פסח, signifies _leap_, _passage_. The passover was a solemn
festival of the Jews, instituted in commemoration of their coming out of
Egypt; because the night before their departure the destroying angel
that slew the first-born of the Egyptians passed over the houses of the
Hebrews without entering them, because they were marked with the blood
of the lamb, which, for this reason, was called the paschal lamb. The
following is what God ordained concerning the passover: the month of the
coming out of Egypt was after this to be the first month of the sacred
or ecclesiastical year; and the fourteenth day of this month, between
the two evenings, that is, between the sun’s decline and its setting, or
rather, according to our reckoning, between three o’clock in the
afternoon and six in the evening, at the equinox, they were to kill the
paschal lamb, and to abstain from leavened bread. The day following,
being the fifteenth, reckoned from six o’clock of the preceding evening,
was the grand feast of the passover, which continued seven days; but
only the first and seventh days were peculiarly solemn. The slain lamb
was to be without defect, a male, and of that year. If no lamb could be
found, they might take a kid. They killed a lamb or a kid in each
family; and if the number of the family was not sufficient to eat the
lamb, they might associate two families together. With the blood of the
lamb they sprinkled the door posts and lintel of every house, that the
destroying angel at the sight of the blood might pass over them. They
were to eat the lamb the same night, roasted, with unleavened bread, and
a sallad of wild lettuces, or bitter herbs. It was forbid to eat any
part of it raw, or boiled; nor were they to break a bone; but it was to
be eaten entire, even with the head, the feet, and the bowels. If any
thing remained to the day following it was thrown into the fire, Exod.
xii, 46; Num. ix, 12; John xix, 36. They who ate it were to be in the
posture of travellers, having their reins girt, shoes on their feet,
staves in their hands, and eating in a hurry. This last part of the
ceremony was but little observed; at least, it was of no obligation
after that night when they came out of Egypt. During the whole eight
days of the passover no leavened bread was to be used. They kept the
first and last day of the feast; yet it was allowed to dress victuals,
which was forbidden on the Sabbath day. The obligation of keeping the
passover was so strict, that whoever should neglect it was condemned to
death, Num. ix, 13. But those who had any lawful impediment, as a
journey, sickness, or uncleanness, voluntary or involuntary, for
example, those who had been present at a funeral, &c, were to defer the
celebration of the passover till the second month of the ecclesiastical
year, the fourteenth day of the month Jair, which answers to April and
May. We see an example of this postponed passover under Hezekiah, 2
Chron. xxx, 2, 3, &c.
The modern Jews observe in general the ceremonies practised by their
ancestors in the celebration of the passover. While the temple was in
existence, the Jews brought their lambs thither, and there sacrificed
them; and they offered their blood to the priest, who poured it out at
the foot of the altar. The paschal lamb was an illustrious type of
Christ, who became a sacrifice for the redemption of a lost world from
sin and misery; but resemblances between the type and antitype have been
strained by many writers into a great number of fanciful particulars. It
is enough for us to be assured, that as Christ is called our passover;”
and the Lamb of God,” without spot,” by the sprinkling of whose blood”
we are delivered from guilt and punishment; and as faith in him is
represented to us as eating the flesh of Christ,” with evident allusion
to the eating of the paschal sacrifice; so, in these leading
particulars, the mystery of our redemption was set forth. The paschal
lamb therefore prefigured the offering of the spotless Son of God, the
appointed propitiation for the sins of the whole world; by virtue of
which, when received by faith, we are delivered from the bondage of
guilt and misery; and nourished with strength for our heavenly journey
to that land of rest, of which Canaan, as early as the days of Abraham,
became the divinely instituted figure.
festival of the Jews, instituted in commemoration of their coming out of
Egypt; because the night before their departure the destroying angel
that slew the first-born of the Egyptians passed over the houses of the
Hebrews without entering them, because they were marked with the blood
of the lamb, which, for this reason, was called the paschal lamb. The
following is what God ordained concerning the passover: the month of the
coming out of Egypt was after this to be the first month of the sacred
or ecclesiastical year; and the fourteenth day of this month, between
the two evenings, that is, between the sun’s decline and its setting, or
rather, according to our reckoning, between three o’clock in the
afternoon and six in the evening, at the equinox, they were to kill the
paschal lamb, and to abstain from leavened bread. The day following,
being the fifteenth, reckoned from six o’clock of the preceding evening,
was the grand feast of the passover, which continued seven days; but
only the first and seventh days were peculiarly solemn. The slain lamb
was to be without defect, a male, and of that year. If no lamb could be
found, they might take a kid. They killed a lamb or a kid in each
family; and if the number of the family was not sufficient to eat the
lamb, they might associate two families together. With the blood of the
lamb they sprinkled the door posts and lintel of every house, that the
destroying angel at the sight of the blood might pass over them. They
were to eat the lamb the same night, roasted, with unleavened bread, and
a sallad of wild lettuces, or bitter herbs. It was forbid to eat any
part of it raw, or boiled; nor were they to break a bone; but it was to
be eaten entire, even with the head, the feet, and the bowels. If any
thing remained to the day following it was thrown into the fire, Exod.
xii, 46; Num. ix, 12; John xix, 36. They who ate it were to be in the
posture of travellers, having their reins girt, shoes on their feet,
staves in their hands, and eating in a hurry. This last part of the
ceremony was but little observed; at least, it was of no obligation
after that night when they came out of Egypt. During the whole eight
days of the passover no leavened bread was to be used. They kept the
first and last day of the feast; yet it was allowed to dress victuals,
which was forbidden on the Sabbath day. The obligation of keeping the
passover was so strict, that whoever should neglect it was condemned to
death, Num. ix, 13. But those who had any lawful impediment, as a
journey, sickness, or uncleanness, voluntary or involuntary, for
example, those who had been present at a funeral, &c, were to defer the
celebration of the passover till the second month of the ecclesiastical
year, the fourteenth day of the month Jair, which answers to April and
May. We see an example of this postponed passover under Hezekiah, 2
Chron. xxx, 2, 3, &c.
The modern Jews observe in general the ceremonies practised by their
ancestors in the celebration of the passover. While the temple was in
existence, the Jews brought their lambs thither, and there sacrificed
them; and they offered their blood to the priest, who poured it out at
the foot of the altar. The paschal lamb was an illustrious type of
Christ, who became a sacrifice for the redemption of a lost world from
sin and misery; but resemblances between the type and antitype have been
strained by many writers into a great number of fanciful particulars. It
is enough for us to be assured, that as Christ is called our passover;”
and the Lamb of God,” without spot,” by the sprinkling of whose blood”
we are delivered from guilt and punishment; and as faith in him is
represented to us as eating the flesh of Christ,” with evident allusion
to the eating of the paschal sacrifice; so, in these leading
particulars, the mystery of our redemption was set forth. The paschal
lamb therefore prefigured the offering of the spotless Son of God, the
appointed propitiation for the sins of the whole world; by virtue of
which, when received by faith, we are delivered from the bondage of
guilt and misery; and nourished with strength for our heavenly journey
to that land of rest, of which Canaan, as early as the days of Abraham,
became the divinely instituted figure.