Acts 12:4 "Easter" is correct and here's why.

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Easter is the correct word in Acts 12:4 and this is why

Note: You can now listen to a teaching video about Easter in Acts 12:4 and why it is the correct word on Youtube -

The Question Concerning Easter / Passover by Will Kinney - YouTube

Is the word "Easter" an error in the King James Bible?

In Acts 12:4 we are told of Peter being taken prisoner by Herod. "Then were the days of unleavened bread. 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."

Definition and origin of the English word "Easter"

Webster's 1828 dictionary Easter - A festival of the christian church observed in commemoration of our Savior's resurrection. It answers to the pascha or passover of the Hebrews, and most nations still give it this name, pascha, pask, paque.

American Heritage Dictionary of the English language 5th edition, 2011 - Easter: Derivatives include East, Easter, aurora, aur - See page 2037. Easter, from Old English eastre, Easter, from Germanic austron - dawn. - the direction of the sunrise. 1.b. Ostmark - from the Old High German ostan, east. Both are from Germanic aust - eastern. 1. A Christian feast commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus. 2. The day on which this feast is observed, the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or next after the vernal equinox. --- Page 2037 aur - to shine (said especially of the dawn)

Merriam Webster's New World College Dictionary, 4th edition. Easter - Middle English estre, from Old English ēastre; akin to Old High German ōstarun (plural) Easter, Old English ēast east

The Greek word paska (τὸ πάσχ&#945 means Easter today. The Oxford Greek-English Learner's Dicionary 2012 lists the word (τὸ πάσχ&#945 and the very first definition is Easter. The second one is Passover. The same is true of the Collins Greek-English Dicitonary 2003, and in Divry's Modern English-Greek Dictionary 1991. All three of these modern Greek-English Dictionaries list Easter as the first meaning, and Passover as the second meaning.

Here is an online Greek translation site that is very easy to use. Just click on the link and go to the site. On the left hand side you can type in the Greek word Pascha, or on the right hand side you can type in the word Easter. See what the Greek word means, and how to say Easter in Greek.

?????? - LEXICON: Greek-English-Greek dictionary


There are two very different views among King James Bible believers concerning the meaning and significance of the word Easter as found in Acts 12:4. One view is that Easter was in fact the name of the Anglo-Saxon pagan goddess of spring and that Herod was waiting till after this pagan holiday was over before he was going to have Peter killed. There are however many serious problems with this view. Number one is the fact that the pagan goddess was named Eoestre or Eastre or some say Ishtar or Astarte (all different gods and goddesses), but the name is not Easter.



The King James Bible translators did not have some sort of a collective "senior moment", and though they translated the Greek word paska as Passover some 28 times, suddenly they had some sort of a memory slip and make it Easter this one time in Acts 12:4. And they also knew how to spell English words correctly. There is no way that they really meant to say Eostre instead of Easter.

If the King James Bible had read: "intending after Ishtar" or "intending after Eoestre", they might have a case for their argument. But it clearly does not read that way. It says: "intending after EASTER to bring him forth to the people."

Let's look at it from the Greek side of things. The Greek word used here is clearly πάσχα or paska. There is NO way on God's green earth that the Greek word πάσχα can possibly mean anything remotely like "Eoestre" or "Ishtar". The King James Bible translators were not morons. They knew exactly what this word means and it means EASTER, particularly when it applies to the yearly celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that is what they wrote. The second major problem with this view is that Herod was an Edomite and probably a Roman citizen, but by no stretch of the imagination was he an Anglo-Saxon.

The term Anglo-Saxon designates the population in Britain partly descended from the Germanic tribes who migrated from Europe and settled the south and east of the island beginning in the early 5th century, and the period after their initial settlement through their creation of the English nation up to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon era denotes the period of English history between about 550 and 1066. The term can be used for the language, also known as Old English, that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons in England (and parts of south-eastern Scotland) between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century, after which it is known as Middle English.

So it would be more than a little difficult to have a Roman/Edomite king in the first century celebrating an Anglo-Saxon pagan goddess who was never acknowledged among the Romans and in fact did not even exist until some 4 to 5 centuries later. About the only thing the term Easter and the Anglo-Saxon Eoestre could possibly have in common is that they are both derived from the Middle English word "east" meaning simply the East. Aside from that, it's a theory totally devoid of and contrary to all known historical facts.

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Here is part of a very long sermon given by Lancelot Andrews, one of the original KJB translators, in 1618

Lancelot Andrewes Works, Sermons, Volume Two (In case you don't know, Lancelot Andrewes was one of the King James Bible translators.)
Sermons of the Resurrection Preached Upon Easter-Day, 1618.
Preached before King James, at Whitehall, on Sunday the Fifth of April, A. D. MDCXVIII - 404- 428
Transcribed by Dr. Marianne Dorman - AD 2002
Text 1 Corinthians xi:16
Lancelot Andrewes Works, Sermons, Volume Two

Tyndale also translated several N.T. passages as "the Easterlamb" instead of "the Passover lamb". Clearly he was not referring to some mythical pagan goddess called Eostre. If people would actually do some research on the Eostre thingy, and not just believe what men like Hisslop have said, there is a lot of doubt that such a thing even existed or was practiced.

1 Corinthians 5:7

Tyndale 1534 - “Pourge therfore the olde leven that ye maye be newe dowe as ye are swete breed. For Christ OURE ESTERLAMBE is offered vp for vs.”

Coverdale 1535 - “Pourge out therfore the olde leuen, that ye maye be new dowe, like as ye are swete bred. For we also haue an EASTER LAMBE, which is Christ, that is offred for vs.”

Matthew’s Bible 1549 - “For Christ oure EASTERLAMBE is offered vp for vs.”

There is NO way on earth that the underlying Greek word paska can even remotely be translated as Eostre or Ashteroth. It has nothing at all to do with these things. Never did; never will. I think it was out of some misguided attempt to try to defend the KJB's "Easter" that some over active imaginations came up with this Eostre thing as a possible explanation. But it is entirely wrong at every level.

Had it said Eostre and not Easter, they may have had a point of some kind. But it doesn't say that, does it. No, the KJB and previous English bibles say Easter, and even in places where it wasn't correct to do so - like when they place Easter in the place of Passover. But here in Acts 12:4 it makes sense, because it is the only post resurrection mention of the paska, which for the Christian is now Easter.

Tyndale also translated several N.T. passages as "the Easterlamb" instead of "the Passover lamb". Clearly he was not referring to some mythical pagan goddess called Eostre. If people would actually do some research on the Eostre thingy, and not just believe what men like Hisslop have said, there is a lot of doubt that such a thing even existed or was practiced.

The second view, and the one being increasingly accepted among King James Bible believers who have done a little more research into this matter, is that it really means Easter as Christians all over the world in many languages understand the word - a yearly celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

For another brother's excellent study on the meaning of Easter as found in Acts 12:4 see his article here at KJV For Today - ?Easter? or ?Passover? in Acts 12:4? - King James Version Today

And here is an excellent study on the use of Easter in Acts 12:4 by Oakwood Baptist Church. I think this brother has hit on the right reason why Herod wanted to wait till "after Easter to bring Peter forth to the people."

Easter Or Passover In Acts 12:4 | Oakwood Baptist Church



The Greek word translated as Easter is pascha. Some say the word should only be translated as Passover and not Easter. The KJV is not alone in translating this word as Easter. The Tyndale 1525, Coverdale 1535, Cranmer's bible (The Great Bible) 1540, Matthew's Bible 1549, Bishop's Bible 1568, all preceding the King James Bible, Mace's New Testament 1729. Martin Luther also translated this word as Easter in 1545, and the German Luther version of 1912 also reads Easter (Ostern). The German word for Passover is a completely different word. In German today they express Happy Easter by saying "Frohe Ostern".

Likewise the 2009 Romanian Fidela Bible reads Easter in Acts 12:4 - Pasti. Just go to a good Romanian dictionary or translation site and type in the word Pasti; the translation is "Easter". Romanian - Paste Fericit! = Happy Easter!

The Romanian Fidela Bible of 2009 reads in Acts 12:4 - "Și după ce l-a prins, l-a pus în închisoare şi l-a predat la patru grupe de patru soldaţi să îl păzească, vrând, după Paşti, să îl ducă înaintea poporului." And the translation is: "And when caught, put in jail and handed him over to four groups of four soldiers to guard him, wanting after EASTER to bring him before the people."

A note regarding Fidela's (Romanian) use of "Paşti" in Acts 12:4. - The alternative spelling "Paşti" was used to match the KJB "Easter" [and of course Acts 12:4 is the only place where "Paşti" is used in Fidela], whereas the word used for Passover in Fidela is "paşte". There is no other way to keep them distinct in Romanian.



The Geneva New Testament was first published in 1557 and read "Easter" in Acts 12:4- "entending after EASTER to bringe him forth unto the people". You can see the 1557 Geneva Bible at this site here:

English Hexapla 1841. Greek New Testament according to Scholtz with 6 ancient English translations: Wiclif 1380, Tyndale 1534, Cranmer 1539, Geneva 1557, Rheims 1582, Authorised 1611

When the Geneva Old Testament was published in 1560, the New Testament was revised and at that time "Easter" was changed to "passover." Likewise the modern KJV 21st Century Version 1994 and the Third Millenium Bible 1998 both read "after Easter" in Acts 12:4.

The Oxford English dictionary tells us that "Easter is one of the great festivals of the Christian church, commemorating the resurrection of Christ, and corresponding to the Jewish Passover, the name of which (Easter) it bears in most of the European languages.

Greek -Καλό πάσχα (Kaló pásha)= Happy Easter; Hebrew - pe'sah; Latin - Prospera Pascha sit = Happy Easter; French - Joyeuses Pâques = Happy Easter; Danish - God påske = Happy Easter; Russian - Пасха; Romanian - Paste Fericit! = Happy Easter; Portuguese - Feliz Páscoa = Happy Easter; Italian - Buona Pasqua = Happy Easter; Indonesian - Selamat Paskah = Happy Easter; Albanian - Gëzuar Pashkët = Happy Easter; Catalan (Spoken in Spain) Bona Pasqua = Happy Easter; Chamorro - Felis Påsgua = Happy Easter; Corsican - Bona Pasqua = Happy Easter; Dutch - Vrolijk Pasen = Happy Easter; Galician - Boas Pascuas = Happy Easter; Hawaiian - Hau ʻoli Pakoa = Happy Easter; Modern Hebrew - chag pascha same'ach = Happy Easter; Icelandic - Gleðilega páska = Happy Easter; Norwegian - God påske = Happy Easter; Swahili - Heri kwa sikukuu ya PASAKA = Happy Easter; Tagalog - Maligayang PASKO ng pagkabuhay = Happy Easter; Turkish - PASKALYA yortunuz kutlu olsun = Happy Easter; Welsh - Pasg Hapus = Happy Easter; Zulu - IPHASIKA elijabulayo = Happy Easter; Spanish - Feliz pascua = Happy Easter."

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The Encyclopedia Britannica relates concerning the origin of the word Easter: -"The English word Easter, which parallels the German word Ostern, is of uncertain origin. One view, expounded by the Venerable Bede in the 8th century, was that it derived from Eostre, or Eostrae, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility. This view presumes—as does the view associating the origin or Christmas on December 25 with pagan celebrations of the winter equinox—that Christians appropriated pagan names and holidays for their highest festivals. Given the determination with which Christians combated all forms of paganism, this appears a rather dubious presumption. There is now widespread consensus that the word derives from the Christian designation of Easter week as in albis, a Latin phrase that was understood as the plural of alba (“dawn”) and became eostarum in Old High German the precursor of the modern German and English term. The Latin and Greek pascha(“Passover”) provides the root for Pâcques, the French word for Easter.

Eusebius' testimony is clear that the Apostles were already celebrating the "Saviour's Pascha", which is clearly not the "Jews' Pascha":

"A question of no small importance arose at that time. For the parishes of all Asia, as from an older tradition, held that the fourteenth day of the moon, on which day the Jews were commanded to sacrifice the lamb, should be observed as the feast of the Saviour's πασχα. It was therefore necessary to end their fast on that day, whatever day of the week it should happen to be. But it was not the custom of the churches in the rest of the world to end it at this time, as they observed the practice which, from apostolic tradition, has prevailed to the present time, of terminating the fast on no other day than on that of the resurrection of our Saviour." (Church History, Book V, 23:1)

The Encyclopedia Britannica 1911 edition has this to say regarding the early Christian celebration of Easter. "Although the observance of Easter was at A VERY EARLY PERIOD IN THE PRACTICE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, a serious difference as to the day for its observance soon arose between the Christians of Jewish and those of Gentile descent, which led to a long and bitter controversy. The point at issue was when the Paschal fast was to be reckoned as ending. With the Jewish Christians, whose leading thought was the death of Christ as the Paschal Lamb, the fast ended at the same time as that of the Jews, on the fourteenth day of the moon at evening, and the Easter festival immediately followed, without regard to the day of the week. The Gentile Christians, on the other hand, unfettered by Jewish traditions, identified the first day of the week with the Resurrection, and kept the preceding Friday as the commemoration of the crucifixion, irrespective of the day of the month. With the one the observance of the day of the month, with the other the observance of the day of the week, was the guiding principle. Generally speaking, the Western churches kept Easter on the first day of the week, while the Eastern churches followed the Jewish rule, and kept Easter on the fourteenth day. ST. POLYCARP, THE DISCIPLE OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST and bishop of Smyrna, visited Rome in 159 to confer with Anicetus, the bishop of that see, on the subject; and URGED THE TRADITION, WHICH HE HAD RECEIVED FROM THE APOSTLE, of observing the fourteenth day. Anicetus, however, declined to admit the Jewish custom in the churches under his jurisdiction, but readily communicated with Polycarp and those who followed it."

Notice that Polycarp affirmed that he had received the tradition of Easter to commemorate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the apostle John.



The Oxford English dictionary also lists many early English literary sources that employed the word Easter to refer to the Resurrection. Among them are the following: 890 A.D. Aelfred Baeda "le dar tide Eastrena ecelice healdan wille"; 1123 A.D. Old English Chronicles, 1200, 1250, 1300; 1389 in English Gild 'be some day fourth nythe after Easterne"; 1175 A.D. Lamb Homilies 45 "uwile sonnedei is to locan alswa Ester dei"; 1200 Trin. Coll. Homily "Forte pene puresdai biforen Estrene dai"; 1398 A.D. Trevira Barth "Eester daye is tyme of gladnesse"; 1420, 1440, 1480 "wold not graunte unto Estre next comyng"; 1447 Bokenham "On Esterne day next folwyng; 1517 A.D. Torkington - Pilgrimage - "He sawe...Criste rysen upon Estern Day"; 1593 Hooker Eccl. Pol. "keeping the feast of Easter on the same day the Jews kept theirs";

Words can acquire new meanings with changing circumstances and be applied in new ways. When you turned on your computer, you used your "mouse". Some argue the word pascha does not mean Easter in Greek but any modern Greek dictionary will tell you the way to say Easter is Pascha.

Most of us know how to say Merry Christmas in Spanish. Feliz Navidad. But millions of Spanish speaking people also say Happy Easter with the words Feliz Pascuas, the very same Greek word. This word also means Easter in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, Swiss, Norwegian, Russian (Paskha), Romanian and Swedish.

Why would this word become Easter for the English speaking people? The word pascha is translated all other times in the KJB as passover, referring to the annual Jewish feast of offering a lamb to God to commemorate their deliverance out of slavery in Egypt.

Yet after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, this word is used only three times, once here in Acts 12:4, once in 1 Corinthians 5:7, where we are told, "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." Tyndale's Bible actually says, "For Christ our Easter lamb is offered up for us." And once again in Hebrews 11:28 where the King James Bible says regarding Moses: "Through faith he kept the passover" (referring of course to the time of the exodus) and where Tyndale's N.T. says: "Through faith he ordained the Easter lamb."

The only time the word is used in the New Testament referring to a Post-Resurrection time line is in Acts 12:4 where the King James Bible correctly has translated this Greek word as Easter."

It makes no sense at all to believe that Tyndale, Martin Luther, Cranmer, Coverdale, Matthews, the Great Bible, and the Bishop's Bible were referring to a pagan deity of the spring called Eastre or Ishtar when they called Christ the easterlamb.

It is likewise grammatically absurd to think Easter refers to a pagan deity in Acts 12:4 where it says, "intending after Easter to bring him forth unto the people". Try substituting another name there and see how it sounds; like "intending after Buddha to bring him forth", or "intending after Krishna to bring him forth to the people. "

Believers who say that Easter was a pagan holiday use the argument that Passover occurred before the days of unleavened bread, and so the Passover had already taken place. However in Luke 22:1 we see that the entire feast of 7 days was collectively called the Passover. "Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover." The term Passover may also refer to the entire week, including the 7 days of unleavened bread after the lamb was slain every year.

We also see the same thing in Matthew 26:17-19: "Now THE FIRST DAY OF THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat THE PASSOVER? ...I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples....and they made ready the passover."

This is also confirmed in Ezekiel 45:21 - "In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten."

The KJB is actually the most accurate translation, in that it uses the word "passover" BEFORE the death and resurrection of Christ and then "Easter" the only time the word occurs in the book of Acts AFTER His resurrection.


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Some say the word Easter comes from the name of the goddess Ishtar or Eastre. The truth is found in any good dictionary that both Eastre and Easter come from the word East, but they are not related to each other in meaning. The sun rises in the east, to bring the light of a new day, and we are told concerning Christ in Malachi 4:2, "But unto you that fear my name shall the SUN of righteousness arise with healing in his wings."

I also disagree with the idea that it was Herod who wanted to wait till after an alleged celebration of a pagan deity called Ishtar or Astarte. There is no historical evidence that Herod or anyone else in Jerusalem celebrated Ishtar at this time.

Regarding the idea that Herod supposedly wanted to please the Jews by waiting till after the celebration of a pagan deity, brother Herb Evans aptly commented: "Well, herein lies the fatal flaw ... If Herod was worried about pleasing the Jews in regard to taking Peter, how could Herod please the Jews by either politicking for or worshipping Astarte, Ishtar, Easter, or any other heathen deity? Israel, although apostate, was not idolatrous at this point of her history... Did they not know what happened to those Old Testament Jewish idolaters? That is if we are going to play what Herod knew and when he knew it, we can also play what the Jews knew and when they knew it. "

I think a more reasonable explanation lies in the fact that at the time of the Passover celebration, there were multitudes of both Jews and Gentile proselytes present in Jerusalem. Herod knew that if he brought forth Peter to be killed before the assembled masses, they would have to make public the accusations laid against him. Peter might well preach a sermon in his defense. Peter had already preached sermons with the result that 3000 were converted at Pentecost and another 5000 on a later day. If several thousands more believed the preaching of Peter about Christ and the resurrection, he might well have a riot on his hands. Perhaps Herod thought it better to wait till the multitudes had gone home after the Passover week, and then deal with Peter in a quieter fashion.


The brother from Oakwood Baptist church who wrote another article defending Easter in the KJB presented another very good reason why Herod wanted to wait till after Easter. See his article here -

Easter Or Passover In Acts 12:4 | Oakwood Baptist Church

It is not that Herod himself was celebrating an alleged "Ishtar", or the Jewish Passover or what would come to be called the Christian Easter. Rather, it is the Holy Ghost speaking here in Acts 12:4 and telling us what this Passover celebration would come to signify for the believers in a risen Lord Jesus Christ. Christians today do not celebrate the Passover; we celebrate Easter which commemorates the great and central event of the glorious resurrection of the Lamb of God.

Our word EASTER is of Saxon origin and of precisely the same import with its German cognate OSTERN. The German word for Easter (Ostern) is derived from the old Teutonic form of auferstehen / auferstehung, that is - RESURRECTION." This is quoted from "Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History," translated in 1850 by C. F. Cruse, Hendrickson Publishers, p 437.

Here is additional proof that the English word Easter is of Saxon origin. We have copies of the Saxon gospels and they are online. You can see the Anglo-Saxon Gospels Manuscript 140, Corpus Christi College circa 1000, by Aelfric online here - ANGLOSAXON GOSPELS

This dates from about the year 1000 A.D. and in the gospel of Matthew 26:2 in English we read "Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover". The Anglo Saxon reads: "Wite ge þt æfter twam dagum beoð EASTRO". Again in Matthew 26:17 and 19 we read "Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover" and in verse 19 "and they made ready the passover." In the Anglo Saxon version we read accordingly "ðenunga to EASTRON" and in v. 19 "hig ge-gearwodon him EASTER-þenunga."

The passover was a type of the true lamb of God who delivers His people out of the bondage of sin. Yet in the Jewish passover, there is no type of the resurrection, only the death of the lamb. The main theme of the preaching in Acts is the glorious resurrection of the lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

The Holy Ghost is speaking here in Acts 12, and He changed the significance of the word pascha to mean Easter. After all, there was no Easter before this great event. Easter is associated with the Jewish passover as a yearly holy day. Does not the same thing occur in Scripture with what was previously called the "passover meal"? The Holy Ghost, speaking through Paul, now refers to the "passover meal" as "The Lord's Supper" in 1 Corinthians 11:20. It is no longer celebrated only once a year but can be celebrated as many times a year as we wish. See 1 Corinthians 11:26. But only once a year do we celebrate the resurrection, and in English and many other languages, this event is called Easter.

Dr. Paul Maier, professor of ancient history at Western Michigan University, observes that "...if all the evidence is weighed carefully and fairly, it is indeed justifiable, according to the canons of historical research, to conclude that the sepulcher of Joseph of Arimathea, in which Jesus was buried, was actually empty on the morning of THE FIRST EASTER (Caps are mine). And no shred of evidence has yet been discovered in literary sources, epigraphy, or archaeology that would disprove this statement."

Some would argue that the early Christians didn't celebrate Easter at this time, so it can not properly be called by this name but should be passover. The early Christians began very soon to commemorate the yearly event called Easter.

Testimonies about the early Christians celebrating Easter

The history of Christian Easter is told about in the book, A History of The Christian Church. The first definite record of the celebration of Christian Easter is in connection with the visit of Polycarp (the bishop of Smyrna) to Anicetus (the bishop of Rome) in 154 or 155 in order to come to an agreement about the time of the observance of Easter. (Some say it was earlier, and there is dispute about the exact date of Polycarp's death) Polycarp represented the more ancient custom of observing Easter with a vigil, ending with the Lord's Supper, through the night of the fourteenth of the month Nisan (month of the Jewish calendar), like the Jewish Passover, regardless of what day of the week this day might fall.

Anicetus represented the Roman custom that was also followed by some parts of the East to have the Easter feast always on Sunday. They did not come to an agreement, but continued on each with their own practice. Many articles found on the internet say that Polycarp claimed the apostle John celebrated the yearly event of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In any event, it seems the early church began very soon to celebrate a special day once of year to commemorate the resurrection of our Lord, and this day became known as Easter, which in the Greek language and many other foreign languages comes directly from this word Paska.

Is Easter a mistranslation in the King James Bible?

The following is an excerpt from Dr. Thomas Holland's Crowned With Glory 2000

Acts 12:4 - "after Easter"

"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."

The Greek word pascha is translated as Passover in the KJV with this one exception where it is translated as Easter. Therefore, some point to this passage as a translation error on the KJV's part. However, earlier English translations such as Tyndale's NT, the Great Bible, and the Bishop's Bible also translated pascha as Easter in this verse, showing that the understanding here dealt with something other than the Jewish Passover. Also, the translation of pascha as Passover in Acts 12:4 was known to the king's translators since this is the reading of the Geneva Bible.

THE USE OF THE WORD PASCHA IN EARLY CHRISTIAN WRITINGS DEALT WITH THE CELEBRATION OF EASTER, AND NOT JUST THE JEWISH PASSOVER. [1] Dr. G. W. H. Lampe has correctly stated that PASCHA CAME TO MEAN EASTER IN THE EARLY CHURCH. The ancient Christians did not keep the Jewish Passover. Instead they kept as holy a day to celebrate the resurrection of Christ near the time of both Passover and the pagan festival celebrating the goddess Ostara. Dr. Lampe lists several rules and observances by Christians in celebration of their pascha or Easter. Lampe also points to various Greek words such as paschazo and paschalua that came to mean celebrate Easter and Eastertide. [2] Likewise, Dr. Gerhard Kittel notes that PASCHA CAME TO BE CALLED EASTER IN THE CELEBRATION OF THE RESURRECTION within the primitive Church. [3]

It seems that pascha can mean more than the Jewish holy day of Passover. In fact, Greeks today who wish to send the greeting Happy Easter say, kalee pascha. Literally it means good Passover. However it has come to mean good or happy Easter.

[1] See Dr. Walter Bauer's, A Greek-English Lexicon Of The New Testament And Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1957) Under the Greek word pascha we find #4. "in later Christian usage the Easter festival" (page 639)

[2] G. W. H. Lampe, A Patristic Greek Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961), 1048-1049.

[3] Gerhard Kittle, Theological Dictionary Of The New Testament, Vol. II. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), 901-904."In Christian usage Easter is called pascha" (page 897). "The oldest accounts of a Christian Paschal feast take us back to the apostolic period. The N.T. tells us nothing about the details, but the gaps may be filled in from accounts of the Quartodecimans, since their Easter, as we now know, was a direct continuation of that of the primitive Church." (page 901). "The paschal feast thus took place in the primitive Church at the same time as the Jewish Passover, that is, on the night of the 15th Nisan...Hence the original Christian Easter, as we have come to know and deduce it from the Quartodeciman sources, shared with the Jewish Passover not only the time and details of the rite but also the expectation of the Messiah...The first assured reference to a Sunday Easter is in 155 A.D., but it was probably much older than this." (pages 902-903)

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Ash Wednesday, Lent, and Easter

Easter -Copyright 1999 by Gretchen Passantino

Easter is an English corruption from the proto-Germanic root word meaning "to rise." (We see this in the contemporary German cognate "ost-" and the English cognate "east," the direction from which the sun rises in the morning.) It refers not only to Christ rising from the dead, but also to his ascension to heaven and to our future rising with him at his Second Coming for final judgment. IT IS NOT TRUE THAT IT DERIVES FROM THE PAGAN Germanic goddess OESTAR OR from the Babylonian goddess ISHTAR- both fertility symbols signifying the coming of spring images of fertility, new life, and renewal.

The first Easter occurred on the first day of the week after the Passover Sabbath. The first day of the week became the Christian's "sabbath rest" (Heb. 4:1-11), the time of weekly Christian celebration of the resurrection. Annually, the Lord's Day immediately subsequent to the Jewish Passover was a day of special resurrection celebration.

Early Christians consulted local rabbis to determine the date of Passover each year, which would correspond to Holy Week. Passover was determined by the lunar configurations of the latitude in which the Jewish community resided. There was no Jewish authority at Jerusalem to determine a uniform date after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70. In communities with no Jewish presence, Christians found it even more difficult to determine the date. Once the churches became unified in the fourth century, the date was more consistent until the West's adoption of the revised Gregorian calendar in the sixteenth century.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05228a.htmhttp://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05228a.htm

We read in Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., V, xxiii): "A question of no small importance arose at that time [i.e. about A.D. 190]. The dioceses of all Asia, as from an older tradition, held that the fourteenth day of the moon, on which day the Jews were commanded to sacrifice the lamb, should always be observed as the feast of the life-giving pasch [epi tes tou soteriou Pascha heortes], contending that the fast ought to end on that day, whatever day of the week it might happen to be. However it was not the custom of the churches in the rest of the world to end it at this point, as they observed the practice, which from Apostolic tradition has prevailed to the present time, of terminating the fast on no other day than on that of the Resurrection of our Saviour.... These words of the Father of Church History, followed by some extracts which he makes from the controversial letters of the time, tell us almost all that we know concerning the paschal controversy in its first stage. A letter of St. Irenaeus is among the extracts just referred to, and this shows that the diversity of practice regarding Easter had existed at least from the time of 120 A.D.. Further, Irenaeus states that Polycarp, who like the other Asiatics, kept Easter on the fourteenth day of the moon, whatever day of the week that might be, following therein the tradition which he claimed to have derived from St. John the Apostle, came to Rome circa 150 A.D. about this very question."

Easter celebrations

http://chi.gospelcom.net/GLIMPSEF/Glimpses/glmps100.shtml The earliest Christians celebrated the resurrection on the fourteenth of Nisan (our March-April), the date of the Jewish Passover. Jewish days were reckoned from evening to evening, so Jesus had celebrated His Last Supper the evening of the Passover and was crucified the day of the Passover. Early Christians celebrating the Passover worshiped Jesus as the Paschal Lamb and Redeemer.

John Owen wrote concerning the celebration of Easter - “There was also a signal vindication of the truth pleaded for, in an instance of fact among the primitive churches. There was an opinion which prevailed very early among them about the necessary observation of Easter, in the room of the Jewish Passover, for the solemn commemoration of the death and resurrection of our Saviour.

And it was taken for granted by most of them, that the observance hereof was countenanced, if not rendered necessary to them, by the example of the apostles; for they generally believed that by them it was observed, and that it was their duty to accomodate themselves to their practices... By the later second century, it was accepted that the celebration of Easter was a practice of the disciples and an undisputed tradition that Easter was to be observed by virtue of Apostolical tradition was generally granted by all.”
Christians had obviously been celebrating Easter before 150 A.D. or so, since Christian leaders met to discuss its proper date and not the fact of its observance. God is now calling the passover Easter because of its new signifiance. He calleth those things which be not, as though they were.

Has He not done this before in His word? Genesis 14:14 tells us that Abraham pursued those who had taken Lot captive unto Dan. There was not even a tribe of Israel called Dan let alone a city named after them at this time. But God knew there would be.

In Genesis 21:14, 21, God calls the name of a place Beersheba before it is so named. In Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1, God speaks of Cyrus, my shepherd, his anointed "whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him", as though he already existed, yet Cyrus would not be born till many years later.

Again in Romans 4:17, "As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." At the time Abraham had only one son, Ishmael. He was hardly a father of many nations, yet God says he had already made him a father of many nations.

There are two other examples in the scriptures of a religious holiday being established by God's people to commemorate a great deliverance or event. In Esther 9:26-27 we see the feast of Purim established. "Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year."

The other one is found in John 10:22 were we read, "And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter." This feast of the dedication was instituted in 164 BC when after Antiochas Ephiphanes defiled the temple and Judas Maccaebeus rededicated it. This holiday is now called Hanukkah.

Words can adapt to new meanings and events can obtain new significance. What was once called by one name can now be called by another. Much has changed since the victory over death and the putting away of sin; the types have been fulfilled and their significance brought to light in the face of Jesus Christ.

I am well aware of how this original Christian celebration of Easter has been corrupted over the years with the bunnies, candies, and eggs. But these corruptions came about much later in the history of the church.

What things of Christ and of God have not been corrupted to some degree by the world and even by the church itself? Nevertheless, there remains the central kernel of divine truth in I Cor. 15:20, that "Christ is risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept". The word Easter in Acts 12:4 is not an error, but rather a fuller revelation of the significance of the passover lamb, His sacrifice for our sins, and His resurrection from the dead.

Will Kinney

 

[RDKirk]

I'm seeing better scholarship in fewer words in Wikipedia.

The modern English term Easter, cognate with modern German Ostern, developed from an Old English word that usually appears in the form Ēastrun, -on, or -an; but also as Ēastru, -o; and Ēastre or Ēostre.[3] The most widely, though not unanimously, accepted theory of the origin of the term is that it is derived from the name of a goddess mentioned by the 7th to 8th-century English monk Bede, who wrote that Ēosturmōnaþ (Old English 'Month of Ēostre', translated in Bede's time as "Paschal month") was an English month, corresponding to April, which he says "was once called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month" [28]

3. Vladimir Lossky, 1982 The Meaning of Icons ISBN 978-0-913836-99-6; p. 185


28. Bede, The Reckoning of Time, translated by Faith Wallis (Liverpool University Press 1999 ISBN 978-0-85323693-1), p. 54 Bede, The Reckoning of Time - Saint Bede (the Venerable) - Google Books

 

[jacobs well]

easter did not originate with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
easter predates Christianity.
ancient pagan resurrection celebrations led to easter.
there is no command in the Bible by Jesus to have a service to celebrate His resurrection. there is a command by Jesus to commemorate His death.
easter is a man made tradition
aside from the conflict of the word easter in Acts 12:4 - it is the celebration that contradicts God's commands to worship him according to His instructions.

 

[robycop3]

No, "Easter" in the KJV's Acts 12:4 is a GOOF! And here's why:

First, EASTER DID NOT EXIST when Luke wrote the letter that became the Book of Acts. The translation is supposed to reflect the ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S words and intent, not those of the translators. As Luke was not making prophecy, he could NOT have been writing about something that didn't then exist.

Next, the context of Acts 12 clearly shows Herod was trying to please the Orthodox Jewish leadership of the area. His men had whacked James, which pleased those Jews, so Herod thought he'd please them even more by allowing them to deal with Peter themselves. He knew Peter was itinerant, so he busted Peter before he could leave the bailiwick.

But passover was then ongoing, as Acts 12:3 clearly sez. (For anyone who doesn't believe passover is SEVEN DAYS LONG, please read Ezekiel 45:21.) so Herod knew the Jews wouldn't deal with Peter until it was over. Thus, he intended to incarcerate Peter until the Jews were ready to take him.

(For those who say passover didn't stop the Jews from killing Jesus, please remember the Jews had the ROMANS kill Him.)

Next, had Easter as we know it then existed, or any other special observance of the date of Jesus' resurrection, NO ORTHODOX JEW, nor the pagan Herod woulda observed it. They were waiting for PASSOVER to end, plain-n-simple.

Now, there's no evidence that pascha meant anything other than passover in the 1st century. That Greek word is a translateration of the Hebrew "p'sach", the word GOD used for passover. It doesn't matter what pascha means TODAY. Luke wrote in the 1st century, not recently. The translation should reflect HIS written thoughts, not those of the translators.

Clearly, the AV translators knew Easter from passover, as they included an "Easter-Finder" in the AV 1611. They considered Easter & Christmas as the two holiest days of the year. Obviously, they did NOT confuse Easter with passover!

The word 'pascha' appears 28 times in the Greek mss. used to make the KJV's New Testament, and it's translated "passover" 27 times, with the context clearly indicating such. Thus, KJVOs cannot use the excuse that Easter & passover were interchangeable when the KJV was made. But again, many KJVOs attempting to justify the KJV's "Easter goof" seemta ignore Ezekiel 45:21 and Acts 12:3.

Fact is..."Easter" is a GOOF in the KJV's Acts 12:4.

 

[robycop3]

Hmmmmm...

We don't see any attempt by Brandplucked to refute the proof that 'easter' in Acts 12:4 is incorrect.

 

[Knee V]

The Greek word there in Acts is "pascha", which means "passover".

"Easter" is Germanic and did not exist to those people in Acts.

The KJV, in that instance, demonstrates that it was translated with a deliberate pro-Church-of-England bias and, in that instance, is incorrect. It should read "passover", and there is simply no way around that.

Pascha = Passover

End of discussion.

 

[robycop3]

Please notice Brandplucked has no reply. he's had plenty of time, and he's made posts elsewhere in this forum. he's defeated on this, and he knows it. His argument is horse feathers, same as all pro-KJVO arguments are.

 

[Knee V]

Please notice Brandplucked has no reply. he's had plenty of time, and he's made posts elsewhere in this forum. he's defeated on this, and he knows it. His argument is horse feathers, same as all pro-KJVO arguments are.

My bet is that he is researching and will be back soon.

 

[Strong in Him]

Hmmmmm...

We don't see any attempt by Brandplucked to refute the proof that 'easter' in Acts 12:4 is incorrect.

He doesn't believe that anything in the KJV is incorrect - and if he discovered it was, might not admit it.

 

[robycop3]

His usual M. O. is to leave a given board when his stuff is proven wrong, or at the very least, to try to change the subject being discussed.

 

[Restoresmysoul]

I like the KJV but its like other English translations, it is not always perfect. However the thing that we must focus on is the fact that God doesn't ask much from us anyway, He asks that we trust him and that we submit to Him by living in holiness and walking in Love.

Its not really that complicated so the NKJV seems good enough and accurate enough to me. And why should we worry about Easter or any other day? Lets consider Paul's teaching, he teaches us not to get tangled up with observing days and months and years. The kingdom is about Peace, righteousness and Joy in the Spirit. Its not about observing holy days but is about observing holiness.

 

[lesliedellow]

The Greek word used in Acts 12.4 is Pascha, which is a transliteration, so far as the respective alphabets will allow, of the Aramaic word Pesach - meaning Passover.

In modern Greek Pascha means Easter, which is presumably how the KJV translators came to make their mistake.

 

[robycop3]

The Greek word used in Acts 12.4 is Pascha, which is a transliteration, so far as the respective alphabets will allow, of the Aramaic word Pesach - meaning Passover.

In modern Greek Pascha means Easter, which is presumably how the KJV translators came to make their mistake.

"P'sach" is the word GOD is quoted as using for passover.

And yes, pascha means either Easter or passover in CURRENT Greek, depending upon the context of its use. But the New Testament is written in KOINE Greek, a form no longer in common use, but was in use in Luke's time. And in that time, pascha meant only PASSOVER. pascha is the word JESUS is quoted as using when the context clearly proves He was speaking of PASSOVER.

And once again, had Easter or anything like it existed in that time, neither Herod nor any Orthodox Jew would've observed it.

 

[robycop3]

Yes, Easter did NOT exist when Luke wrote "Acts". And clearly, the AV men knew Easter from passover, as the AV 1611 contains an "Easter-Finder".

And remember, Herod was under orders from Caesar to PLEASE the Jews. He knew they hated Christians, and when he saw that whacking James pleased them, he sought to please them further by allowing them to kill Peter themselves. He knew passover was ongoing, but he believed he'd better bust Peter before he could leave the bailiwick, and he intended to hold Peter for the Jews til passover was ended. SIMPLE AS THAT!

Acts 12:3 says the days of unleavened bread were then ongoing, & Ezekiel 45:21 and John 18:8 prove those days are part of passover. Those are indisputable Scriptural facts.

So, had the AV men CONSISTENTLY rendered pascha as Easter, we could chalk it up as an archaism, but just that ONE INSTANCE, especially since the context clearly calls for passover, qualifies as a GOOF.

 

[robycop3]

Mr. Kinney skeedaddled after being defeated.
{Curses! Foiled again!}

 

[Copperhead]

I had always heard and read that Easter was actually the Feast of Ishtar the carried over from Babylon. Ishtar was the fertility goddess, among other things, and that is why things that represent fertility get included in Easter.... eggs, grass, rabbits, etc. May not be where the concept of Easter came from, but sounds about the same as any other. Pagan.

But I am more than confident that "Easter" is not what is in view. I have often wondered why don't folks just use the name the Bible gives it in Leviticus 23 to avoid the confusion... The Feast of First Fruits, which is the first of the week following the Passover week. i.e. resurrection Sunday.