Passover

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Passover \Pass"o`ver\, n. [Pass + over. See Pasch.] (Jewish
     Antiq.)
     (a) A feast of the Jews, instituted to commemorate the
         sparing of the Hebrews in Egypt, when God, smiting the
         firstborn of the Egyptians, passed over the houses of the
         Israelites which were marked with the blood of a lamb.


     (b) The sacrifice offered at the feast of the passover; the
         paschal lamb. --Ex. xii.
         [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Passover
       n : (Judaism) a Jewish festival (traditionally 8 days)
           celebrating the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt [syn:
            {Pesach}, {Pesah}, {Feast of the Unleavened Bread}]

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Passover
     the name given to the chief of the three great historical annual
     festivals of the Jews. It was kept in remembrance of the Lord's
     passing over the houses of the Israelites (Ex. 12:13) when the
     first born of all the Egyptians were destroyed. It is called
     also the "feast of unleavened bread" (Ex. 23:15; Mark 14:1; Acts
     12:3), because during its celebration no leavened bread was to
     be eaten or even kept in the household (Ex. 12:15). The word
     afterwards came to denote the lamb that was slain at the feast
     (Mark 14:12-14; 1 Cor. 5:7).
     
       A detailed account of the institution of this feast is given
     in Ex. 12 and 13. It was afterwards incorporated in the
     ceremonial law (Lev. 23:4-8) as one of the great festivals of
     the nation. In after times many changes seem to have taken place
     as to the mode of its celebration as compared with its first
     celebration (comp. Deut. 16:2, 5, 6; 2 Chr. 30:16; Lev.
     23:10-14; Num. 9:10, 11; 28:16-24). Again, the use of wine (Luke
     22:17, 20), of sauce with the bitter herbs (John 13:26), and the
     service of praise were introduced.
     
       There is recorded only one celebration of this feast between
     the Exodus and the entrance into Canaan, namely, that mentioned
     in Num. 9:5. (See {JOSIAH}.) It was primarily a
     commemorative ordinance, reminding the children of Israel of
     their deliverance out of Egypt; but it was, no doubt, also a
     type of the great deliverance wrought by the Messiah for all his
     people from the doom of death on account of sin, and from the
     bondage of sin itself, a worse than Egyptian bondage (1 Cor.
     5:7; John 1:29; 19:32-36; 1 Pet. 1:19; Gal. 4:4, 5). The
     appearance of Jerusalem on the occasion of the Passover in the
     time of our Lord is thus fittingly described: "The city itself
     and the neighbourhood became more and more crowded as the feast
     approached, the narrow streets and dark arched bazaars showing
     the same throng of men of all nations as when Jesus had first
     visited Jerusalem as a boy. Even the temple offered a strange
     sight at this season, for in parts of the outer courts a wide
     space was covered with pens for sheep, goats, and cattle to be
     used for offerings. Sellers shouted the merits of their beasts,
     sheep bleated, oxen lowed. Sellers of doves also had a place set
     apart for them. Potters offered a choice from huge stacks of
     clay dishes and ovens for roasting and eating the Passover lamb.
     Booths for wine, oil, salt, and all else needed for sacrifices
     invited customers. Persons going to and from the city shortened
     their journey by crossing the temple grounds, often carrying
     burdens...Stalls to change foreign money into the shekel of the
     temple, which alone could be paid to the priests, were numerous,
     the whole confusion making the sanctuary like a noisy market"
     (Geikie's Life of Christ).