PASSOVER, Pesach, pascha, the first and greatest of the three annual feaSts (regatim) instituted by Moses, at which it was incumbent upon every male Israelite to make a pil grimage to the house of the Lord. It was celebrated on the anniversary of the exodus from on the 14th day of Nisaii, otherwise culled Abib, the period of the first full moon in the spring—and lasted eight days. In commemoration of the incidents connected with flab great event of the liberation of the people, it was ordained that unleavened bread only should be eaten during this festiVe period, whence it also bore the name chay hamazzoth (feast of unleavened bread); and, further, that a lamb one year old, and free from all blemish, roasted whole, together with bitter herbs, should form the meal in every house on the eve of the feast. and thanksgivings, 1111 with a reference to the redemption from bondage, accompanied the repast, at which the mem bers of the family or families who had joined in the purchase of the lamb had to appear in traveling garb. At a later period, a certain number of cups of red wine were super added to this meal, to which, as its special ceremonies and the order of its benedictions were fixed, the name seder (arrangement) was given. The name passover was more strictly limited to the first day in which the paschal lamb was entirely consumed, the reselling of any part. of it to the next day being expressly forbidden xii. 10); and the name feaq of unleavened bread belonged rather to the remaining days, on which other animal food was eaten; but the names were often used indiscriminately.
The passover is generally regarded by Christian theologians as at once a sacrifice and a sacrament, and in the former character as an eminent type of the sacrifice of Christ. The death of Christ at the very time of the passover is regarded as corroborative of this view, which is indeed plaiuly adopted in certain pasSages of the New Testament, as John xix. 36, and 1 Coe v. 7, in which last place our Saviour is designated " Christ our Pass over." The passover is regarded as typical orChrist, in its connection with the deliver
ance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, held to typify our salvation from the bondage of sin; in its being a sacrifice, and that of a lamb without blemish—the perfection of the paschal lamb, as of the other sacrificial victims, being supposed to signify the per fection of the great sacrifice; and in many other minor particulars, of which one is that referred to in John xix. 36, that no bone of the paschal lamb was to be broken.
The meal, as at present celebrated among the Jews, has more the character of a hallowed family feast, with reference, however, to the great national event. The greater part of those, it may be added here, who live out of the Holy Land celebrate it on the two first evenings, as owing to the uncertainty prevalent at one time with respect to the fixing of the new moon by the sanhedrim at Jerusalem, it was ordained that the "exiles" should celebrate all their festivals—except the day of atonement—on two suc cessive days. a law still in force among the orthodox. Tlie regulations of the " lamb for each house," the traveling garb, etc., are abrogated, but many further symbolical tokens have been superadded; reminiscences, as it were, both of the liberation from Egypt and the subsequent downfall of the sanctuary and empire. The order of prayers and songs to he recited on these evenings has also received many additions, and even mediaeval German songs have crept in, as supposed to contain a symbolical reference to the ulti mate fate oeIsrael. See HAGGADA (shel pesaeh), FESTIVALS, EASTER, LORD7S SUPPER. PASSOW, FRANZ LUDWIG KARL FRIEDRICH, 1786-1833; b. Germany; educated at Leipsic, where he studied philology and theology. He was called in 11:17 to the chair of Greek in the Weimar gymnasium, and in 1815 to that of ancient literature in the university of Breslau. His principal work is his Dictionary of the Greek Language, 1831, which formed the basis of Liddell's and Scott's Lexicon.