pesaḥ

Semantic range

1. 1the festival
2. 2the sacrificial lamb eaten at it
3. 3the act denoted by the verb pāsaḥ — to pass over, or possibly to protect

The verb pāsaḥ is rare enough that its exact sense is debated. "Pass over" is the traditional rendering (Exodus 12:13), but the same verb in Isaiah 31:5 describes a bird hovering protectively over a nest, which suggests the Lord did not merely skip those doorways but stood guard at them.

Every element of the rite points forward: a lamb without blemish, a male of the first year, no bone broken, the blood applied to the doorframe, the flesh eaten by a household ready to travel. John's Gospel dates the crucifixion so that Christ dies as the Passover lambs are killed and notes explicitly that no bone of Him was broken (John 19:33–36). Paul states the identification flatly: "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7).

See also

• כָּפַרkāphar
• גֹּאֵלgōʾēl
• διαθήκηdiathēkē