesenius, Thes. s. v. ; Drusius, Xotrn Majores, in Exod. xii, 27 ; Carpzov, App. Crit. p. 394.)
Some of the Church fathers,not knowing the Heb. sig- nification, have derived irdaxa from the Greek Traffxw, to suffer. Thus Chrysostom tells us, Trd<j\a. Xtyerai, on Tort iTra^iv 6 Xpirrroc inrep ijfiwv {llomil. v,in 1 Tim.) ; Irenaeus says: "A Moyse ostenditur Filius Dei,cujus et diem passionis non ignoravit, sed figuratim pronunciavit eum pasrha. nominans" (yl dv. Ilcer. iv, 22) ; Tertullian affirms, " Hanc solemnitatem — pn-ecanebat (sc. Moyses) et adjccit, Pascha esse Domini, id est, passionem Christi" (^Adv. Jndaos, c. x, s. f.). Chrysostom appears to avail himself of it for a paronomasia in the above passage, as in another place he formally states the true meaning: inrkpiiaaiQ tari ku^' ip).ti)vtiav to nc'taxa. Gregory of Nazianzum seems to do the same {Orat.xMi), since he elsewhere (as is stated above) explains ndaxa as — SidjSaaiQ (see Suicer, s. v.). Augustine, who took this latter view, has a passage which is worth quoting :
"Pascha, fratres, non sicutqnidnm existimant, Grnecnm nomen est, sed Hebrseuni ; oi)portuiiissime tiinion occunit in hoc nomine quaidam congruentia ntr.iruniqne lin2;ua- rum. Quia eniin jmli Gisece n-titrxfu' diciiur, ideo Pnsoha passio pntata est, velut hoc nomen a passione sit appella- tum ; in sua vero lingua, hoc er;t in Ilebra";!, P.ischa tranj^i- ttia dicitur ; propterea tunc piimuni Pascha celebnivit
populns Dei, quando ex ^gypto fugiente?, ruhrum mare mmsieiuut. Nunc ergo ii<,'ura ilia propheiica in veritate completa est, cum sicut ovis ad imiiiohmdum ducitur Christns, cujus sanguine illilis postibus nostris, id est, cnjus signo ciucis signatls frontibus nostris, a perditioue hujus sfficuli tanquam a captivitate vel inteiemplione ^gypti.'i liberaraur; et agimus sahiberrimum trausitum, cum a diabolo transimus ad Christum, et ab ifto instabili gfeculo ad ejus fuudatissimum reguum,C'ol.i, IS" {In Joan. Tract, iv).
II. Biblical Institution and Observance of the Pass- over (from the time of Moses to the Captivity). — The following are the principal passages in the Pentateuch relating to the Passover: Exod. xii, 1-51, in which there is a full account of its original institution and first observance in Egypt; Exod. xiii, 3-10, in which the unleavened bread is spoken of in connection with the sanctification of the first-born, but there is no men- tion of the paschal lamb; Exod. xxiii, 14-19, where, under the name of the feast of unleavened bread, it is lirst connected with the two other great annual festi- vals, and also with the Sabbath, and in which the pas- chal lamb is styled " My sacrifice ;" Exod. xxxiv, 18-26, in which the festival is brought into the same connec- tion, with immediate reference to the redemption of the first-born, and in which the words of Exod. xxiii, 18, regarding the paschal lamb, are repeated ; Lev. xxiii, 4-14, where it is mentioned in the same connection, the days of holy convocation are especially noticed, and the enactment is prospectively given respecting the offering of the first sheaf of harvest, with the offerings which were to accompany it, when the Israelites possessed the Promised Land; Numb. ix. 1-14. in which the divine word repeats the command for the observance of the Passover at the commencement of the second year after the Exodus, and in which the observance of the Pass- over in the second month, for those who could not par- ticipate in it at the regular time, is instituted ; Numb, xxviii, 16-25, where directions are given for the offer- ings which were to be made on each of the seven days of the festival; Deut. xvi, 1-6, where the command is prospectively given that the Passover, and the other great festivals, should be observed in the place which the Lord might choose in the Land of Promise, and where there appears to be an allusion to the Chagigah, or vol- untary peace-offerings. There are five distinct statutes on the Passover in the Pith and 13th chapters of Ex- odus (xii, 2-4, 5-20, 21-28, 42-51 ; xiii, 1-10).