Levítico 23

Levítico 23

William MacDonald - Notes on Leviticus 23 The religious calendar of Israel now becomes the subject of God’s legislation. The seventh clay, or sabbath (Lev 23:3), was to be a day of rest from labor. This was the only weekly holy day. The Passover (Lev 23:5) was held on the 14th day of the first month, Nisan (or Abib). It commemorated Israel’s redemption from slavery in Egypt. The Passover lamb was a type of Christ, the Lamb of God, our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7), whose blood was shed to redeem us from slavery to sin. The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lev 23:6) occurred in connection with the Passover. It extended over a period of seven days, beginning with the day after Passover—i.e., from the 15th of Nisan to the 21st. The names of these two feasts are often used interchangeably. During this time the Jews were required to put away all leaven from their households. In Scripture, leaven speaks of sin. The feast pictures a life from which the leaven of malice and wickedness has been put away, and a life which is characterized by the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Cor. 5:8). Even today the Jews eat unleavened bread during this feast. The bread is called matzo. The preparation of matzo involves piercing the bread, and in the process of baking it becomes striped. This unleavened bread may speak of the sinless Messiah. He was pierced for us, and by His stripes we are healed. The presentation of a wave sheaf of barley took place on the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (the day after the sabbath—i.e., the first clay of the week). This is known as the Feast of Firstfruits (Lev 23:10). It marked the beginning of the barley harvest, the first grain of the year. A sheaf of barley was waved before the Lord in thanksgiving for the harvest. A burnt offering and a meal offering were also presented. This first harvest was viewed as the promise of the larger harvest to come. This pictures Christ in resurrection—“Christ . . , the firstfruits of those who are asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20 NASB). His resurrection is the guarantee that all who put their faith in Him will also gain immortality through resurrection. The Feast of Weeks, Shavout, or Pentecost (a Greek word meaning “fifty”) was held fifty days after the Passover Sabbath. It was a harvest festival thanking God for the beginning of the wheat harvest. The firstfruits of the wheat harvest were presented at this time (Lev 23:17), along with a burnt offering, meal offering, drink offering, and peace offering. According to Jewish tradition, Moses received the Law on this day of the year. The Feast is typical of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, when the church was brought into existence. The wave offering consisted of two loaves of bread made from the freshly reaped wheat. (This was the only offering that was made with leaven.) These loaves represent, in type, the Jews and the Gentiles made into “one new man in Christ” (Eph. 2:15). After Pentecost there was a long interval, about four months, before there was another feast. This span of time may picture the present church age, in which we eagerly await the return of our Savior. The Feast of Trumpets (Lev 23:23-25) took place on the first day of the seventh month. The blowing of trumpets called the sons of Israel together for a very solemn assembly. At this time there was a period of 10 days for self-examination and repentance, leading up to the Day of Atonement. It typifies the time when Israel will be regathered to the land prior to her national repentance. This was the first day of the civil year, today called Rosh Hashanah. Some see this feast as picturing another gathering as well—that is, the gathering of the saints to meet the Lord in the air at the Rapture. The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur (Lev 23:26-32), occurring on the tenth day of the seventh month, has been described in detail in chapter 16. It prefigures the national repentance of Israel, when a believing remnant will turn to the Messiah and be forgiven (Zech. 12:10; 13:1). In almost every verse dealing with the Day of Atonement, God repeats the command to do no work. The only person who was to be active on this day was the high priest. The Lord reinforced the charge by threatening to destroy any person who violated it. This is because the salvation which our High Priest obtained for us was “not on the basis of deeds which we have done” (Titus 3:5). There can be no human works involved in the business of removing our sins. Christ’s work and His alone is the source of eternal salvation. To “afflict your souls” (Lev 23:27, 29) means to fast. Even today Jews observe the day as a time for fasting and prayer. Although the Day of Atonement is listed among the feasts of Jehovah, it was actually a time for fasting rather than feasting. However, after the sin question was settled, there came a time of rejoicing in the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles, Succoth (Lev 23:33-44), began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. For seven days the Israelites dwelt in booths (Lev 23:42). It pictured the final rest and final harvest, when Israel will be dwelling securely in the land, during the Millennium. This feast is also called the Feast of Ingathering (Exod. 23:16). It was associated with harvesting. In fact several of the feasts mentioned in this chapter have to do with harvesting. “The Jewish people built booth-like structures and lived in them during this feast as a reminder of the temporary dwellings the Israelites had in the wilderness. Even today many Jewish people build open-roofed, three-sided huts for this festival. They decorate them with tree boughs and autumn fruits to remind them of harvest. “Everyone who was able came up to Jerusalem for this harvest festival every year. The Temple worship for the holiday included the ritual pouring of water from the Pool of Siloam, symbolic of the prayers for the winter rains. It was at this time that Jesus cried out, ‘… If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink’ (John 7:37-38). “After Israel’s final day of atonement, the Feast of Booths will be celebrated again in Jerusalem (Zech. 14:16).”51 One of the things the Lord sought to teach His people through the feasts was the close association between the spiritual and the physical aspects of life. Times of bounty and blessing were to be times of rejoicing before the Lord. The Lord was portrayed to them as the One who abundantly provided for their daily needs. Their response as a nation to His goodness found expression in the festivals connected with the harvest. Notice the repetition of the commandment that the Israelites were to do no servile work on these solemn occasions (Lev 23:3, 7, 8, 21, 25, 28, 30, 31, 35, 36). Leviticus 23:4 'These are the appointed times of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them. Lev 23:2,37 Ex 23:14 Leviticus 23 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passage: Exodus 23:14+ “Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. ISRAEL'S ANNUAL FEASTS "SACRED TIME OUTS" KJV - These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. Appointed times of the LORD - "Here again the feasts are called the feasts of the Lord, because he appointed them. Jeroboam's feast, which he devised of his own heart (1Ki 12:33), was an affront to God, and a reproach upon the people." Appointed times (04150)see notes above on moed Kevin Williams comments that…These appointed times of the Lord are important for many reasons. To begin with, they are part of a national system of “time-outs.” Together, they provide weekly, monthly, and yearly occasions to rest from the routines and common work of daily life. The Provider of Israel designed these “time-outs” and appointed times for rest, reflection, and worship. They are sacred convocations that call the people of God together not only in the grandeur and majesty of the temple, but also in the quiet shelter and simplicity of every home of the land. Together, these appointed times form a system of remembrance. The appointed times of the Lord give every household, whether rich occasions are used to retell stories of Jewish life and origins, these holidays provide a panorama of history that has strong implications for all the families of the earth. Seen individually and together, these feasts paint a compelling picture of the past, present, and future work of a Messiah Who is the source of life and hope and peace for all the nations of the world. (The Holidays of God - Radio Bible Class) The Spring Feasts consisted of… 1) Passover (Pesach) (See Study of NT word for Passover (3957) pascha) 2) Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot) 3) Firstfruits (HaBikkurim) 4) Pentecost (Shavuot) The Fall Feasts consisted of… 5) Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) 6) Atonement (Yom Kippur) 7) Tabernacles (Sukkot) These seven (the number of "completion") annual holidays are honored by Orthodox, Conservative, Reformed Jewish communities the world over. The second group of Fall Feasts are separated from the Spring Feasts by a four-month period. The first four feasts foreshadow truths concerning this present Gospel age. The last three foreshadow blessings in store for Israel. The first four are historic; the last three, prophetic. See also Discovery House Booklets The Holidays Of God: The Fall Feasts The Holidays Of God: The Spring Feasts Henry Morris describes the prophetic significance of the feasts… Many commentators, ancient and modern, have noted that these seven annual "feasts [or religious festivals] of Jehovah" not only had spiritual value to the Israelites who observed them, but also gave prophetic witness to God's great redemptive work. (1) Feast of the Passover (Leviticus 23:5) testifies of the shedding of the blood of the Lamb of God. "Christ our Passover… sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7). (2) Feast of the Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6-8) speaks of the Lord's supper which would be instituted by Him on the night of the Passover and would serve to remind His followers to walk in communion with Him. "Therefore let us keep the feast,… with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:8). (3) Feast of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9-14) foreshadows the coming resurrection and restoration. "Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming" (1 Corinthians 15:23). (4) Feast of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-22) was fulfilled in the descent of the Holy Spirit on the first body of Christian believers after Christ's ascension, testifying to the world "that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). (5) Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25) is separated by a long period of time from the first four festivals and promises that someday "the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven… with the trump of God," when "the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible" (1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 15:52). (6) Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32) testifies of the certain judgments to come--on Israel, on the nations, on believers and on the lost--when complete separation between unforgiven sinners and perfected saints will be established forever (note the two goats in Leviticus 16, the chapter giving the details of this observance). (7) Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:33-43) speaks of the coming eternal rest in the Holy City when "the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people" (Revelation 21:3). (Defender's Study Bible Note on Leviticus 23:4) Another resource - The links to the Jewish holidays below add some not in the classic "7" and are very interesting as they emphasize the Jewish perspective more than other resources. Each of the holidays below include Scripture, modern Jewish practices and Messianic implications. Jewish Holidays - main page Holiday 2018 2019 Purim March 3 March 21 Pesach (Passover) March 31 April 20 Unleavened Bread April 1-7 April 21-27 First Fruits April 7 April 21 Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) April 12 May 2 Yom Ha-Atzma’ut (Independence Day) April 19 May 9 Yom Yerushalim (Jerusalem Day) May 13 June 2 Shavuot (Weeks) May 20-21 June 9-10 Tisha B’Av July 22 August 11 Rosh HaShanah (Feast of Trumpets) Sept 10-11 Sept 21-22 Yom Kipper (Day of Atonement) Sept 19 Sept 30 Sukkot (Tabernacles) Sept 24-30 October 5-11 Simchat Torah October 2 October 13 Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication) Dec 3-10 Dec 13-20 THE SEVEN GREAT FEASTS OF ISRAEL THESE FEASTS HAVE BEEN FULFILLED IN MESSIAH'S FIRST COMING THESE FEASTS WILL BE FULFILLED IN MESSIAH'S SECOND COMING SPRING FEASTS FALL FEASTS 1st Month = Nisan Festival of Passover (Pesach) 3rd Month = Sivan Feast of Pentecost I N T E R L U D E 7th Month = Tishri Festival of Booths (Tabernacles) (Sukkot) Passover Pesach Unleavened Bread First Fruits (Habikkurim) (Reshit Katzir) Feast of Weeks Festival of the Harvest of the First Fruits (Shavuot) (Picture) Feast of Trumpets Day of Atonement Feast of Booths Lamb's blood on Door Ex 12:6-7+ Purging Leaven (Sin) Wave Offering (Promise of Harvest to come) (Usually Barley) Wave Offering of two loaves of leavened bread (promise of harvest to come) Trumpet Blown - A Holy Convocation Atonement shall be made to cleanse you Lev 16:30+ Celebrates harvest, memorial of God's care in wilderness 1st Month, 14th Day 1st Month, 15th Day (1st & 8th are Sabbath) Day after Sabbath 50 Days after first fruits 7th Month, 1st Day (A Sabbath) 7th Month, 10th Day (A Sabbath) 7th Mo, 15th Day 7 Days; Convocation on 8th Day Lev 23:33-44 (1st & 8th are Sabbath) Christ our Passover has been sacrificed Clean out the old leaven… just as you are in fact unleavened Christ has been raised… the first fruits Promise of the Spirit, Mystery of Church - Jews and Gentiles in one body Regathering of Israel before final day of atonement Jeremiah 32:37-41+ Israel repents and looks to Christ in one day Zech 12:10+ Zech 13:1+ Zech 14:9+ All families come to Jerusalem for Feast of Booths Zech 14:16-19+ 1 Cor 5:7+ 1 Cor 5:7-8+ 1 Cor 15:20-23+ Acts 2:1-4, 5-47+ 1 Cor 12:13+ Eph 2:11-12+ Ezekiel 36:24+ Ezekiel 36:25-27+ Heb 9-10 Ro 11:25-29+ Ezekiel 36:28+ Source: Believer's Study Bible LEVITICUS 23:4 - God provides rhythms for our lives: wakefulness and sleep each day, work and rest each week. One way he shaped the Jews into a “holy nation” was by giving them an annual pattern of festivals. The early Christians celebrated the Feasts of the Nativity (Christmas) and the Resurrection (Easter). Advent and Lent were later added as periods of preparation, and still later came the Feasts (and seasons) of Epiphany and Pentecost. My worship life is set within an annual cycle that reflects the story of Christ: birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension and empowerment. My devotions, regular in time and place, become enriched by the dynamic rhythms of anticipation and celebration, of repentance and grace, of longing and joy. Such patterns remind us that our lives are shaped by his life, our stories by his story. REFLECT: How might the Christian calendar provide a rhythm to your spiritual life in the coming year? Bobby Gross Cyril Hocking - THE FEASTS OF THE LORD ALL THE FEASTS of this chapter, except the day of atonement, were to be joyous: on that occasion “ye shall afflict your souls”, as the removal of their sin was being emphasised, v. 27. All the feasts pointed forward. They are: 1. Passover, v. 5. It was a constant reminder of redemption; Israel had been brought out of bondage. Here, it is to Christ our Passover, who was to be sacrificed for us, we are pointed. It is with the Lamb all commences. Following immediately was 2. Unleavened bread, vv. 6–8. All leaven was “put away” from the house for seven days. Deliverance from bondage is to issue in holiness. Today, God’s people are to put away the leaven of evil from their lives, 1 Cor. 5:7–8. The demand is for a holy life in keeping with the sacrifice of Christ. 3. Firstfruits, vv. 9–14. This could only be observed in the land. Bringing the first fruits spoke of gratitude, and a realization that all belonged to God. It was the guarantee that later there would be the full reaping. The resurrection of Christ is before us, “the firstfruits of them that are asleep”, 1 Cor. 15:20, 23 R.V.; cf. John 14:19. He will soon raise the remainder. 4. Weeks, vv. 15–22. This was held on the fiftieth day after firstfruits, in Greek known as Pentecost, see Acts 2:1 R.V. marg. Two leavened wave-loaves were offered. It was at Pentecost that the Church was born, the Spirit was poured forth, and Jew and Gentile were brought together in one body. 5. Trumpets, vv. 23–25. At the sound of trumpets the people came together, and offered special sacrifices. We listen for the trumpet sound gathering the church when the Lord returns, “and so shall we ever be with the Lord”, 1 Thess. 4:17. When the Son of Man later returns in glory Israel will be gathered, “with a great sound of a trumpet”, Matt. 24:31. 6. Atonement, vv. 26–32. Here Israel mourned for her sins, as they are to do uniquely when “they look upon me whom they pierced”, Zech. 12:10. But this leads to joy in the 7. Feast of Tabernacles, vv. 33–36, 39–43. Joy at last replaces all sorrow. The Lord reigns over the whole earth, Zech. 14:16. All these feasts speak of Christ, and God’s programme through Him. Leviticus 23:5 'In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the LORD'S Passover. Ex 12:2-14,18 Ex 13:3-10 Ex 23:15 Nu 9:2-7 Nu 28:16 Dt 16:1-8 Jos 5:10 2Chr 35:18,19 Mt 26:17 Mk 14:12 Lk 22:7 1Co 5:7,8 Leviticus 23 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries THE LORD'S PASSOVER: FEAST OF DELIVERANCE (Pesach) Leviticus 23:5ff In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the LORD'S Passover - This is the first of the 7 major feasts of Israel and one of 4 Spring feasts. Bush comments that "Although moons, which began with the new moon, cannot, with perfect accuracy, be accommodated to our months, the first month of the Hebrew year must always have fallen within the month of April. The Passover, it is well known, was kept in remembrance of the exodus from Egypt. The etymology of the term, and the occasion and circumstances of the institution have already been dwelt upon in our Notes on Ex. 12. We shall consequently be spared the necessity of any thing more than a general sketch of the observance of this feast. On the eve of the 14th day of the month (Abib or Nisan) all leaven was removed from their dwellings, so that nothing might be seen of it during the week; a circumstance respecting which the Jews are very scrupulous even at this day. Previously to the commencement of the feast, on the tenth, the master of a family set apart a ram or a goat of a year old, usually the former, which he slew on the fourteenth, ‘between the two evenings,’ before the altar; but in Egypt, where the event occurred which the Passover celebrated, the blood was sprinkled on the post of the door. The ram or kid was roasted whole, with two spits thrust through it, the one lengthwise, the other transversely, crossing the longitudinal one near the fore legs, so that the animal was, in a manner, crucified. The oven in which it was roasted was the circular pit in the floor [ground], which is still commonly used in the East. The restriction that it was to be roasted, not boiled or eaten raw, is thought to be levelled at some idolatrous forms of sacrifice-feasting. Thus roasted, the Paschal Lamb was served up with a salad of wild and bitter herbs, and with the flesh of other sacrifices (peace-offerings), which are mentioned in Deut. 16:2–6. Not fewer than ten, nor more than twenty persons were admitted to these sacred feasts, which were, at first, eaten in Egypt with loins girt about, with sandals on the feet, and with all the preparations for an immediate journey. But this does not appear to have been the case at any subsequent period. The command, however, not to break a bone of the offering, which was given in consequence of the people going in such haste (as they might otherwise have been delayed), was ever after observed among the Jews. In later times the celebration became encumbered with a number of involved ceremonies, very different from the simplicity and haste of the original institution. As these derive no authority from the law, we shall only state such of them as serve to illustrate the account of that celebration of the Passover by Jesus Christ, which to the Christian is not less interesting than the original institution was to the Jew. The master of the family, after the Paschal supper was prepared, broke the bread, having first blessed it, and distributed it to all who were seated around him, so that each one might receive a part; and each was at liberty to dip it, before eating, into a vessel of sauce. There were four cups of wine ordinarily drank at this supper, two before and two after meat. With the second, the two first hymns of what was called the lesser Hallel, being Psalms 113 and 114, were sung or chanted. The third cup, being the first after supper, was called the cup of blessing, because over it they blessed God, or said grace after meat. This was followed by a fourth and last cup, over which they completed the hymn of praise, formed by the remainder of the lesser Hallel, and thus the feast concluded. But it is said that a fifth cup of wine might be drunk by those who wished to repeat the great Hallel, which is generally understood to be Psalm 136. The wine was red, mixed with water. The Passover was immediately followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which lasted seven days, so that the two together seemed to make one feast of eight days, and were, in fact, popularly so considered, the names being often interchanged, so that the Passover day was sometimes considered as the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, and, on the other hand, the whole was often called the Passover Feast. The first and last days of these seven were to be kept as Sabbaths, save that only servile labor was interdicted, which allowed food to be cooked. But no suspension of labor was required on the intermediate five days, which were distinguished chiefly by the abstinence from leavened bread, and by the unusual number of offerings at the tabernacle or temple, and of sacrifices for sin. The sixteenth of Abib, or the second day of Unleavened Bread, was distinguished by the offering of a barley sheaf, as an introduction to the barley-harvest which was ripe about this time, accompanied by a particular sacrifice, described in v. 9–14. When and why is Passover celebrated? The 14th of Nisan (meaning uncertain but some mentioned include "their flight," "month of flowers" Assyrian - nisannu = "beginning"). Nisan is the first month of the sacred year and seventh of the civil year, answering nearly to our March-April. It was originally called Abib (sprouting or budding), but began to be called Nisan after the Babylonian captivity. Passover is a God's appointed celebration so that His people would remember how He delivered their ancestors from the idols and slave-yards of Egypt. Today on the 14th of Nisan, observant Jewish fathers tell their children how the God of their fathers delivered their ancestors from economic bondage and spiritual darkness. Before the beginning of the 10th plague, Moses instructed every Israelite home to sacrifice a blemish free lamb, collect its blood (Life is in the blood) and with a hyssop brush paint the lamb’s blood on the lintel and door posts of their houses (Ex 12:22). Only where there was blood on the doorway did the death angel “pass over” and spare the life of the firstborn in that home (Ex 12:23). At a Passover Seder, which later became known by His followers as “the table of Communion,” Jesus held up the elements of wine and matzah and applied them to Himself. During the meal He broke unleavened bread with His disciples, and then held that broken matzah in His hands, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (Lk. 22:19). Then after the meal He held up a cup of wine and with the same force of personal application to Himself, said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you” (Lk 22:20). The Passover celebration served to anticipated Messiah’s ultimate deliverance of an body of people willing to trust in His sacrificial death for their redemption. Related Resource: Related commentary in Exodus (indicated by the "+") Ex 12:2-14,18+ Ex 13:3-10+ Ex 23:15+ What is the prophetic significance of the Passover? One element of mystery is found in a Passover tradition involving the “afikomen.” On every Passover table there is a cloth bag called a “matzah tosh.” The bag is either square or round and lies flat on the table. Within the matzah tosh are three pieces of matzah bread, each separated in its own pocket. In this way they are hidden from view, but the celebrants know they are there. During the Seder, the middle matzah is removed from its place, broken in half, and one portion is wrapped in a linen cloth. This wrapped piece of matzah is called the “afikomen.” Afikomen is not a Hebrew word, but a Greek word that means “the coming one.” The afikomen is removed from the table and hidden. Later in the meal, it becomes a children’s game to search for the hidden afikomen. The child who finds it brings it back to the table where “Papa” must ransom it back. Once it is paid for, the afikomen is unwrapped and shared by all as the last food eaten so its flavor will stay on the tongue and its memory stay in the mind the rest of the evening. The rabbis cannot agree on the significance of this unusual observance, or its origins. Some believe the three pieces of matzah in the matzah tosh represent three crowns of learning. Jews and Gentiles who believe in Jesus have seen in the afikomen a striking picture of the trinity (tri-unity), so that in the three folds of the matzah tosh there is a picture of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The middle matzah represented by the Son is broken, wrapped in linen, hidden, and ransomed (the price paid), and then brought back for the family to accept and enjoy seems too deliberate to easily dismiss. While the symbolism of this ritual remains a mystery to those who have not accepted the Messiah, through messianic eyes the meaning seems clear and powerful. When Jesus said of the unleavened bread, “Take, eat; this is My body,” He was not instituting an empty ritual. He was identifying Himself personally with both the matzah and the Passover lamb, bringing to mind the words of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 53:4-7) Today when Christians share in the bread of Communion, they are carrying out the fulfilled picture of the Passover. Another important element in a traditional Jewish Passover observance is wine. During a typical Passover Seder, four cups are shared, each with its own significant picture in the ritual. The first cup is called the “cup of sanctification,” which sets the feast apart from any commonplace meal. The second cup is the “cup of plagues,” remembering the calamities visited upon the Egyptians. The third cup is called the “cup of redemption,” recognizing and memorializing the Hebrews’ release from captivity. The fourth cup is called the “cup of praise,” during which the family recites Psalms 113–118, traditionally considered the praise Psalms. The third cup, the “cup of redemption,” the “Kiddush cup,” in the modern Seder comes after the eating of the afikomen. Because of the ritualistic order of the meal and the rich significance of this observance, some Christian theologians believe that this is the cup Jesus lifted, blessed, and declared, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Passover (06453)(pesach/pesah) is a masculine noun thought by some writers (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon) to have its origin from pacach/pasah which apparently means to pass over; to spare (Ex 12:13, 23, 27 - "Jehovah will pass" = pasah). Pesach/pesah virtually always refers to the Passover, either the feast or the Passover animal. Note that the Passover is combined with the Feast of Unleavened Bread by Luke who writes "the Feast of Unleavened Bread…is called the Passover, was approaching." (Lk 22:1+) Rooker adds that "These two ceremonies were apparently combined at the beginning, for the Passover lamb was to be eaten with unleavened bread (Ex 12:8)." (New American Commentary). Related Resources: Commentary on Mark 14:1ff Commentary on John 2:13, 23 Yeshua and the Feast of Unleavened Bread Passover - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (see intro for etymology) Feasts of Israel - Baker's Evangelical Dictionary - scroll down for "Passover" Passover - Wikipedia American Tract Society Passover Bridgeway Bible Dictionary Passover Baker Evangelical Dictionary Passover Easton's Bible Dictionary Passover Fausset Bible Dictionary Passover Holman Bible Dictionary Passover Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread Hastings' Dictionary of the NT Passover Passover (I.) Passover (Ii. in Relation to Lord's Supper) Van Gemeren rightly states that "The etymology of the root פֶּסַח (pesah) is much disputed, and some very tenuous links have been established with the Akk. pašāu, to appease, and the Arab. fasaa, be/become wide (New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis 3:642). Rooker - The verbal root of the noun translated “Passover” occurs only four times in the Old Testament (Ex 12:13, 23, 27; Isa 31:5). The root has been variously explained: “to have compassion,” “to protect,” “to skip over.” In Isa 31:5 the verb is parallel to the verb “to rescue,” which would harmonize well with the first or second options and would indicate that what was critical during the tenth plague was not the death angel’s “passing over” Israelites’ homes as much as the fact that God was displaying his compassion in protecting his people. (New American Commentary). Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament gives the basic meaning of pesach/pesah as "a sparing, immunity from penalty and calamity, hence—(1) a sacrifice offered on account of the sparing of the people, the paschal lamb, of which it is said, Ex. 12:27 (“this is a sacrifice of sparing [prop. of passing over] unto Jehovah, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians,”). Swanson has this analysis of this Hebrew word pesach/pesah 1. Passover sacrifice, i.e., the ceremonial offering of small mammals (sheep or goats) one year old, of very high quality (Ex 12:21+); 2. Passover Feast, i.e., a festival celebrating deliverance from Egypt (Ex 34:25); 3. Passover meal, i.e., a meal eaten as a part of the festival of Passover, eaten as a remembrance of hasty deliverance (Ex 12:11) (Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew Old Testament) Pesach - 46v in the NAS -Ex 12:11, 21, 27, 43, 48; 34:25 - commentary; Lev 23:5; Num 9:2, 4ff, 10, 12ff; 28:16; 33:3; Deut 16:1f, 5f; Josh 5:10f; 2 Kgs 23:21, 22, 23; 2 Chr 30:1f, 5, 15, 17f; 35:1, 6ff, 11, 13, 16ff; Ezra 6:19f; Ezek 45:21 Passover (Ex 12:1-14; Lev 23:5; Nu 9:1-14; 28:16; Dt 16:1-7) On the 14th day of the 1st month (Nisan), this festival commemorated God’s deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt. Passover speaks of the substitutionary death of the Lamb of God. Christ died on the day of Passover. Paul gives the clear prophetic fulfillment of the OT shadow (Col 2:16-17, Heb 10:1) in a strong command to the church at Corinth… Clean out (aorist imperative = command - Do this now! Don't delay!) the old leaven (Remember the context is sin in the church in the form of incest! Read 1Cor 5:1-6), that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1Cor 5-8) Criswell: As the firstborn of the Israelites were saved from the stroke of the angel of death at the first Passover by the blood of a lamb (cf. Ex 12:21-23), so salvation is now offered through the blood of Christ, Who died at Passover as the Passover Lamb (cf. 1Pe 1:18, 19).