History of Passover: the Jewish Pesach Holiday
HISTORY OF PASSOVER
Sunset tonight, April 1, marks the beginning of Passover. Exodus 12 in the Hebrew Bible tells the story of Passover from the life of Moses.
Ten plagues were visited upon the Egyptian pharaoh (starring Yul Brynner in The Ten Commandments, though he was better in The King and I) to get his attention and prompt him to release the Children of Israel from bondage.
The final plague was the death of the firstborn son, visited upon the land by the Lord’s destroyer. The Jews were to smear the blood of a sacrificed lamb upon “the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses” so that the destroyer would “pass over” them unharmed. Pharaoh relented and released the Israelites. The Israelite slaves took the road out of Egypt. The Greek words for “road out” are Ex ‘odos, and by way of Latin, Exodus.
Seder of Passover
Passover Seder
In making their hasty exit, the Jews did not have an opportunity to let their bread rise, so, in commemoration, they celebrated the Passover Seder (“order”) meal with unleavened bread (matzo), bitter herbs, and roast lamb, all eaten in traveling garb.
The term Passover is often used interchangeably with the term Feast of Unleavened Bread, at least in St. Luke’s Gospel (Chapter 22:1), though the first-century Pharisees marked the seven-day feast as beginning the day after Passover. Nevertheless, only unleavened bread was eaten during the seven-day celebration following Passover. In present-day celebrations, all yeast is removed from Jewish homes during this time.
Passover as a Holy Day
Passover is one of the three Pilgrimage Festivals in the Jewish calendar – along with the Feast of Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles – and is a major holiday. Jews from all over the world return to Jerusalem for celebrations at the Temple. During Easter Week, which fell during Passover, the population of Jerusalem in Jesus’ time would have tripled, from about 50,000.
Passover and The Last Supper
The Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci. At the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan
Could Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples in the Upper Room have been a Passover meal? It seems likely from the New Testament Gospels, and the Epistles make it explicit. The Gospel of Mark chapter 14:12 says it was
“on the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread”
when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb. Some churches commemorate this meal by using unleavened bread for their Communion, “Lord’s Supper.”
The traditional Jewish greeting for this holiday is Pesach Sameach.
Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com
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