(c.) John xviii, 28. The Jews refused to enter the prsetorium lest they should be defiled, and so disquali- fied from eating the passover. Neander and others deny that this passage can possibly refer to anything but the paschal supper. But it is alleged tliat the words 'iva (pdyiom ro irciffxa may either be taken in a general sense, as meaning "that they might go on
keeping the Passover," or that to ndtrxa may be un- derstood specifically to denote the Chagigah. That it might be so used is rendered probable by Luke xxii, 1 ; and the Hebrew word which it represents (HOB) evi- dently refers equally to the victims for the Chagigah and the paschal lamb (Deut. xvi, 2), where it is com- manded that the passover should be sacrificed " of the flock and the herd." In the plural it is used in the same manner (2 Chron. xxxv, 7, 9). It is moreover to be kept in view that the passover might be eaten by those who had incurred a degree of legal impurity, and that this was not the case in respect to the Chagigah. (See 2 Chron. xxx, 17 ; also Pesachim, vii, 4, with Mai- monides's note.) Joseph appears not to have partici- pated in the scruple of the other rulers, as he entered the praetorium to beg the body of Jesus (Mark xv, 43). Lightfoot (Ex. Heb. in loc.) goes so far as to draw an argument in favor of the 14th being the day of the supper from the very text in question. He says that the slight defilement incurred by entering a Gentile house, had the Jews merely intended to eat the supper in the evening, might have been done away in good time by mere ablution ; but that as the festival had act- ually commenced, and they were probably just about to eat the Chagigah, they could not resort even to such a simple mode of purification. Dr. Fairbairn takes the expression " that they might eat the passover" in its limited sense, and supposes that these Jews, in their determined hatred, were willing to put off the meal to the verge of, or even beyond, the legal time {Ilerm. Manual, p. 341).
In opposition to this view it may be argued, (i.) That according to the IMishna {Pesach. vi, 4) the flesh of these voluntary offerings might be eaten at any time within two days and one night; and even this might be postponed for individuals, (ii.) By the same pas- sage, since the 14th of Nisan fell in that year on a working-day, these sacrifices might have been brought at the same time with the paschal lamb, and the sacri- ficial meal must already have been eaten by many of the Jews. In this case the expression of the evangel- ist is too general, and the Sanhedrim would certainly have sent to the heathen procurator such delegates as had no further reason to fear tlie uncleanness thus con- tracted, (iii.) Since the paschal lamb must be slain ia the Temple by those who offered it, this, according to the prescribed regulations, was done from the first to the fifth hour, and could be done only by those who were clean ; such uncleanness continuing until even- ing was a hinderance, and would certainly be avoided in the general fear of an impurity, which would disturb this festival (comp. Llicke, Op. eit. 725). (iv.) Again, the mode of speech in Deut. xvi, 2, " Thou shalt sacri- fice the passover," cannot prove anj' wider meaning of the words "eat the passover" than the common one, least of all a technical or short use of the term Pascha {irdaxa) itself for the customary thank-offerings alone, to the exclusion of the jiaschal lamb ; and indeed the effect of the loose use of these words in the second verse is completely removed by the strict use of the same phrase in the sixth, (v.) In the same manner the ar- gument from 2 Chron. xxx, 22 is without force, since "eating throughout the feast" (ver. 22) is distinguished clearly enough from "eating the passover" (ver. 18).
(d.) John xix, 14. "The preparation of the Pass- over" at first sight would seem as if it must be the preparation for the Passover on the 14th, a time set apart for making read}' for the paschal week and for the paschal supper in particular. It is naturally so un- derstood by those who advocate the notion that the last supper was eaten on the 13th. But they who take the opposite view affirm tliat, though there was a regidar " preparation" for the Sabbath, there is no mention of any "preparation" for the festivals (Bochart, Keland, Tholuck, Hengstenberg). The word irapaaKivi] is expressly explained by irpoadjilSaTOv (Mark xv, 42:
PASSOVER
746
PASSOVER
Lachmann reads vpog act(3i3aTov). It seems to be essentially connected with the Sabbath itself (John xix, 31). It cannot, however, be denied that the days of holy convocation are sometimes designated in the O. T. simply as Sabbaths (Lev. xvi, 31 ; xxiii, 11, 32). It is therefore not quite impossible that the language of the Gospels considered by itself might refer to them. There is no mention whatever of the preparation for the Sabbath in the O. T., but it is mentioned bj' Josephus (Ant. xvi, 6, 2), and it would seem from him that the time of preparation formally commenced at the ninth hour of the sixth day of the week. The Trpoffo/S/Sarov is named in Judith viii, G as one of the times on which devout Jews suspended their fasts. It was called by the rabbins XPinil^', quia est ri2d ^"jV (Buxtorf, Lex. Talin. col. iOoStj. Tlie phrase in John xix, 14 may thus be understood as the preparation of tlic Sabbath which fell in the Passover week. This mode of taking the ex- pression seems to be justified by Ignatius, who calls the Sabbath which occurred in the festival au^iiiarov rov ■Kciaxu (.liP' ud riiil. 13), and by Socrates, who calls it aajijiaTov Trig ioprric (JJist. Kcdes. v, 22). If these arguments are a(lmitted, the day of tlie preparation mentioned in the Gospels might have fallen on the day of holy convocation, the 15th of Nisan. (Comp. Keland, iv, 3, 11 ; Gabler, Op. cit. 445 sq. ; Baur, Gollesd. Verfass. ii, 227 ; Tholuck, John, p. 300 sq. ; Jahn, A rchceol. iii, 314; Guericke, in the Neiies krit. Journ. dei- Theol. iii, 257 sq. ; Olshauscn, Bibl. Com. ii, 417 sq. ; Hengsten- berg, in the Evang. Kirchenzeit. 1838, No. 98 sq. ; Kern, in tlie Tiihinjer Zeitschr. 1836, iii, 7 sq. ; Crusius, John ii, 138, 148 ; Wieseler, Chron. Si/nops. p. 339 sq. ; Ebrard, on the Ecang. Joh. p. 42 sq. ; Von Aramer, Leben Jesu iii, 295, 411 sq.)