Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 23:5
In the fourteenth [day] of the first month at even [is] the LORD’s passover.
Feasts of the Passover and Unleavened Bread (5 8)
The law in detail is set forth Exodus 12, and is accordingly here assumed as known, and only the chief regulations are mentioned.
5. the first month ] corresponding to the latter part of March with the former part of April. Here, as elsewhere, P denotes the months by numbers only, whereas JE and Deut. give them the names by which they were known in Canaan or Phoenicia, in this case Abib (Exo 13:4; Exo 23:15; Exo 34:18; Deu 16:1), while in Neh 2:1; Est 3:7 it is called by its Babylonian name Nisan. See further in Driver ( C.B.), Exo 12:2.
on the fourteenth day of the month at even ] The Jewish day commencing at sunset, the Passover lamb was to be killed before sunset on the day which both by their reckoning and ours was the 14th, and eaten on what we should call the night between the fourteenth and fifteenth days.
passover ] The etymological meaning of the Heb. word pea is obscure. See Driver, Exod. p. 408 for the various conjectures. The LXX. ( , Pascha, whence the adjective paschal) and so the N.T. (e.g. Mat 26:17) transliterate it. Our word is taken from the explanation in Exo 12:13 which refers it to the sparing of the Israelitish houses on the occasion of the slaying of the Egyptians’ firstborn.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
In these verses, the Passover, or Paschal Supper, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, are plainly spoken of as distinct feasts. See Exo 12:6, Exo 12:15, Exo 12:17; Num 28:16-17.
Lev 23:5
See Exo 12:6. According to the Hebrew mode of reckoning, the 15th day of the month began on the evening of the 14th. The day of holy convocation with which the Feast of Unleavened Bread commenced Lev 23:7 was the 15th, and that with which it terminated was the 21st. Compare Num 28:16-17.
Lev 23:6
Feast – The three festivals (often called the Great Festivals), Passover, Pentecost and tabernacles, to which the name chag, i. e. a feast or rejoicing properly belongs Lev 23:6, Lev 23:34, Lev 23:39, Lev 23:41, were distinguished by the attendance of the male Israelites at the national sanctuary (compare Exo 23:17; Exo 34:23; Deu 16:16). In later times they were called by the rabbins pilgrimage feasts. It is worthy of note that the Hebrew word is identical with the Arabic haj, the name of the pilgrimage to Mecca, from which comes the well-known word for a pilgrim, haji.
Lev 23:7
No servile work – literally, no work of labor, no work that belongs to ones worldly calling, such as labor in agriculture or handicraft. The preparation of food was permitted Exo 12:16, a licence not granted on the weekly Sabbath, or on the day of atonement Lev 23:28, Lev 23:30; Exo 20:10; Exo 35:3.
Lev 23:8
The sacrifices here meant are named in Num 28:19-24.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Lev 23:5
In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lords passover.
The Passover
The typical character of the Old Testament is a subject full of instruction, and one which opens a very extensive field of investigation before the mind of the Christian student. It presents itself to our view not only in the ordinances of the Jewish people, their sacrifices and priesthood, and religious rites in general, but also in the historical parts of these lively oracles. Many of the events recorded in these sacred pages have not only an historical, but also a typical, or in other words a prophetic interest. They were, in fact, living prophecies, having each his manifest counterpart or antitype somewhere in the gospel scheme. But this observation particularly applies to the ordinances of the Ceremonial Law. These rites had, no doubt, a duty to accomplish on behalf of those who celebrated them, and subserved some moral purpose towards them who did the service. But they had also a higher object; they had all a Christian aspect, or, as the apostle to the Hebrews says, they were the shadows of good things to come. In the former bearing they have long since passed away, but in the latter they are still abiding. And what an important addition have we here to the prophetic evidence of Christi-unity! For these rites and ceremonies must, every one of them, be regarded as predictions of those things they typified. Every well-established type is an instance of fulfilled prophecy; and when we view them all combined we have a congeries of prophecies manifestly fulfilled, and affording an amount of accumulated evidence which must be convincing to any candid mind. In all the necessary elements of prophetic evidence the argument derived from these types is remarkably certain and facile. Their antiquity, or priority in point of time to their antitypes, is undoubted, it is admitted on all hands. They were celebrated by successive generations for centuries before those things which answered to them appeared to human observation, or could be known in any other way than by Divine revelation. Their fulfilment, also, is equally certain; we compare the antitypes with the types, and find them answer the one to the other in an immense variety of particulars. It is utterly impossible that this agreement should be the result of accident; it is so minute, and carried out into such numerous ramifications, that it exceeds even the credulity of infidelity itself to ascribe it to anything but design. Here, as in a kind of panorama, that gospel passes before us, so that we, as it were, behold with our eyes those very truths which are the source of our present and eternal peace. And this, perhaps, is one reason why these ordinances are so minutely enjoined; why we find so many, and sometimes such trifling particulars commanded. The sceptic smiles at this minuteness, and refuses to believe that God could condescend to be the author of such unimportant injunctions. The reply to this is at once suggested from the book of nature, where the Deist professes to become acquainted with his God. We bid him to consult that book which is open before his eyes, and behold the minuteness of detail which characterises all the works that meet him there. See the particularity of design and of execution which pervades its every part. Has not the same hand which restrains the billows of the mighty ocean in their proper bounds painted the tiny shells which are buried in its deep abyss? But to the believer, who recognises the gospel in these ordinances, this very minuteness with which they are prescribed constitutes their perfection. He sees in this a representation of that condescending love which has ordained every particular of that covenant of grace–the covenant ordered in all things, and sure. And not only so, but everything to him becomes significant; he could not part with one of them; and all together make up a perfect whole on which his faith is founded. We are to consider the feast of the Passover, instituted, as its name implies, in commemoration of that night in which the Lord passed over the houses of the Israelites when He smote the first-born in the land of Egypt. In order, then, to understand aright the typical or prophetic bearing of this ordinance, we must recall to mind the transactions of that memorable night, and–
I. The land of Egypt exhibits a type of this present evil world–the world, i mean, as distinct from the church and people of God. Egypt was ripened for judgment, and was devoted to destruction. She had despised her opportunities and hardened herself against the warnings of Jehovah, and was now arrayed in hostility against God and His people. And such is the world in which we live, it is destined to destruction; and why? Because it has rejected alike the mercies and the warnings of the Lord; it has despised His counsel and will have none of His reproof. And there is one point of analogy between the case of Egypt and that of this present world which is especially deserving of attention; I mean the fact that the climax in either case is preceded by a succession of judgments. I feel persuaded, my dear brethren, that we ought to be prepared for an outpouring of Divine judgments upon the earth, the effect of which shall be, as in the case of Egypt, the hardening of the men of the earth against the Lord and against His anointed (Rev 9:20-21; Luk 21:35-36).
II. But God had a people in Egypt. They were in Egypt, but they were not of it; differing in their origin, their customs, their laws, their worship, and their God. They were the people of Jehovah; His by covenant arrangement; His chosen ones, His own. And why were they chosen? Was it because of their own goodness? because they were better than the other nations? No; for they were a stiff-necked people. Why, then, were they chosen? Simply because He loved them, and took them to Himself out of all the nations of the earth. And so it is at the present time. The Lord has a people in the world, but yet not of the world. Ye are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. But if He has loved His people, He has made them to differ from Egypt. As they are His by sovereign grace, so also are they His by manifest consecration to Him and separation from the world. Their origin is from above. They are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
III. But what was the means by which the Israelites were saved from the judgment of Egypt? It was the sprinkled blood (Exo 12:12-13). And so if we escape the righteous judgment of God it can only be by the sprinkling of the blood of the Lamb–the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (1Pe 1:19). Outside of Christ is wrath, in Him is perfect peace and safety. Not that this sprinkled blood is the exciting cause of Gods love unto His people. No; He needed not this inducement. God did not love the children of Israel because the blood was sprinkled on their houses; no, the blood was sprinkled there because He loved them. They misunderstand the doctrine of the atonement who represent it as appeasing a God of vengeance and stimulating Him to mercy. God is love.
IV. The israelites were commanded to feast upon the lamb. The lamb was to be the food of them for whom his blood was sprinkled. And what is the spiritual food supplied to the Church of God? It is the Lamb that was slain (Joh 6:57). If we would have spiritual strength to do the work of God we can derive it only by feeding on, that is, by habitually contemplating and confiding in the work of Jesus. A living faith in Him will appropriate Him. And when the Passover is called a feast we are reminded that those who feed on Jesus have in Him not only necessaries, but abundance; not only salvation, but peace and happiness and joy–fat things full of marrow, wines on the lees well refined (Isa 25:6). You see we are supposed to be ever feasting. And if our souls are not abundantly satisfied, as with marrow and fatness, the fault is entirely our own. The provision is made; all things are ready; everything that the hospitality of eternal love, aided by the counsels of infinite wisdom and the resources of infinite power could procure to make glad the shiners heart. Why do we go so heavily on our way? Why have we so little peace and joy? It is because we do not feed, as we should, upon the Lamb. We do not make Him our daily bread, and incorporate Him, by a living faith, with our souls. And mark, the whole of the paschal lamb was eaten; not one particle of it was to be left. Tis thus the Saviour gives Himself altogether to be His peoples food; it is not a part, but the whole of a precious Christ that is provided for us. All the holiness of His life, all the devotedness of His death, all the efficacy of His blood, all the power of His resurrection–the dignity of His ascension–the influence of His intercession, and the glory of His coming again; everything He does–He has–He is; the whole is given unto us to feast upon; and we need it all. I must have Him all to meet the exigency of my case, the necessities of my soul.
V. But let us remark the adjuncts of this feast. They were to eat it with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs; with staves in their hands and shoes on their feet. Each particular is significant. Are they to eat it with unleavened bread? If we would have communion with Jesus it must be in the Spirit. The carnal mind cannot find enjoyment in Him; and if we are walking after the flesh we cannot feed on Him. We must put it out of our houses, so as not to follow or be led by it. Again, too, the bitter herbs. Oh! how significant is this! The paschal feast is not a feast of self-indulgence; it is not to gratify the carnal mind. They that feed on Jesus must deny themselves, and take up the cross and follow Him. The path He leads in is not that of self-gratification and carnal ease. If these be the objects we pursue we are not–we cannot be feeding on the Lamb (Gal 2:20). It is impossible for the true believer to escape the taste of the bitter herbs. The very principles which actuate him, the motives of which he is conscious, the tastes implanted in his mind are such as to render his life in this world a scene of constant trial. There are trials peculiar to the Christian which others have not, and cannot even understand. Beloved, let us search our hearts diligently; let us examine our motives. Are we indeed sincere before God? Are we really humbled before the Cross, and has every other shadow of dependence been put away? And are we dressed, too, in the garb of pilgrims? Or rather have we the pilgrims heart? Or are our thoughts and affections given to the things of earth–the flesh-pots of Egypt? (J. B. Lowe, B. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. The Lord’s passover.] See this largely explained in the notes on Ex 12:21-27.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
5. the Lord’s passover(SeeExo 12:2; Exo 12:14;Exo 12:18). The institution of thepassover was intended to be a perpetual memorial of the circumstancesattending the redemption of the Israelites, while it had a typicalreference to a greater redemption to be effected for God’s spiritualpeople. On the first and last days of this feast, the people wereforbidden to work [Lev 23:7;Lev 23:8]; but while on theSabbath they were not to do any work, on feast days they werepermitted to dress meatand hence the prohibition is restricted to”no servile work.” At the same time, those two days weredevoted to “holy convocation”special seasons of socialdevotion. In addition to the ordinary sacrifices of every day, therewere to be “offerings by fire” on the altar (see Nu28:19), while unleavened bread was to be eaten in families allthe seven days (see 1Co 5:8).
Le23:9-14. THE SHEAFOF FIRST FRUITS.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
In the fourteenth [day] of the first month,…. The month Nisan, the same with Abib, the month in which the children of Israel came out of Egypt, for which reason it was made the first month in the year, answering to part of our March and part of April; and for the same reason was the passover kept at this time, as follows:
at even [is] the Lord’s passover; that is, that was the time for the keeping the passover, even “between the two evenings”, as it may be rendered; from the sixth hour and onward, as Jarchi, trial is, after noon or twelve o’clock the middle of the day, as Gersom, when the sun began to decline; [See comments on Ex 12:6].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(5) In the fourteenth day of the first month.This month is called Abib in the Pentateuch (Exo. 13:4; Exo. 23:15; Deu. 16:1), and Nisan in the later books of Scripture (Neh. 2:1; Est. 3:7). The fourteenth day of this month is about the beginning of April. On this day, which was called both the preparation for the Passover (Joh. 19:14), and the first day of Passover, all handicraftsmen, with the exception of tailors, barbers, and laundresses, were obliged to relinquish work either from morning or from noon, according to the custom of the different places in Palestine. Leaven was only eaten till midday, and it had to be burned in the afternoon. The time for desisting from and burning the leaven was thus indicated: Two desecrated cakes of thanksgiving offerings were placed on a bench in the Temple; as long as they were thus exposed all the people ate leaven. When one of them was removed they abstained from eating, but did not burn it; but when the other was taken away all the people began burning the leaven. It was on this day that every Israelite who was not infirm, ceremonially defiled, uncircumcised, or beyond fifteen miles from the walls of Jerusalem, had to appear before the Lord in the holy city, with an offering in proportion to his means (Exo. 23:5; Deu. 16:16-17). Those who came from the country were gratuitously accommodated by the inhabitants with the necessary apartments (Luk. 22:10-12; Mat. 26:18), and the guests in acknowledgment of the hospitality they received left to their hosts the skins of the paschal lambs, and the vessels which they used in their religious ceremonies. Josephus, who was an eye-witness to the fact, tells us that at the Passover, in the reign of Nero, there were 2,700,000 people, when 256,500 lambs were sacrificed. Most of the Jews must therefore have encamped in tents without the walls of the city, as the Mohammedan pilgrims now do at Mecca. It was for this reason that the Romans took great precaution, using both force and conciliatory measures, during the festivals (Mat. 26:5; Luk. 13:1).
At even.Or, in the evening, as the Authorised version renders this phrase in the parallel passage (Exo. 12:6), literally, denotes between the two evenings. The interpretation of this expression constituted one of the differences between the Sadducees and the Pharisees during the second Temple, and seriously affected the time for offering up the paschal lamb and the evening sacrifices. According to the Sadducees it denotes the time between the setting of the sun and the moment when the stars become visible, or when darkness sets in, i.e., between six and seven oclock, a space of about one hour and twenty minutes. According to the Pharisees, however, between the two evenings means from the afternoon to the disappearing of the sun. The first evening is from the time when the sun begins to decline towards the west, whilst the second is when it goes down and vanishes out of sight. This is the reason why the paschal lamb in the evening sacrifice began to be killed and the blood sprinkled at 12.30 p.m. This is more in harmony with the fact that the large number of sacrifices on this day could only be offered up in the longer period of time.
The Lords passover.Also called the feast of unleavened bread. (See Lev. 23:6.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE PASSOVER, Lev 23:4-8.
5. First month This was called Abib previous to the Babylonish captivity, and Nisan afterward. The passover and the exode from Egypt were events of so great importance that the Israelites were instructed to reckon the ecclesiastical year from that point of time. Exo 12:2. The months were lunar, and began at the announcement of the new moon. The cycle of religious feasts, commencing with the passover, depended not simply on the month, but on the moon; the fourteenth of Nisan was coincident with the full moon.
The Lord’s passover Because the Lord passed by the blood-stained doors of the Hebrews when he smote the firstborn of Egypt. Exo 12:6.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Passover ( Lev 23:5 ).
Lev 23:5
“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, is Yahweh’s passover.”
The first feast was the Passover which occurred on the fourteenth of Abib/Nisan (March/April), fourteen days after the new moon which marked the beginning of the new year as established in Egypt (Exo 12:2). This was in remembrance of their deliverance from Egypt when Yahweh ‘passed over’ their houses when he smote the firstborn of Egypt (Exo 12:2-14; Exo 12:21-36). Later the feast and the feast of unleavened bread would be seen as united together in one as ‘the Passover’ (Luk 22:1). Whatever happened in their future Israel never forgot how God had delivered them from Egypt.
At this feast over a thousand years later (Joh 19:14-18) God’s great Passover Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ would be offered as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world (Joh 1:29; 1Co 5:7).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Lev 23:5. Fourteenth day of the first month Concerning the passover, see Exodus 12 and Num 19:22 for the directions respecting the sacrifices mentioned Lev 23:8.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Lev 23:5 In the fourteenth [day] of the first month at even [is] the LORD’S passover.
Ver. 5. In the fourteenth day. ] See Trapp on “ Exo 12:18 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
first month: called in Pentateuch “Abib” (Exo 13:4; Exo 23:15; Exo 34:18. Deu 16:1); and “Nisan” in later books (Neh 2:1. Est 3:7) = about beginning of April.
at even: any time from sunset of one day till sunrise of the second day. Hebrew “between the evenings”.
the LORD’S [Hebrew. Jehovah.s]
passover. This is the first of the Feasts; Tabernacles is the seventh. First, redemption; last, rest. Redemption is the title to rest.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Passover
The Passover, Lev 23:4; Lev 23:5. This feast is memorial and brings into view redemption, upon which all blessing rests. Typically, it stands for “Christ our passover, sacrificed for us.” 1Co 5:7.
first month i.e. April.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Exo 12:2-14, Exo 12:18, Exo 13:3-10, Exo 23:15, Num 9:2-7, Num 28:16, Deu 16:1-8, Jos 5:10, 2Ch 35:18, 2Ch 35:19, Mat 26:17, Mar 14:12, Luk 22:7, 1Co 5:7, 1Co 5:8
Reciprocal: Exo 12:6 – fourteenth Exo 12:11 – it is the Exo 12:14 – by an ordinance Exo 12:15 – Seven Exo 23:14 – General 2Ki 23:21 – as it is written 2Ch 35:17 – the feast Eze 45:21 – ye shall Luk 2:41 – the Luk 22:1 – General Joh 6:4 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 23:5. In the fourteenth day See Exo 12:18. At even For all the Jewish festivals were kept from evening to evening, their day beginning in the evening. Is the Lords passover Exo 12:11. Though Moses had often before mentioned this, and several other of their solemnities, he here sets them down all together, according to the order of time in which they were kept, that this chapter might serve the Jews for a general table of all their religious festivals.