Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(passing over). First of three great Jewish feasts, instituted in honor of the “passing over” of the Hebrew households by the destroying angel (Ex. 12; 13:3-10; 23:14-19; Lev. 23:4-14). Called the “feast of unleavened bread.” The Christian Passover is “The Lord’s Supper,” eucharist (Matt. 27:62; Luke 22:1-20; John 19:42).
Concise Bible Dictionary:
This was instituted when the Israelites were in Egypt. Jehovah being about to cut off all the firstborn of Egypt, the Israelites were ordered to sprinkle the blood of a lamb, taken for each house, on the lintel and two side posts of their houses, and the promise was given, “The Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.” The Israelites obeyed, and in perfect safety fed upon the lamb, under shelter of the blood. When they should come to the promised land they were enjoined to keep the Passover, as one of their yearly feasts (Ex. 12:3-28; Lev. 23:4-8). See FEASTS.
The Passover sets forth typically the offering of Christ as that in which the righteousness of God in regard of sin has been declared. The blood was a witness of death, that is, of the removal from under the eye of God of the man, or order of man, that had sinned against God. This removal was brought to pass vicariously in the person of the righteous One who gave Himself a ransom for all. In the eating of the lamb roast with fire the people were to enter into the solemnity of what had been effected.
The Lord Jesus greatly desired to eat the last passover with His disciples, forming, as they did, a unique “family” circle. It was about to be fulfilled in the kingdom of God, and the Lord takes the place of separation from the earth until the kingdom of God should come (Luke 22:15-18).
The Jewish authorities state the manner of eating the Passover at the time of the Lord to have been as follows:
1. When all were seated, the head of the feast gave thanks, and they drank the first cup of wine mingled with water.
2. All washed their hands.
3. The table was spread with the paschal lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and a dish of thick sauce (said to signify the mortar with which they made bricks in Egypt).
4. They all dipped a portion of the bitter herbs into the sauce, and ate it.
5. All the dishes were removed from the table, and the children or proselytes were instructed in the meaning of the Passover.
6. The dishes were then brought back, and the president said, “This is the passover which we eat, because the Lord passed over the houses of our fathers in Egypt.” And holding up the bitter herbs he said, “These are the bitter herbs that we eat in remembrance that the Egyptians made the lives of our fathers bitter in Egypt.” He then spoke of the unleavened bread, and repeated Psalm 113 and Psalm 114, concluding with a prayer. They all drank the second cup of wine.
7. The governor broke one of the cakes of unleavened bread, and gave thanks.
8. They then all partook of the paschal lamb.
9. As an ending of the supper they all took a piece of bread and some of the bitter herbs, dipped them in the sauce, and ate them.
10. They then drank the third cup of wine, called “the cup of blessing.”
11. The governor rehearsed Psalm 115-118, and a fourth cup of wine concluded the whole.
Connected with the Passover is the FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD. It was kept for seven days, during which all leaven had to be put away. The first day and the seventh day were holy convocations, on which no servile work was to be done. This feast was intimately connected with the Passover: “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness: but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” The unleavened bread sets forth that sense of grace, through faith, in the Christian, in which, apart from influences of the flesh and old associations, he can be habitually in the appreciation of, and in communion with the sacrifice of Christ, so that his whole life is consistent therewith.
It appears evident that the term “Passover” was also applied to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, as in Deuteronomy 16:2: “Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and the herd.” The “herd” here must refer to the seven days’ feast; and this may account for the Jews refusing to go into the judgment hall “lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the passover” (John 18:28), though they had eaten the paschal lamb the night before.
The Samaritan Passover on Mt. Gerizim – Baking the Unleavened Bread.
“130. The Passover” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Exodus 23:15. Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread.
This, the first of the three great feasts, is usually called the Passover, in commemoration of the passing over of the houses of the Israelites by the destroying angel, at the time when the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain. The ancient Jewish canons distinguish between what they term “the Egyptian Passover” and “the Permanent Passover”; the former signifying the feast in its original form, and the latter representing it as modified in the subsequent years or the history of the people. The essential parts of the feast, were however, the same. It took place during the month Abib, or, as it was subsequently called, Nisan, corresponding very nearly with April of our calendar. See note on Deuteronomy 16:1 (#193). While it lasted, great care was taken to abstain from leaven. A he-lamb or kid of the first year was selected by the head of the family and was slain, its blood being sprinkled originally on the doorposts, and subsequently on the bottom of the altar. The animal was then roasted whole with fire, and eaten with unleavened bread and a salad of bitter herbs. It could not be boiled, nor must a bone of it be broken. When they first ate it in Egypt the Israelites had their loins girt and their shoes on, all ready for a journey, and they partook of it standing, as if in haste to be away. In after years this position was changed to sitting or reclining. Not fewer than ten, nor more than twenty, persons were admitted to one of these feasts. Stanley (in his History of the Jewish Church, vol.1, p. 559, Am. ed.) gives a deeply interesting account, from his personal observation, of the modern observance of the Passover by the Samaritans. For the mode of observing the Passover in our Lord’s time, see notes on Matthew 26:19-20 (#715, #716).
It is supposed by some writers that, aside from the general design of the Passover, as already stated, there was in some of its ceremonies an intentional Divine rebuke of the idolatry of heathen nations, and especially of that of the Egyptians. One of their deities was represented by a human body with a ram’s head. To have a lamb slain, and its blood sprinkled on the doorposts, was an act of contempt against this deity. Some heathen people ate raw flesh in connection with their festivities. The passover lamb was to be cooked. This cooking was by roasting, for the Egyptians and Syrians sometimes boiled the flesh of their sacrificial victims in water, and sometimes in milk. It was to be roasted with fire, for the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and ancient Persians are said to have roasted their sacrifices in the sun. It was to be roasted whole, even to the intestines, for the heathen were in the habit of looking into these for omens, and sometimes even ate them raw.
“714. Passover Guests” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Matthew 26:17. Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?
See also Mark 14:12; Luke 22:9.
The Israelites who came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover were received by the inhabitants as brothers, and apartments were gratuitously furnished them where they might eat the feast. In return, the guests gave their hosts the skins of the paschal lambs and the vessels they had used in the ceremonies. According to this custom the disciples, wishing to make arrangements for the Passover, inquired of the Lord if he had any special house in view where he desired to go.
“715. Preparing for the Passover” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Matthew 26:19. The disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the Passover.
See also Mark 14:16; Luke 22:13.
The two disciples, Peter and John, who represented the company who, with Jesus, were to celebrate the Passover together, went, as was customary, to the temple with the paschal lamb. There, taking their turn with others who thronged the temple on the same errand, they killed the lamb, the nearest priest catching the blood in a gold or silver bowl, and passing it to the next in the row of priests until it reached the priest nearest the altar, who instantly sprinkled it toward the altar’s base. The lamb was then flayed and the entrails removed, to be burnt with incense on the altar. All this was done in the afternoon. As soon as it was dark the lamb was roasted with great care. Thus the two “made ready the Passover.” They likewise provided unleavened bread, wine, bitter herbs, and sauce. See also note on Exodus 23:15 (#130).
“716. Passover Ceremonies in Christ's Time” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Matthew 26:20. Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
See also Mark 14:17; Luke 22:14.
The ceremonies of the Passover supper in the time of Christ were as follows:
1. A cup of wine was filled for every one of the company, over which he who presided at the feast pronounced a blessing, after which the wine was drank.
2. The bitter herbs, the unleavened bread, the charoseth, and the flesh of the chagigah, were then brought in. The charoseth was composed of vinegar and water, according to some authorities; others say that it was a mixture of vinegar, figs, almonds, dates, raisins, and spice, beaten to the consistence of mortar or clay, to commemorate the toils of the Israelites when they worked in the brick-yards of Egypt. The chagigah was a special voluntary peace offering which was made at the Passover and other great festivals.
3. When these were all placed upon the table, the president of the feast, who in a family celebration of the Passover was the head of the family, took a portion of the bitter herbs in his hand, dipped it into the charoseth, and, after thanking God for the fruits of the earth (see note on Matt. 14:19, #670) ate a piece the size of an olive, and gave a similar portion to each one, who, according to custom, reclined with him on the dinner-bed. See note on Matthew 26:7 (#712). (Some Jewish writers say that they reclined on couches while they ate the Passover in order to show that they were no longer slaves, but free, and at rest.) The unleavened bread was then handed round, and the paschal lamb placed on the table in front of the president.
4. A second cup of wine was poured out and drank, after which an explanation of the feast was given, in accordance with Exodus 12:26-27. The first part of the “Hallel,” or hymn of praise, was then sung. This consisted of Psalms 113 and 114 and was followed by a blessing.
5. After the singing, unleavened bread and bitter herbs, dipped in the charoseth, were eaten. Then the flesh of the chagigah was eaten, and next the paschal lamb. A third cup of wine was then poured out and drank, and soon after a fourth. After the fourth cup the rest of the “Hallel” was sung. This consisted of Psalms 115 to 118 and is the hymn “referred to in verse 30 and in Mark 14:26.
It was while partaking of this Passover feast that the Lord’s Supper was instituted by the Saviour. A number of interesting and important questions, some of them of great difficulty, arise in connection with this subject, but their discussion would be out of place here. The different standard commentaries may be consulted for their solution.
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