ACCRETIONS

After Israel had settled in the Promised Land, certain changes were made and various accretions came about in observing the Passover. They no longer partook of the feast in a standing position, or equipped for a journey, for they were then in the land that God had given them. The first-century celebrants customarily ate it while lying on their left side, with the head resting on the left hand. This explains how one of Jesus’ disciples could be “reclining in front of Jesus’ bosom.” (John 13:23) Wine was not used at the Passover in Egypt nor was there any command given by Jehovah for its use with the festival. This practice was introduced later on. Jesus did not condemn the use of wine with the meal, but drank wine with his apostles and afterward offered a cup to his disciples for them to drink as he introduced the Lord’s Evening Meal, the Memorial.—Luke 22:15-18, 20.

According to traditional Jewish sources, red wine was used and four cups were handed around, although the service was not restricted to four cups. Psalms 113 to 118 were sung during the meal, concluding with Psalm 118. It is likely that it was one of these psalms that Jesus and his apostles sang in concluding the Lord’s Evening Meal.—Matt. 26:30.

CUSTOMS AT PASSOVER TIME

Great preparations were made in Jerusalem when the festival was due, as it was a requirement of the Law that every male Israelite and every male of the circumcised alien residents observe the Passover. (Num. 9:9-14) This meant that vast numbers would be making the journey to the city for some days in advance. They would come before the Passover in order to cleanse themselves ceremonially. (John 11:55) It is said that men were sent out about a month early to prepare the bridges and put the roads in good order for the convenience of the pilgrims. Since contact with a dead body rendered a person unclean, special precautions were taken to protect the traveler. As it was a practice to bury persons in the open field, if they died there, the graves were made conspicuous by being whitened a month ahead. This supplies background for Jesus’ words to the scribes and Pharisees, that they resembled “whitewashed graves.”—Matt. 23:27.

Accommodations were made available in the homes for those coming to Jerusalem for Passover observance. In an Oriental home all the rooms could be slept in and several persons could be accommodated in one room. Also, the flat roof of the house could be used. Added to this is the fact that numbers of the celebrants obtained accommodations outside the city walls, especially at Bethphage and Bethany, two villages on the slopes of the Mount of Olives.—Mark 11:1; 14:3.

QUESTIONS AS TO TIME ORDER

It was a question of defilement that gave rise to the words: “They themselves did not enter into the governor’s palace, that they might not get defiled but might eat the passover.” (John 18:28) These Jews considered it a defilement to enter into a Gentile dwelling. (Acts 10:28) This statement was made, however, “early in the day,” hence after the Passover meal had taken place. It is to be noted that at this time the entire period, including Passover day and the Festival of Unfermented Cakes that followed, was at times referred to as “Passover.” In the light of this fact, the well-known scholar, Alfred Edersheim, offers the following explanation: A voluntary peace offering was made on Passover and another, a compulsory one, on the next day, Nisan the fifteenth, the first day of the Festival of Unfermented Cakes. It was this second offering that the Jews were afraid they might not be able to eat if they contracted defilement in the judgment hall of Pilate.

“The first day of the Unfermented Cakes”

A question also arises in connection with the statement at Matthew 26:17: “On the first day of the Unfermented Cakes the disciples came up to Jesus, saying: ‘Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the passover?’” The expression “the first day” here could be rendered “the day before.” Concerning the use of the Greek word here translated “first,” a footnote on Matthew 26:17 in the New World Translation (1950 ed.) says: “Or, ‘The day before.’ This rendering of the Greek word πρῶτος [proʹtos] followed by the genitive case of the next word agrees with the sense and rendering of a like construction at John 1:15, namely, ‘He existed before [proʹtos] me.’ In late Greek proʹtos followed by the genitive case is sometimes used where we would expect proʹte·ros, before or earlier. [Liddell-Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon, 1948 Reprint, under πρῶτος.]” At this time Passover day had come to be generally considered as the first day of the Festival of Unfermented Cakes. So, then, the original Greek, harmonized with Jewish custom, allows for the question to have been asked of Jesus on the day before Passover.

“Preparation”

At John 19:14, the apostle John, describing the final part of Jesus’ trial before Pilate, says: “Now it was preparation of the passover; it was about the sixth hour [of the daytime, between 11 a.m. and noon].” This, of course, was after the time of the Passover meal, which had been eaten the night before. Similar expressions are found at verses 31 and 42. Here the Greek word pa·ra·skeu·eʹ is translated “preparation.” This word seems to mark, not the day preceding Nisan 14, but the day preceding the weekly sabbath, which, in this instance, was “a great one,” namely, not only a sabbath by virtue of being Nisan 15, the first day of the actual Festival of Unfermented Cakes, but also a weekly sabbath. This is understandable, since, as already stated, “Passover” was sometimes used to refer to the entire festival.—John 19:31; see PREPARATION.

PROPHETIC SIGNIFICANCE

The apostle Paul, in urging Christians to live clean lives, attributes pictorial significance to the Passover. He says: “For, indeed, Christ our passover has been sacrificed.” (1 Cor. 5:7) Here he likens Christ Jesus to the Passover lamb. John the Baptist pointed to Jesus, saying: “See, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) John may have had in mind the Passover lamb, or he could have been thinking of the male sheep that Abraham offered up instead of his own son Isaac, or the male lamb that was offered up upon God’s altar at Jerusalem each morning and evening.—Gen. 22:13; Ex. 29:38-42.

Certain features of the Passover observance were fulfilled by Jesus. One fulfillment lies in the fact that the blood on the houses in Egypt delivered the firstborn from destruction at the hands of the destroying angel. Paul speaks of anointed Christians as the congregation of the firstborn (Heb. 12:23), and of Christ as their deliverer through his blood. (1 Thess. 1:10; Eph. 1:7) No bones were to be broken in the Passover lamb. It had been prophesied of Jesus and was fulfilled at his death, that none of his bones were broken. (Ps. 34:20; John 19:36) Thus the Passover kept by the Jews for centuries was one of those things in which the Law provided a shadow of the things to come and pointed to Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God.”—Heb. 10:1; John 1:29.

PASTURE GROUNDS

Around each of the forty-eight Levite cities scattered in Israel pasture grounds (“pasture-lands,” Mo, Ro; “suburbs,” AV, Da) were designated. These were never to be sold, though houses in the cities could be sold and came under the Jubilee regulation.—Num. 35:2-5; Lev. 25:32-34; Josh. 21:41, 42.

The area of the pasture grounds was to be “from the wall of the city and out for a thousand cubits [about one-fourth of a mile, or 445 meters] all around.” But the next verse adds: “You must measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits” and so on in all four directions. (Num. 35:4, 5) Numerous suggestions have been offered to harmonize the two figures. Some have pointed out that the Septuagint reads “two thousand” in the first instance instead of “a thousand.” However, the Hebrew text as well as the Latin Vulgate and the Syriac Peshitta read “a thousand.” Jewish commentators have offered the possibility that the first thousand cubits (Num. 35:4) were open and used for olive yards and stalls for animals, while the second measurement (Num. 35:5) was for actual grazing or pasture grounds as well as for fields and vineyards, making a total of three thousand cubits on each side.

However, since this reads into the text thoughts that are not there expressed, another explanation seems more likely. Thus, some commentators believe the measurements to mean that the pastureland was determined by measuring out one thousand cubits from each of the four sides of the city, east, west, north and south. As to the two thousand cubits on each side, they believe the expression “outside the city” means that these two thousand cubits were not measured from the city walls outward but were the measurements of each of the four sides of the pasture area as measured along its perimeter. If so, this would mean that the space occupied by the “city in the middle” was not counted in the two thousand cubits measured. As shown in the following diagram, it can be seen that this would allow for harmonizing the two sets of measurements.

In Ezekiel’s temple vision the sanctuary was to have fifty cubits “as pasture ground on each side.” (Ezek. 45:2) The city “Jehovah Himself Is There” that the prophet saw in vision had pasture grounds of 250 cubits on each side. (Ezek. 48:16, 17, 35) Pasture grounds were mentioned in 1 Chronicles 5:16 in connection with “Sharon,” which some believe to have been a region or town E of the Jordan. The Hebrew word translated “pasture ground” in the above instances also appears at Ezekiel 27:28, where it is used in connection with Tyre, the city situated first on the coast and then on an island. In this instance the word has been rendered “coast” (Mo, JB), “countryside” (RS), “open country” (NW) and “rural districts” (Le), the prophecy thus perhaps indicating that those along the coast near Tyre would rejoice at her overthrow.

Flocks held an important place in the lives of many Israelites, requiring pasture grounds where sheep and goats could graze. (2 Sam. 7:8; 1 Chron. 4:39-41) Lack of pasturage for herds brought hardship. (Gen. 47:3, 4) Whereas, abundant grazing land contributed to a time of plenty and peace. (Isa. 30:23; Ps. 65:12, 13; 23:2) By extension, abandoned pasture ground would indicate complete desolation (Isa. 27:10), but restoration to peace and favor would be suggested by pasture grounds being used again. (Isa. 65:10; Jer. 23:3; 33:12; 50:19; Mic. 2:12) As sheep were led by a loving shepherd to pasture grounds where they were safe and had an abundance, so God’s people are guided and cared for by Jehovah.—Ps. 79:13; 95:7; 100:3; Ezek. 34:31.

[Diagram on page 1275]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

1,000 cubits . .1,000 cubits

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1,000 cubits 800 cubits 1,000 cubits

CITY

. .

. .

. .

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2,800 cubits-800 cubits [size of city] = 2,000 cubits

PATARA

(Patʹa·ra).

The Lycian seaport where the apostle Paul and his associates, likely in 56 C.E., transferred to a boat sailing for Phoenicia. (Acts 21:1, 2) Patara is today represented by ancient ruins at the village of Gelemish on the mountainous SW coast of Asia Minor and lies several miles E of the mouth of the Xanthos (Koca) River. It served as a port of call for ships from Italy, Egypt, Syria and other places, and was the primary harbor for cities along the Xanthos river valley.

At Acts 21:1 certain ancient manuscripts add “and Myra” after Patara. If this addition is correct, then the ship on which Paul sailed from Miletus either passed Patara or put into port there, with the actual transfer to another boat taking place at Myra, not Patara.

PATHROS

(Pathʹros) [perhaps, the Southern Land].

Pathros is regularly associated with Egypt (Hebrew, Mits·raʹyim). (Ezek. 30:13, 14) Most authorities connect the name Pathros with the Egyptian p;-t;-rsy (the actual pronunciation is unknown), a term evidently designating Upper Egypt. Upper Egypt generally designates the region of the Nile valley running from a point somewhat S of Memphis on up to Syene (modern Aswan) at the first cataract of the Nile. Some scholars, however, prefer to include a “Middle Egypt” in this section and believe that Pathros relates more closely to the Thebaid, that is, the region of Upper Egypt around the ancient city of Thebes, some 300 miles (c. 482 kilometers) S of the Delta region of Lower Egypt. The text at Isaiah 11:11, which foretells the return of Israelite exiles from ‘Egypt (Mizraim), Pathros and Cush,’ would seem to corroborate the placing of Pathros somewhere in Upper Egypt, with Cush (Ethiopia) bordering it on the S. An Assyrian inscription of King Esar-haddon gives a similar lineup, referring to “Musur, Paturisi and Cush.”

Ezekiel 29:14 calls Pathros the “land of their [the Egyptians’] origin.” The traditional Egyptian view, as recounted by Herodotus (ii, 4, 15, 99), apparently corroborates this, as it makes Upper Egypt, and particularly the region of Thebes, the seat of the first Egyptian kingdom, under a king whom Herodotus calls “Menes,” a name not found in Egyptian records. Diodorus Siculus (first century B.C.E.) records a similar view (i, 50). The Egyptian tradition set forth by these Greek historians may be a feeble echo of the true history presented in the Bible regarding Mizraim (whose name came to stand for Egypt) and his descendants, including Pathrusim.—Gen. 10:13, 14.

Following the desolation of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, a remnant of the Jews fled into Egypt. Among the places listed in which they dwelt are Migdol, Tahpanhes, Noph (all cities of Lower Egypt) and “the land of Pathros.” (Jer. 44:1) Here they engaged in idolatrous worship, resulting in Jehovah’s condemnation of them and the warning of a coming conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar. (Jer. 44:15, 26-30)