the blessing over them, distributes them all round, and they eat them, not reclining. The master then takes a piece from the undermost cake and some of the bitter herbs, and cats them in a reclining position, saying, "In remembrance of the Temple according to Ilillel! Thus Hillcl did at the time when the Temple still ex- isted. He wrapped up unleavened cakes with bitter herbs and ate them together, in order to perform what is said. It shall be eaten with unleavened cakes and bitter herbs." This concludes the first part of the cer- emony, and the supper ("Tl" "(H^C) is now served. After the supper the master takes the half cake, which has been concealed (")132J) for the after-dish ("|'2ip"'ES), eats thereof the size of an olive, and gives each one of the household a similar piece; whereupon (~^3) the third cup is filled, the usual grace after meals is said, the blessing over the fruit of the vine is pronounced, and the third cup drunk in a reclining position. A cup of wine is now poured out for the jirophet Elijah, when profound silence ensues for a few seconds; then the door is opened for this harbinger of the Messiah to enter, and the following passages of Scripture are re- cited at the moment when he is expected to make his appearance: "Pour out tliy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name, for they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his dwelling-place (Psa. Ixxix, C, 7). Pour out tliine indignation upon them, and cause thy fierce anger to overtake them-, pursue them in wrath, and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord" (Lam. iii, GO). The fourth cup is then filled and the llalld is finished, pieces are recited whicli re- count the power and goodness of God, the wonderful things which he wrought at midnight in Egypt, and in connection with the Passover; the blessing is pro- noimced over the fourth cup, which is drunk, and after which the following last blessing is said: "Blessed art thou, O Lord our (iod, King of the universe, for the vine and for the fruit of the vine, and for the increase of the field, and for that desirable good and broad land wherein thou hast pleasure, and which thou hast given to our forefathers as an inheritance, to eat of its fruit and be satisfied with its goodness. Have mercy, O Lord our God, on Israel thy people, on Jerusalem thy city, on Zion the habitation of thy glory, on thine altar. Rebuild Jerusalem, the holy city, speedily in our days; bring us back to it ; cause us to rejoice in it, that we may eat its fruit, be satisfied with its goodness, and we shall bless thee for it in holiness and purity. Cause us to rejoice on this day, the feast of unleavened bread, for thou, O Lord, art good and gracious to all. We will therefore praise thee for the land aiul the fruit of the vine. Blessed art thou, O Lord, for the land and for the fruit of the vine!" The whole is concluded with the singing of the soul-stirring Paschal Hymn :
"He is mighty, He will rebuild his house speedily; Quickly, quickly in our diiys, si)eedily, God biiild, God build, O build thy house speedily," etc.
The same service is gone through the following even- ing, as the Jews have doubled the days of holy convo- cation. In the morning and evening of the festive week the Jews resort to the synagogue and recite the prayers a]ipointed for the feasts. The lessons from the law and ])rophets read on the days of holy convoca- tions, as well as on the middle days of the festival, are given in the article Haphtarah. It must be re- marked that, in accordance with the injunction in Lev. xxiii, 10, 11, 15, l(i, the Jews to the present day begin to count the forty-nine days until Pentecost at the con- clusion of the second evening's service, when they pro- nounce the following benediclion: "Blessed art thou, O Lord our (iod. King of the universe, who hast sanc- tified us with thy commandments, and has enjoined us to count the omer! This day is the first day of the omer. May it please thee, O Lord our (iod, and the God of our fathers, to rebuild the sanctuarv- speedily iu
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our days, and give us our portion in thy law !" There are many curious particulars in the mode iu which the modern Jews observe this festival to be found in Bux- torf, Syn. Jucl. c. xviii, xix ; Pieart, Cerem. Relifjieuses, vol. i: Mill, The British Jews (Lond. 1853); Stauben, Scenes de la vie Juive en Alsace (Paris, 18G0).
V. Christ's last Passover. — Whether or not the meal at which our Lord instituted the sacrament of the Eu- charist was the paschal supper according to the law is a question of great difficulty. No point in the Gospel historj' has been more disputed. See Paschal Co.n-
TUOVEHSV.
1. Statement of the Case. — (1.) If we had nothing to guide us but the first three Gospels, no doubt of tlie kind could well be raised, though tlie narratives may not be free from difficulties in themselves. We tind them speaking, in accordance with Jewish usage, of the day of the supper as that on which " the passover must be killed," and as ''the first day of unleavened bread" (Matt, xxvi, 17; Mark xiv, 12; Luke xxii, 7). (Jose- phus in like manner calls the 14th of Nisan the first day of unleavened bread [^War, v, 3, 1] ; and he speaks of the festival of the Passover as lasting eight days [ib. ii, 15, 1]. But he elsewhere calls the 15th of Nisan "the commencement of the feast of unleavened bread" \_A?it. iii, 10, 5]. Either mode of speaking was evidently allowable : in one case regarding it as a matter of fact that the eating of unleavened bread began on the 14th, and in the other distinguishing the feast of unleavened bread, lasting from the first day of holy convocation to the concluding one, from the paschal meal.) Each of the three evangelists relates that the use of the guest- chamber was secured iu the manner usual with those who came from a distance to keep the festival. Each states that •' they made ready the Passover," and that, when the evening was come, our Lord, taking the place of the head of tlie family, sat down with the twelve. He himself distinctly calls the meal " this Passover" (Luke xxii, 15, 16). After a thanksgiving, he passes round the first cup of wine (ver. 17), and, when the sup- per is ended, the usual "cup of blessing" (comp. ver. 20 ; 1 Cor. x, 16 ; xi, 25). A hymn is then sung (Matt. xxvi, 30 ; Mark xiv, 26), which it is reasonable to sup- pose was the last part of the Hallel.