PASSOVER Part I.

Deuteronomy 16:1-8 (King James Version)

Deuteronomy 16

 1Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.

 2Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.

 3Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.

 4And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.

 5Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee:

 6But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.

 7And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents.

 8Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work therein.

The 14th Of Nisan


The 14th day of the month of Nisan (see Bible Months) is one of the most important dates of all Bible History. It marked the time of Passover from which the Israelites began their Exodus from Egypt, and centuries later, the time of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the "Lamb of God." The early Christian church continued to observe Passover, on the 14th of Nisan, as Jesus Christ did Himself all through His life, until the Roman festival of Easter (of which many Christians today are often shocked to learn was named after the Babylonian idol Ishtar, and later, eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of light, or spring) was officially enforced upon the Christian-professing world by the Roman Empire (see Ancient Empires - Rome). The Easter of Acts 12:4 in the otherwise excellent King James Version should have been translated as Passover (as most other translations do), since that is the word, and the intended observance, that was originally written in the Scriptures.

Passover In Egypt Passover In Egypt

"And Moses said, "Thus says The Lord [see Rock Of Ages]: About midnight I will go forth in the midst of Egypt; and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh [see Who Was The Exodus Pharaoh?] who sits upon his throne, even to the first-born of the maidservant who is behind the mill; and all the first-born of the cattle. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever shall be again. But against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, not a dog shall growl; that you may know that The Lord makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel. And all these your servants shall come down to me, and bow down to me, saying, 'Get you out, and all the people who follow you.' And after that I will go out." And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger."

"Then The Lord said to Moses, "Pharaoh will not listen to you; that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt" [see The Ten Plagues]. Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land." (Exodus 11:4-10 RSV)

"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, "This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you [see Bible Calendar]. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household; and if the household is too small for a lamb, then a man and his neighbor next to his house shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb."

"Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old; you shall take it from the sheep or from the goats; and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs in the evening. Then they shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat them. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled with water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts."

"And you shall let none of it remain until the morning, anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is The Lord's Passover."

"For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am The Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. "This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to The Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as an ordinance for ever." (Exodus 12:1-14 RSV)


In ancient Israel, the start of the ecclesiastical new year (i.e. Nisan) was determined by reference to Passover. Passover begins on the 14th day of the month of Nisan, (Leviticus 23:4-6) which corresponds to the full moon of Nisan. As Passover is a spring festival, the 14th of Nisan begins on the night of a full moon after the vernal equinox. To ensure that Passover did not start before spring, the tradition in ancient Israel held that the 1st of Nisan would not start until the barley is ripe, being the test for the onset of spring.[14]  If the barley was not ripe an intercalary month would be added before Nisan.