Passover

==Biblical narrative==
===In the Book of Exodus===
{{Further|Plagues of Egypt}}
In the [[Book of Exodus]], the Israelites are enslaved in ancient Egypt. [[Yahweh]], the god of the Israelites, appears to Moses in a [[burning bush]] and commands Moses to confront [[Pharaoh]]. To show his power, Yahweh inflicts a series of 10 plagues on the Egyptians, culminating in the 10th plague, the death of the first-born.

{{blockquote|This is what the {{LORD}} says: "About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt{{snd}}worse than there has ever been or ever will be again."|Exodus 11:4–6}}

Before this final plague Yahweh commands Moses to tell the Israelites to mark a [[domestic sheep|lamb]]'s blood above their doors in order that Yahweh will pass over them (i.e., that they will not be touched by the death of the firstborn).

The biblical regulations for the observance of the festival require that all [[Leavening agent|leavening]] be disposed of before the beginning of the 15th of Nisan.<ref>{{bibleverse|Exodus|13:7|HE}}</ref> An unblemished lamb or goat, known as the {{transliteration|he|[[Passover sacrifice|Korban Pesach]]}} or "Paschal Lamb", is to be set apart on 10th Nisan,<ref name="bibleverse|Exodus|12:3|HE"/> and slaughtered at dusk as 14th Nisan ends in preparation for the 15th of Nisan when it will be eaten after being roasted.<ref>{{bibleverse|Exodus|12:6|HE}}</ref> The literal meaning of the Hebrew is "between the two evenings".<ref>{{bibleverse|Exodus|12:6|ESV}} English Standard Version</ref> It is then to be eaten "that night", 15th Nisan,<ref name="Exodus 12:8">{{bibleverse|Exodus|12:8|HE}}</ref> roasted, without the removal of its internal organs<ref>{{bibleverse|Exodus|12:9|HE}}</ref> with unleavened bread, known as [[Matzah|matzo]], and bitter herbs known as {{transliteration|he|[[maror]]}}.<ref name="Exodus 12:8"/> Nothing of the sacrifice on which the sun rises by the morning of the 15th of Nisan may be eaten, but must be burned.<ref>{{bibleverse|Exodus|12:10|HE}}</ref>

The biblical regulations pertaining to the original Passover, at the time of the Exodus only, also include how the meal was to be eaten: "with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the {{LORD}}'s passover".<ref>{{bibleverse|Exodus|12:11|HE}}</ref>

The biblical requirements of slaying the Paschal lamb in the individual homes of the Hebrews and smearing the blood of the lamb on their doorways were celebrated in Egypt. However, once Israel was in the wilderness and the tabernacle was in operation, a change was made in those two original requirements.<ref>{{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|16:2–6|HE}}</ref> Passover lambs were to be sacrificed at the door of the tabernacle and no longer in the homes of the Jews. No longer, therefore, could blood be smeared on doorways.

===The passover in other biblical passages===
Called the "festival [of] the [[Matzah|matzo]]t" (Hebrew: {{lang|hbo|חג המצות}} {{transliteration|hbo|ḥag ha-matzôth}}) in the [[Hebrew Bible]], the commandment to keep Passover is recorded in the [[Book of Leviticus]]:
{{blockquote
|text=In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at dusk is the {{LORD}}'s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the {{LORD}}; seven days ye shall eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work. And ye shall bring an offering made by fire unto the {{LORD}} seven days; in the seventh day is a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work.
|source={{bibleverse|Leviticus|23:5–8|HE}} ([[Jewish Publication Society of America Version|JPS 1917 Version]])
}}

The sacrifices may be performed only in a specific place prescribed by God. For Judaism, this is Jerusalem.<ref>{{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|16:2, 5|HE}}</ref>

The biblical commandments concerning the Passover (and the Feast of Unleavened Bread) stress the importance of remembering:
* Exodus 12:14 commands, in reference to God's sparing of the firstborn from the [[Plagues of Egypt#plague10|Tenth Plague]]: "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the {{LORD}}; throughout your generations ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever."<ref>{{Bibleverse|Exodus|12:14|HE}}</ref>
* Exodus 13:3 repeats the command to remember: "Remember this day, in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for by strength the hand of the {{LORD}} brought you out from this place."<ref>{{Bibleverse|Exodus|13:3|HE}}</ref>
* Deuteronomy 16:12: "And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt; and thou shalt observe and do these statutes".<ref>{{Bibleverse|Deuteronomy|16:12|HE}}</ref>

In 2 Kings 23:21–23 and 2 Chronicles 35:1–19, King [[Josiah]] of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] restores the celebration of the Passover,<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Kings|23:21–23|HE}} and {{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|35:1–19|HE}}</ref> to a standard not seen since the days of the [[Biblical judges|judges]] or the days of the [[Biblical prophet|prophet]] [[Samuel]].<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Kings|23:21–23|HE}}; {{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|35:1–18|HE}}</ref>

Ezra 6:19–21 records the celebration of the passover by the Jews who had returned from [[Babylonian captivity|exile in Babylon]], after the [[Second Temple|temple had been rebuilt]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Ezra|6:19–21|HE}}</ref>

===In extra-biblical sources===
Some of these details can be corroborated, and to some extent amplified, in extrabiblical sources. The removal (or "sealing up") of the leaven is referred to in the [[Elephantine papyri]], an [[Aramaic]] papyrus from 5th century BCE Elephantine in Egypt.<ref>James B. Prichard, ed., The Ancient Near East – An Anthology of Texts and Pictures, Volume 1, Princeton University Press, 1958, p.&nbsp;278.</ref> The slaughter of the lambs on the 14th is mentioned in [[Jubilees|The Book of Jubilees]], a Jewish work of the [[Ptolemaic period]], and by the [[Herodian]]-era writers [[Josephus]] and [[Philo]]. These sources also indicate that "between the two evenings" was taken to mean the afternoon.<ref>"On the feast called Passover...they sacrifice from the ninth to the eleventh hour", Josephus, ''Jewish War'' 6.423–428, in ''Josephus III, The Jewish War, Book IV–VII'', Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1979. Philo in one place (''Special Laws'' 2.148) states that the victims are sacrificed "from noon till eventide", and in another place (''Questions on Exodus'' 1.11) that the sacrifices begin at the ninth hour. According to Jubilees 49.12, "it is not fitting to sacrifice [the Passover] during any time of light except during the time of the border of evening."</ref> ''Jubilees'' states the sacrifice was eaten that night,<ref>Jubilees 49.1.</ref> and together with Josephus states that nothing of the sacrifice was allowed to remain until morning.<ref>"And what is left of its flesh from the third of the night and beyond, they shall burn with fire," ''Jubilees'' 49.12. "We celebrate [the Passover] by fraternities, nothing of the sacrificial victims being kept for the morrow," Josephus, ''Antiquities'' 3.248.</ref> Philo states that the banquet included hymns and prayers.<ref>"The guests assembled for the banquet have been cleansed by purificatory lustrations, and are there...to fulfill with prayers and hymns the custom handed down by their fathers." Philo, Special Laws 2.148, in ''Philo VII: On the Decalog; On the Special Laws I–III'', Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1937.</ref>