passover

plural passovers

1. Alternative letter-case form of Passover.

plural Passovers · alternative Passeover · alternative passover

1. JudaismalsoattributivebiblicalThe one-day Biblical feast or festival (not a holy day) that begins at twilight at the beginning of the fourteenth day of the first month (Abib or Nisan 14), during which the firstborn sons of the Israelites were passed over by God while those of the Egyptians were killed; this feast day is then immediately followed by the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 15 to 21; the first and seventh days are holy days or yearly Sabbaths).

   By Faith he [Moses] ſlevv the Typick Lamb, / And kept the Paſſover of God: / He knevv from VVhom its Virtue came, / The Saving Povver of ſprinkled Blood.

   1740, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, “[The Life of Faith, Exemplified in the Eleventh Chapter of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews.] Verses XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII.”, in Hymns and Sacred Poems, Bristol: […] William Strahan; and sold by James Hutton, […]; and at the Foundery […], →OCLC, part I, verse X, page 17

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   And they ſhall take of the bloud ãd ſtrike it on the .ij. ſyde poſtes ãd on the vpper dor poſt of the houſes, whereĩ they eate hĩ. […] [I]t is the Lordes paſſeouer, for I will go aboute ĩ the lãde of Egipte this ſame nyghte, ãd will ſmyte all the firſtborne in the lande of Egipte: both of mã ãd beeſt, ãd apõ al the goddes off Egipte will I the Lorde do execution. And the bloude ſhall be vnto you a tokẽ vppon the houſes where in ye are, for whẽ I ſe the bloude, I will paſſe ouer you, ãd the plage ſhall not be vppõ you to deſtroye you, when I ſmyte the londe off Egipte.

   And they shall take of the blood [of the slaughtered lamb] and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they eat him. […] [I]t is the Lord's passover, for I will go about in the land of Egypt this same night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt: both of man and beast, and upon all the gods of Egypt will I the Lord do execution. And the blood shall be unto you a token upon the houses wherein ye are, for when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

   1530 January 27 (Gregorian calendar), W[illiam] T[yndale], transl., [The Pentateuch] (Tyndale Bible), Malborow [Marburg], Hesse: […] Hans Luft [actually Antwerp: Johan Hoochstraten], →OCLC, Exodus xij:[7, 12–13], folio [xix], verso

   Theſe are the feaſtes of the Lord, euen holy conuocations, which ye ſhall proclaime in their ſeaſons. In the fourteenth day of the firſt moneth at euen, is the Lords Paſſeouer. And on the fifteenth day of the ſame moneth, is the feaſt of vnleauened bread vnto the Lord: ſeuen dayes ye muſt eate vnleauened bread.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 23:4–6, signature M, recto, column 2

2. alsoattributivebroadlyChristianitySynonym of Last Supper (“the meal that Jesus Christ ate with his disciples on the night before his death”).

   Synonyms: Last Supper

3. alsoattributivebroadlyfigurativelyChristianitySynonym of Paschal Lamb (“Jesus Christ symbolized as a sacrifice for the sins of humankind”).

   Purge out therefore the olde leauen, that ye may be a nevve lumpe, as ye are vnleauened: for Chriſt our Paſſeouer is ſacrificed for vs.

   1560, [William Whittingham et al., transl.], The Bible and Holy Scriptures Conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament. […] (the Geneva Bible), Geneva: […] Rouland Hall, →OCLC, I. Corinthians V:7, folio 78, recto

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   But let all vvho have any ſparkes of ſobriety, temperance or grace vvithin them, abominate theſe unchriſtian Chriſtmas extravagancies: […] And thereupon reſolving, to purge out all this old leaven, (of dancing, dicing, healthing, Playes and riot) that ſo they may be a nevv lumpe, becauſe Chriſt their Paſſeover is novv ſacrificed for them: casting avvay all theſe vvorkes of darkneſſe, and putting on the armour of light: […]

   1632 (indicated as 1633), William Prynne, “Actus 8, Scena Tertia”, in Histrio-mastix. The Players Scourge, or, Actors Tragædie, […], London: […] E[lizabeth] A[llde,] [Thomas Cotes, Augustine Matthews] and W[illiam] I[ones] for Michael Sparke, […], →OCLC, 1st part, pages 782–783

   Synonyms: Paschal Lamb

4. JudaismalsoattributivebroadlyThe seven-day (in Reform Judaism) or eight-day (Orthodox and Conservative Judaism) Jewish festival of Pesach (also called the Feast of Unleavened Bread (מַצּוֹת (matsót)), commemorating the Biblical story of the Exodus.

   ["][W]e are to be rewarded for our pains by eating passover cakes." / "What are they?" / "Festival bread of the Hebrews, made in the new moon, with the milk of he-goats."

   1847, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter V, in Tancred: Or, The New Crusade. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book VI, page 201

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   Right now, my family's special collision of vegetarianism and Judaism necessitates a good bit of chocolate. But when Passover ends, that doesn't mean we should put the chocolate cake, or the chocolate milk, away.

   2014 April 19, Mark Oppenheimer, “Let them drink chocolate”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2022

   Synonyms: Feast of Matsot, Feast of Matzot, Festival of Matsot, Festival of Matzot, Festival of Unleavened Bread

5. JudaismalsoattributivebroadlySynonym of Paschal Lamb (“the lamb traditionally eaten during Pesach”); also, the meal at which this lamb is eaten.

   Then came the day of vnleauened bread, when the Paſſeouer muſt be killed. And he [Jesus] ſent Peter and John, ſaying, Goe and prepare vs the Paſſeouer, that we may eate.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 22:7–8, signature [H6], verso, column 1

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   Then led they Jeſus from Caiaphas, unto the houſe of Pilate; and it vvas early, even before day, and they themſelves vvent not into the houſe of that heathen governour, leſt they ſhould be defiled by going in thither; as being carefull to keepe themſelves from all legall pollution, that they might bee capable of eating the Paſſover.

   1633, Jos[eph Hall], “[A Paraphrase vpon the Hard Texts of the Old Testament.] John. Chapter XVIII.”, in A Plaine and Familiar Explication (by Way of Paraphrase) of All the Hard Texts of the Whole Divine Scripture of the Old and New Testament, London: […] Miles Flesher, for Nath[aniel] Butter […], →OCLC, page 134

   And through His [Jesus'] boyhood, year by year / Eating with Him the Passover, / Didst thou [Mary] discern confusedly / That holier sacrament, when He, / The bitter cup about to quaff, / Should break the bread and eat thereof?— […]

   1870 April 26, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “[Poems.] Ave.”, in Poems, London: F[rederick] S[tartridge] Ellis, […], →OCLC, stanza 3, page 43

   Synonyms: Paschal Lamb

6. JudaismalsoattributivebroadlyobsoleteA lamb which was sacrificed during the original Passover (sense 1).

   And Moſes called for the elders off Iſrael and ſayde vnto them: chouſe out and take to euery houſholde a ſhepe, ãd [and] kyll paſſeouer.

   1530 January 27 (Gregorian calendar), W[illiam] T[yndale], transl., [The Pentateuch] (Tyndale Bible), Malborow [Marburg], Hesse: […] Hans Luft [actually Antwerp: Johan Hoochstraten], →OCLC, Exodus xij:[21], folio [xix], recto

7. alsoattributivefigurativelyA major festival or observance.

   And by the firſt name [אביב (Avív)], the Indians, as an explicative, term their paſſover, vvhich the trading people call the green-corn dance.

   1775, James Adair, “Argument VI. They Count Time after the Manner of the Hebrews.”, in The History of the American Indians; particularly those Nations Adjoining to the Missisippi, East and West Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia: […], London: […] Edward and Charles Dilly, […], →OCLC, pages 76–77

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   And thus the Lords Paſſover, vvhich vve commonly call Eaſter, vvas order'd by the Canon-Lavv to be celebrated every Year on a Sunday, othervviſe ſtiled the Lord's-Day; becauſe our Lord on that Day of the VVeek, roſe from the Dead, and appear'd among his Diſciples: […] [T]he Angel of the Lord appear'd unto Hermes […] in the Habit of a Shepherd, and declar'd to him, by vvay of Command, that all Perſons vvere to celebrate the Lord's Paſſover on the Lord's-Day; and this Meſſage, or Order, he communicated to the ſaid Pope [Pius I].

   1726, John Ayliffe, “Of Easter, and the Celebration thereof”, in Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani: Or, A Commentary, by Way of Supplement to the Canons and Constitutions of the Church of England. […], London: […] D. Leach, and sold by John Walthoe […], →OCLC, page 236