RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Paschal Controversies Passover
PASSOVER : One of the three principal festivals of ancient Israel. The name (Hebr. pesah; Aram. pisha'; Gk. pascha) is given to the lamb which was
offered as an immunity-sacrifice at
In the the opening of the feast; for the
Hexateuch. verb pasah signifies a passing over
(as in Isa. xxxi. 5). Everywhere in the Bible this festival is referred to the Exodus. At that time, by divine command, the lamb was slaughtered in a certain manner and then eaten; and by this means the people were spared from the destroying angel who slew the first-born of the Egyptians (Ex. xii. ). The annual repetition of the festival was enjoined. The eating of unleavened bread (mazzoth) for seven days was an integral part of this memorial feast, which was therefore frequently called the feast of unleavened bread. Definite rules for the festival appear in all the collections of laws in the Pentateuch. In the ancient Covenant Code it appears as one of the three great festivals of the pilgrimage (Ex. xxiii. 15), and likewise in Ex. xxxiv. 18, 25. The form and significance of the celebration appear more clearly in the narrative of JE (Ex. xii. 21-27, xiii. 3-16) and the necessary rules for the Passover and Mazzoth festivals are given in Deuteronomy also (xvi. 1-8, 16, 17) ; to the Holiness Code belong brief prescriptions (Lev. xxiii. 5-8 and probably 9-14), but the most explicit regulations are those of the Priest Code in Ex. xii. 1-20, 43-50. To these may be added the later rules in Num. ix. 10-14, xxviii. 16-25). In P it is stated that in the month of the Exodus which, because of this event, shall be counted the first month of the year (Ex. xii. 2), every father of a family must, on the tenth day, choose from among his sheep or goats, a male lamb one year old and without blemish. This he shall kill on the fourteenth day, " between two evenings," an ancient and obscure term. Samaritans and Keraites understood the twilight; the Pharisees, however, according to later usage, the time between three in the afternoon and sunset. In Egypt, the blood of the lamb was smeared on the posts and lintel of the door of the house as a sign for the destroying angel to pass ' by. The lamb itself was roasted, not boiled; and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. No bone was to be broken and no part could be carried from the house or kept for the next day, wherefore several small families united for the repast. This was required to be eaten quickly, with girded loins, staff in hand, and shoes on the feet (xii. 11). Later, this regulation was considered to refer only to the first Passover; but the Samaritans observe the usage at the present day. Only those who were circumcised could partake of the repast (xii. 43 sqq.) . Whoever was prevented from so doing, either by a journey or byjuncleanness (cf. Num. ix. 9-11), must observe the sacrifice on the fourteenth day of the second month. This sacrificial meal was the beginning of the seven-day festival of unleavened bread. From the fifteenth to the twenty-first day, to eat anything leavened was forbidden under penalty of being cut off from the community. The first and seventh days were special holidays on which a solemn assembly took place and no work was done (Ex. xii. 14 sqq.; Lev. xxiii. 1 sqq.). It VIII.— 24
is doubtful whether the offering of the first sheaves of the harvest formed part of the paschal rite.
A comparison of the references in the various legal and historical sources shows their agreement with the fact that the Passover and Mazzoth festivals were of Mosaic origin and were intended to remind the people of the Exodus. The significance of the unleavened bread is shown more The Legal clearly in JE than in P, since in the and the former the lack of leaven is attributed Historical to the hasty departure from Egypt Sources. (Ex. xii. 34, 39), while in P it seems to be a ritual requirement (Ex. xii. 8, 15-20). There is also general agreement that the celebration was to be held in the central sanctuary of Yahweh. Ex. xviii. 15 and xxxiv. 20 name this festival as one of the three pilgrimage festivals, whereat all the male members of the family were to appear, but not with empty hands. This refers to voluntary private offerings (Deut. xvi. 17; cf. 10). On the other hand, Lev. xxiii. 8 (H) and Num. xxviii. 19 sqq. (P) speak of sacrifices of the community offered by the priests; and, according to R. Schaefer (Das Passah-Mazzoth-Fest, p. 267, Diisseldorf, 1900), the oldest literary prophets testify to the existence of an elaborate sacrificial service. Only P calls the month of the Passover the first of the year, which, however, does not warrant the conclusion that the Hebrews first began their year in the spring at the time of exile (Wellhausen) . In the historical books, only a few Passovers are expressly mentioned. The first important celebration took place in Canaan, according to Josh. v. 10, immediately after the entry into the land and after everyone had been circumcised in the fields of the Jordan, near Jericho. /Two other Passovers are especially mentioned. Of one during the reign of Hezekiah (II Chron. xxx. 26), it is narrated that since the days of Solomon no such festival had been celebrated in Jerusalem. II Chron. xxx. 5 asserts that the requirements of the law were not strictly observed, even on this occasion, as the second month was chosen instead of the first, because of delay in the preparations. The supplementary festival of seven days was another irregularity. This accounts for the statement of the Chronicler, touching the Passover of the eighteenth year of Josiah, that such a festival had not been held since the time of Samuel. According to the parallel passage in II Kings xxiii. 21 sqq., it should be understood that no one had conformed so perfectly to the law. In the Passover of Hezekiah, the Levites did the slaying, and at the first Passover after the exile they sacrificed for the whole community (Ezra vi. 19 sqq.).
As to the origin of the Passover, Wellhausen sees
in it nothing more than a thanksgiving festival of
the shepherds, whereat they sacrificed first-born
lambs. He believes that the tradition
Origin and of the killing of the first-born of the
Significance. Egyptians grew out of this usage, also
that the feast of unleavened bread is
independent of the Passover, and was adopted in
Canaan as a harvest festival only because, during
the harvest, the people were too busy to leaven their
bread. The historical relation to the events of the
Passover Pastoral Life