Passover lamb
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Πάσχα (páscha) names the Passover observance and, depending on context, its meal or sacrificial lamb. The Synoptic Gospels locate Jesus' betrayal and crucifixion within Passover time and show Him deliberately preparing to eat the meal with His disciples.
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Full entry for πάσχα (G3957) · Open the biblical lexicon
Πάσχα (páscha) names the Passover observance and, depending on context, its meal or sacrificial lamb. The Synoptic Gospels locate Jesus' betrayal and crucifixion within Passover time and show Him deliberately preparing to eat the meal with His disciples.
The BSB source-word alignment has 29 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Passover (25), Passover lamb (3), [the] Passover (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 26:2. Its strongest book concentrations include John (10), Luke (7), Mark (5), Matthew (4).
Πάσχα (páscha) names the Passover observance and, depending on context, its meal or sacrificial lamb. The Synoptic Gospels locate Jesus' betrayal and crucifixion within Passover time and show Him deliberately preparing to eat the meal with His disciples. John marks the feast as the horizon of Jesus' hour, His return to the Father, and His love for His own to the end.
Hebrews recalls Moses keeping the Passover and applying blood so that the destroyer would not touch Israel's firstborn. The term carries Israel's remembered deliverance from slavery, judgment averted through appointed blood, a gathered covenant meal, and the festival calendar. Yet the noun alone does not explain every relationship between Exodus and Jesus' death.
Each Gospel's chronology, meal scene, and theological emphasis must be heard before broader typological synthesis is made.
Πάσχα names Passover as feast, meal, or sacrificial observance. The Gospels place Jesus' final meal, betrayal, hour, and crucifixion in that setting, while Hebrews recalls the first Passover kept by faith under the protection of sprinkled blood.
“You know that the Passover is two days away, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
Jesus joins the approaching Passover to the Son of Man being handed over for crucifixion, placing His passion within Israel's feast of deliverance and judgment.
And whichever house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is My guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’
The Teacher's arranged guest room shows that Jesus enters the Passover meal knowingly and purposefully with His disciples rather than being overtaken by events.
So they went and found it just as Jesus had told them. And they prepared the Passover.
The disciples find matters exactly as Jesus said and prepare the Passover, highlighting obedient participation in a feast received from Israel's Scriptures.
It was now just before the Passover Feast, and Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the very end.
Before Passover, Jesus knows His hour has come and loves His own to the end; the feast frames the foot washing and farewell with purposeful, self-giving love.
By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch Israel’s own firstborn.
Hebrews commends Moses for keeping Passover and the sprinkling of blood by faith, trusting God's warning and appointed protection before judgment fell.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Jewish festival commemorating liberation from Egypt; also denotes the paschal meal and lamb sacrificed annually.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 29 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
the feast of Passover, the Passover lamb
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Read versethe feast of Passover, the Passover lamb
Read versethe feast of Passover, the Passover lamb
Read versethe feast of Passover, the Passover lamb
Read versethe feast of Passover, the Passover lamb
Read versethe feast of Passover, the Passover lamb
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Read versethe feast of Passover, the Passover lamb
Read versethe feast of Passover, the Passover lamb
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 29 lexical occurrence verses.
Connects Jesus’ death to Exodus redemption.
Connects Christ’s death to Exodus redemption.
Hebrew roots and equivalents that share conceptual or etymological ground with this Greek word.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Passover teaches God's people to remember salvation as a deliverance God provides under the shadow of judgment. Moses keeps the first observance by faith, applying the blood God appointed rather than inventing another refuge. The Gospels bring Jesus' passion into this scriptural world. He predicts His betrayal as Passover approaches, arranges the meal, sends disciples to prepare it, and enters His hour knowingly.
John places love at the center: Jesus loves His own to the end as He moves toward the cross and the Father. The canonical connection to Christ is therefore richer than a loose symbol. It includes bondage and release, death and protection, a meal shared by God's people, faithful remembrance, and the willing self-giving of the Son. Teachers should honor those connections while allowing Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Hebrews to make their own inspired emphases.
Matt.26.2
Πάσχα is an indeclinable loanword derived through Aramaic from Hebrew. Context determines whether it denotes the festival, the meal, the observance, or the animal eaten. English translation may use “Passover” for more than one of these senses.
The Exodus Passover becomes a recurring memorial of redemption, shapes Israel's festival life, and supplies essential background for Jesus' passion and the church's proclamation of His covenant-making death.