Easter
in the
Translation Error?
The King James Version of the Bible
mentions Easter—but only once!
Why do other translations say Passover?
Which day should Christians observe?
As should be the
case, many look to the Bible as their main source for guidance on how to please
God, including on the subject of Easter.
But among these
well-meaning people are many who wrongly assume that the ending of the Old Covenant also ended every law
associated with it.
They have been
led to believe that the “old law” was replaced with a new standard—heralded by
Jesus Christ at His death.
This is a major
part of the thinking that has led so many to mistakenly assume that Easter has
replaced Passover.
For proof that
Easter is the observance for Christians, some cite the King James Version of
the Bible in which one New Testament verse mentions “Easter.”
Let us look at
this verse and see what it really says.
“And when he had
apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of
soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring
him forth to the people” (Acts
12:4, KJV, emphasis added throughout)..
In the 1611
version of the King James Bible, this is the only verse where “Easter”
is used.
William Tyndale’s
translation is even older, completed in 1522, and he used “Easter” in many New
Testament verses.
Yet most modern
translations do not use “Easter” in any verse!
What is the
controversy surrounding this word, and why do almost all modern translations
say “Passover”
if Easter is truly the day Christians should observe?
A problem with translations
Let
us start by looking at the original Greek word that the early translators had
to translate into English.
The Greek New
Testament uses the word “pascha” or “πάσχα” in this verse.
What does “pascha” mean? How was it viewed
by the scholars King James assembled to produce his English translation?
Long before
Tyndale’s Bible, translators working in Alexandria in the third century began
translating the Old Testament Scriptures into Greek.
When they came to
the Hebrew word “pesach” or פֶּ֥סַח, there was no equivalent word in Greek.
The Greeks never observed the Passover, and therefore did not have
that word in their language. To avoid mistranslating it, the scholars transliterated it
into a Greek form of the original Hebrew.
To transliterate means “to transcribe (a
word, etc., in one alphabet) into corresponding letters of another alphabet” (Collins English Dictionary, 2003).
In other words,
it is not a translation, but a representation in another alphabet.
In this case, it
was changing the letters for the Hebrew פֶּ֥סַח (pesach)
into the corresponding Greek letters to arrive at πάσχα (pascha).
Many early
translators of the Bible into Latin and English chose to use the word “Easter” instead of the word “Passover.”
Nearly a century
before the King James Version, Tyndale started his translation of the New
Testament from the Greek, which included “pascha,” the transliteration of “pesach.”
When he came
across this transliterated word, he chose not to transliterate it in English.
Because the season of the Passover was near the time of Easter, Tyndale opted
to use “Easter,” even though he knew there was a significant
difference between these festivals.
This Greek word pascha occurs 29 times in the New
Testament, and Tyndale translated this word as
- Easter 14
times;
- esterlambe (Easter
Lamb) 11 times;
- paschall lambe (Passover
Lamb) three times; and
- esterfest (Easter
Festival) once.
Tyndale
translated the Old Testament after translating the New Testament.
In working with
the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, he was again faced
with this same word, “pascha.”
Inconsistent with
his work on the New Testament, he opted for a new word in English, “Passover,” to be used in
all cases in the Old
Testament.
“Passover” truly
is more accurate, for it is the meaning of the original Hebrew.
The King James Bible
Why
did the translators of the King James Bible translate as “Passover” all 28 other occurrences of “pascha” in the New Testament except for this
one verse, Acts 12:4, where they translated it “Easter?”
Why didn’t they
translate it as “Passover” here too?
Many scholars in
researching this puzzling question conclude that it must have been an
oversight, and that it would have been changed if it had been caught prior to
printing.
Nearly every
scholar today understands that the early New Testament Church kept the Passover
and not the modern holiday observance of Easter.
Albert
Barnes wrote in his commentary: “There
never was a more absurd or unhappy translation than this. The original is
simply after the Passover, meta to pasca [μετα το πάσχα]. The word Easter now
denotes the festival observed by many Christian churches in honour of the
resurrection of the Saviour. But the original has no reference to that; nor is
there the slightest evidence that any such festival was observed at the time
when this book was written. The translation is not only unhappy, as it does not
convey at all the meaning of the original, but because it may contribute to
foster an opinion that such a festival was observed in the time of the
apostles.
“The
word Easter is of Saxon origin, and is supposed to be
derived from Eostre, the goddess of love, or the Venus of the
North, in honour of whom a festival was celebrated by our pagan ancestors in
the month of April (Webster). As this festival coincided with the
Passover of the Jews, and with the feast observed by Christians in honour of
the resurrection of Christ, the name came to be used to denote the latter. In
the old Anglo-Saxon service-books the term Easter is used frequently to translate the word Passover. In the translation by Wicliffe [Wycliffe],
the word paske, i.e., passover, is used. But Tindal
[Tyndale] and Coverdale used the word Easter, and hence it has very improperly crept into
our [King James Version] translation”
(Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible,
1798-1870, comments on Acts 12:4).
New King James Version
The
New King James Version of the Bible was translated over a period of seven years
and was completed in 1982.
The publishers
wanted to preserve the beauty and literary style of the original King James
Version.
But the NKJV
translators wanted to make necessary corrections in vocabulary and grammar too.
They and most
other modern translators recognize that “Easter” was an inaccurate
translation of “pascha” in Acts 12:4, and they use the word “Passover” instead.
Rather than
supporting the Christian observance of Easter, Acts 12:4 corroborates the other
28 uses of the word “pascha” in the New Testament to show us that
the early Church of God observed the Passover.
The 29 references
cover the span from Christ’s death through the later writing of the apostle
Paul.
It is abundantly
clear that the New Testament Church of God observed the Passover—not Easter!
How about you?
Did
you know that this was Jesus Christ’s teaching and that neither He nor the
early Church observed Easter?
Do you know why
modern Christianity observes Easter instead of what Jesus did and taught? Are
you aware of the fact that there are more festivals God commanded, which are
just as significantly different from modern Christian holidays as Passover is
from Easter?
The answers might
surprise you!
Perhaps
you are struggling with a big decision or wondering how your eternal future
will play out.
Why
not talk to the God of the universe and let Him work in your behalf?
He says, “I
will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with
my eye upon you" (Psalm 32:8).
Ask
God to show you what to do. Pray the following prayer:
“Heavenly Father,
I admit that I am a sinner and my sins have
separated me from You. I now want to turn away from my past sinful life and
begin a new life with You.
Please forgive me. I now receive your Son,
Jesus Christ as my Savior, my Master and my Lord. I believe and confess that
Jesus Christ died for my sins, was buried, and rose from the dead.
I want to receive
all that Jesus Christ has provided for me as my Savior. Your Word says, ‘Whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved’ (Romans
10:13).
I believe and confess that Jesus Christ is
the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no man comes unto the Father, but by Him.
Lord Jesus, I pray and ask You, to come
into my heart and be Lord of my life. I thank You that you have given me
eternal life, and according to Your Word, I am born again.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of
the Holy Spirit Who is in me now. I surrender my life to You. I promise to
study Your Word – the Bible.
Use me for Your glory.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
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“Shout To The Lord”
My Jesus, my Savior,
Lord, there is none like You;
All of my days
I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love.
My comfort, my shelter,
Tower of refuge and strength;
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
Let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the (King);
Mountains bow down (mountains bow down) and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name.
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands,
Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand,
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.
(My Jesus) To my Savior (my Savior),
Oh, Lord there is nothing like You;
All of my days
I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love.
You're my comfort (my comfort), and my shelter, yes (my shelter),
You're my tower of refuge and strength;
Let every breath, and all that I am
Never cease to worship You.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
Let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the King;
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name.
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands,
Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand,
Nothing compares to the promise I have in...
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
Let us sing, yeah,
Power and majesty, praise to the King;
Mountains bow down (mountains bow down and the seas will roar)
At the sound of Your name.
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands,
Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand,
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You...
(Nothing compares to the promise I have in You...)
Oh, nothing compares to the promise I have in you.
.
“Shout To The Lord”
Darlene Joyce Zschech
From the Album KISS OF HEAVEN
Darlene
Zschech, Annie Garratt, Hayley Law, Melodie Wagner, Tarryn Stokes and Taya
Smith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b305km03b8RenielCastro
CLICK
HERE . . . to view complete playlist . . .
lyrics
My Jesus, my Savior,Lord, there is none like You;
All of my days
I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love.
My comfort, my shelter,
Tower of refuge and strength;
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
Let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the (King);
Mountains bow down (mountains bow down) and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name.
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands,
Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand,
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.
(My Jesus) To my Savior (my Savior),
Oh, Lord there is nothing like You;
All of my days
I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love.
You're my comfort (my comfort), and my shelter, yes (my shelter),
You're my tower of refuge and strength;
Let every breath, and all that I am
Never cease to worship You.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
Let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the King;
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name.
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands,
Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand,
Nothing compares to the promise I have in...
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
Let us sing, yeah,
Power and majesty, praise to the King;
Mountains bow down (mountains bow down and the seas will roar)
At the sound of Your name.
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands,
Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand,
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You...
(Nothing compares to the promise I have in You...)
Oh, nothing compares to the promise I have in you.
lifehopeandtruth.com
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