H6453 H6453
Passover: the annual festival commemorating Israel's deliverance from Egypt, or the sacrificial lamb offered at it
One of the most theologically charged words in the Hebrew Bible, pesach designates both the festival and the offering at its heart. Rooted in God's 'passing over' the Israelite households on the night of the tenth plague (Exod 12:13,27), the term came to encompass the entire week of celebration, the specific evening ceremony, and the lamb itself. The Spanish 'Pascua' and French 'Pâque' preserve the ancient name's journey through Greek (pascha) into the languages of Christendom, where it merged with the Easter celebration. In Chronicles, the word narrows to mean the sacrificial animals distributed by the thousands for communal slaughter.
Senses
1. Passover (festival) — The Passover festival as a whole, commemorating Israel's exodus from Egypt and observed annually on the fourteenth of Nisan. This dominant sense (45 of 49 occurrences) spans the institution narrative in Exodus 12, the wilderness observance in Numbers 9, and the great reforms under Josiah (2 Kgs 23:21-23). Translations uniformly render it as a proper-noun festival name: 'Passover' (eng), 'Pascua' (spa), 'Pâque' (fra), 'Passah' (deu), reflecting how deeply the Hebrew term embedded itself in global vocabulary. 45×
AR["الفِصحَ","الفِصحِ","الْ-فِصْحَ","الْ-فِصْحُ","الْ-فِصْحِ","الْفِصْحَ","الْفِصْحِ","فِصْحًا","فِصْحٌ","فِصْحَ","فِصْحِ"]·ben["-নিস্তারপর্ব","-নিস্তারপর্ব।","-নিস্তারপর্বের","নিস্তারপর্ব","নিস্তারপর্ব-(সেই)","নিস্তারপর্বের","সেই-নিস্তারপর্ব"]·DE["Passover","das-Passah","der-Passover"]·EN["Passover","the-Passover"]·FR["Pâque","la-Pâque","le-Passover","le-Pâque"]·heb["ה-פסח","פסח"]·HI["फसह","फसह-का","फसह-की","फसह-के","फ़सह","फ़सह-का","फ़सह-की"]·ID["Paskah","korban-Paskah"]·IT["Pasqua","Passover","il-Passover"]·jav["Paskah","Paskah.","kurban-Paskah","paskah"]·KO["그-유월절","그-유월절을","그-유월절의","유월절","유월절을","유월절의","유월절이다"]·PT["Pesach","a-Páscoa","o-Pesach","o-Pessach"]·RU["-Песах","Пасха","Пасхи","Пасху","Песах","Песаха"]·ES["Pascua","Pésaj","el-Pésaj","el-pesaj","la-Pascua","la-pascua"]·SW["Pasaka","ya-Pasaka"]·TR["-Fisıh'ı","-Fisıh'ın","-Fısıh","Fisıh","Fisıh'u","Fısıh","Fısıh'ı","Fısıh'ın","Pesah","Pesah'ı","Pesah'ın"]·urd["-فسح","فسح","فسح-کا","فسح-کی","فسح-کے"]
Exod 12:11, Exod 12:21, Exod 12:27, Exod 12:43, Exod 12:48, Exod 34:25, Lev 23:5, Num 9:2, Num 9:4, Num 9:5, Num 9:6, Num 9:10 (+33 more)
2. Passover offering/lamb — The sacrificial animal — a lamb or young goat — slaughtered for the Passover meal, a metonymic extension from the festival to its central offering. This sense emerges clearly in 2 Chr 30:17 and 35:7-9, where Levites slaughter 'the pesachim' (plural) by the thousands and leaders distribute flocks for the purpose. Spanish 'las pascuas' and English 'Passover-offerings' both capture this concrete, countable sense distinct from the abstract festival. 4×
AR["الْفَصْحِ","لِلْفَصْحَةِ"]·ben["-নিস্তারপর্বের-জন্য","নিস্তারপর্বের-মেষগুলির"]·DE["Passah"]·EN["for-the-Passover-offerings","the-Pesach-lambs"]·FR["Pâque"]·heb["ה-פסח","ל-ה-פסח"]·HI["फसहों-के-लिए","फ़सहों-की"]·ID["domba-domba-Paskah","untuk-Paskah"]·IT["Pasqua"]·jav["Paskah","kanggé-Paskah"]·KO["으로-그-유월절들"]·PT["as-páscoas","para-os-Pessahim"]·RU["для-пасхи","песахов"]·ES["las-pascuas","para-los-pesaj"]·SW["hapּsachiym","lapּsachiym"]·TR["Fesıhların","Fisıhlar-için"]·urd["فسح-کے-برّوں-کے","فسح-کے-لیے"]
Related Senses
H3548 1. priest, cultic officiant (750×)G5547 1. Christ, Messiah, Anointed One (540×)H5030 1. Prophet, divine spokesperson (317×)H5930a 1. burnt offering (sacrifice) (286×)H3881 1. Levites (priestly class) (283×)G4396 1. prophet, spokesperson of God (146×)H6944 1. sanctuary, holy place (129×)G0749 1. high priest, chief priest (123×)H6944 2. holiness, sacredness (abstract quality) (123×)H2076 1. Qal: offer sacrifice (cultic) (116×)G5330 1. Pharisee (99×)G0040 1. the Holy One, Holy Spirit (98×)H2931 1. ritually or morally unclean (88×)G4336 1. pray to God (86×)H6944 3. holy things, sacred offerings (plural) (86×)H3722a 1. make ritual atonement (Piel) (85×)H6912 1. bury (Qal active) (82×)H6419 1. pray (Hitpael) (80×)H6944 4. holiness (with possessive pronoun) (77×)H6942 1. sanctify, consecrate (Piel factitive) (76×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† פֶּ֫סַח n.m. passover (usually (Thes and most) from I. פסח, with reference to Ex 12:13 etc.; ReussGesch. A.T. § 58 passing over into new year; Schaefer Passah-Mazzoth (1900), 346 cp. Assyrian pašâḫu, soothe, placate [deity], be sooted, Pi. trans., JenZA iv (1889), 275 ZimBab. Rel. i (1896), Gloss.; ii (1899), 92; SchwallyIdiot. 124 from II. פסח, of sacred dance);—abs. פ׳ Ex 12:11 +; פָּ֑סַח v…