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• Pesach •

Pronunciation: pe-sahk • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun, proper

Meaning: Passover, a Jewish holiday beginning on the 14th of Nisan at sundown and continuing for eight days, from sundown April 18 to April 26 in 2011 by the Gregorian Calendar. It commemorates the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt.

Notes: The highlight of the celebration of Pesach is the Seder, a special supper held on the first night or the first two nights of Pesach. All of the food has meaning: only unleavened matzo (flat bread) is eaten and green vegetables are dipped in a vinegar or salty water to symbolize the suffering of the Jews crossing the desert. Children recite passages and answer questions to show that they have learned the significance of Pesach that they will pass on to their children.

In Play: TheHaggadah is the story of the Exodus from Egypt which everyone at the Seder table reads. The story of the Exodus is told four ways, each emphasizing a different aspect of the Exodus and its importance for the Jewish people. According to the synoptic gospels, the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the Last Supper that Jesus attended was a traditional Seder. The Book of John places it the day before the Seder, on the day of the slaughter of the sacrificial lamb.

Word History: Today's Good Word is the Hebrew pesaH "Passover" from the verb pasaH "to pass over". Pasch "Passover, Easter" is the Aramaic variant of the same Semitic root. It is the origin of the word for Easter in most European languages: French Pâques, Spanish Pascua, Portuguese Páscoa, Italian Pasqua, Swedish Påsk, and Russian Paskha. Those of us here at The Lexiteria and alphaDictionary hope the homes of all our Jewish friends are filled with peace and love during this Pesach season.

Most assuredly:
Happy Pesach! Peace and Blessings.

Today's Good Word is the Hebrew pesaH "Passover" from the verb pasaH "to pass over".

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word "Passover" was coined by Tyndale in 1530 to translate the Hebrew pesah in reference to the Lord "passing over" the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he killed the first-born of the Egyptians.

Is the similarity of the words "Passover" and "pasaH" coincidental?

I'm not too sure about the Tyndale thing. The
angel 'passed over' the houses with blood on the doors,
long before Tyndale.

The blood used was the blood of a lamb. symbolic of the blood of the Lamb of God.

True (for Christians) but the discussion (unless I missed something)
is the word "passover'. It was not invented by Tynedale.
It's in the Hebrew Scriptures.

It seems that the English word "Passover" was coined by Tyndale. Before that, English writers/speakers apparently used the older English word "E[a]ster" to refer both to the Jewish Passover and the Christian celebration of the resurrection. Less commonly, they used the Hebrew form Pesach, the Greek/Latin Pascha, or some similar form, e.g. Pask or Paske, to refer to the Jewish Passover.

What I am curious to know is this: Is there any etymological connection between the English verb "pass" and the Hebrew word "Pesach", or between the English verb "pass" and the Hebrew word for "to pass [over]"? That is to say, is the English "pass" derived from the word "Pesach" (surely not), or do they have a common root in an earlier language? Or did Tyndale just note the coincidence that "Pesach" is related to the idea of "passing over", and coin the English word "Passover" as a useful play on words?

OK, I see where you are going with this. And I don't know.
This would have to be one for Doc. Lots' of research
and I would not know where to begin. Good one, though.

I found this via etymonline:

paschal
1427, "of or pertaining to Easter," from L.L. paschalis, from pascha "Passover, Easter," from Gk. pascha "Passover," from Aramaic pasha "pass over," corresponding to Heb. pesah, from pasah "to pass over" (see Passover). Pasche was an early M.E. term for "Easter" (see Easter).

So it seems the answer is yes, in part; the English is a valid translation of the Hebrew. However, from what I can find, the Latin root of pass does not coincide with the concept of "going over."

I don't think we can say Tyndale coined the word passover; he just translated the Hebrew word.

I looked up Exodus 12:13, 23 in a Hebrew/English app and found the expression translated "will pass over" to be the Hebrew word transliterated as "pesach."

I too looked it up, and that has always been my
understanding.

OK. So it looks as if the similarity of sound between the Hebrew verb "pasah" and its English translation "to pass over" is coincidental. Likewise, the development from the Hebrew noun "pesah" to the modern European "Pâques", "Pascua", "Pasqua" etc is unrelated to the spelling similarity of the English word "Passover". Agreed?

I hope my argument is not too convoluted!

I think so. I don't think to pass came from Hebrew, unless the Latin pasare did, which I doubt. Probably a coincidence which is bound to happen in languages with hundreds of thousands of words. How many time in these forums has Dr G or someone else pointed out two distinct derivations and meanings from what at first glance (and sometimes 15th) seems to be one word.